After 9/11, the Bali bombings of 2002, and the Jemaah Islamiyah threat to bomb the Yishun MRT Station, I have became more conscious that Islamist religious fanatics can seriously threaten and destroy civilisation. Without doubt, these Islamic terrorists must be stopped before more innocent lives are killed.
Indeed, Sam Harris was so affected by 9/11 that he wrote the book, "The End of Faith", as his response to it (S$17.33 from Kinokuniya). It is a well argued book on why blind acceptance of religious beliefs is a threat to civilisation, and why fundamentalist Islam is particularly dangerous.
Harris wrote a follow up book, "Letter to a Christian Nation", which emphasizes on the dangers of fundamentalist Christianity.
Both Islam and Christianity centre their foundations on the "divine" writings in the scriptures of the Quran and the Bible. The dogmatic interpretations of these ancient writings by fundamentalists in the 21st century poses a conflict with modern civilisation, and makes religion particularly dangerous - especially to people who do not believe in the same faith as the fundamentalists.
Many Christians believe that the Bible is a perfect document written (or influenced) by a perfect god and as such is an infallible text. Harris points out in "The End of Faith" that the Bible is actually riddled with contradictions, and that even way back in 1859, William Henry Burr has actually published a book called "Self-Contradictions of the Bible". The list of contradictions has been published here:
http://skeptically.org/newtestament/id19.html
These mistakes in the Bible should lead thinking Christians to query whether the Bible is indeed the handiwork of a perfect god, or that the book is as perfect as it is being claimed. With such revealing mistakes, it becomes suspect as to whether the writings in the Bible should be treated literally as divine truths.
I like another section in "Letter to a Christian Nation" in which Sam Harris talks about Christians who strongly believe that "The Ten Commandments" in the Bible is the strongest statement about morality which no other religion can improve upon:
The Ten Commandments
1. You shall have no other Gods but me.
2. You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
4. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
5. Respect your father and mother.
6. You must not kill.
7. You must not commit adultery.
8. You must not steal.
9. You must not give false evidence against your neighbour.
10. You must not be envious of your neighbour's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour.
In response, Harris quotes Mahavira, the patriarch of Jainism, who surpasses the morality of the Ten Commandments with a single one:
Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.
Harris wrote a follow up book, "Letter to a Christian Nation", which emphasizes on the dangers of fundamentalist Christianity.
Both Islam and Christianity centre their foundations on the "divine" writings in the scriptures of the Quran and the Bible. The dogmatic interpretations of these ancient writings by fundamentalists in the 21st century poses a conflict with modern civilisation, and makes religion particularly dangerous - especially to people who do not believe in the same faith as the fundamentalists.
Many Christians believe that the Bible is a perfect document written (or influenced) by a perfect god and as such is an infallible text. Harris points out in "The End of Faith" that the Bible is actually riddled with contradictions, and that even way back in 1859, William Henry Burr has actually published a book called "Self-Contradictions of the Bible". The list of contradictions has been published here:
http://skeptically.org/newtestament/id19.html
These mistakes in the Bible should lead thinking Christians to query whether the Bible is indeed the handiwork of a perfect god, or that the book is as perfect as it is being claimed. With such revealing mistakes, it becomes suspect as to whether the writings in the Bible should be treated literally as divine truths.
I like another section in "Letter to a Christian Nation" in which Sam Harris talks about Christians who strongly believe that "The Ten Commandments" in the Bible is the strongest statement about morality which no other religion can improve upon:
No comments:
Post a Comment