Sam Harris & Reza Aslan - Religion and Reason Debate - Part (5-11)

[arraba99]

Sam would like to question the sanctity of religion by which he really means Islam, Allah and the Quran. How about questioning the "sanctity: of the holocaust either its existence or numbers killed. One can question G-d, Islam, even Christianity but not Judaism - except as an afterthought - the Holocaust or Israel conduct. If the this is not the ultimate in intellectual dishonesty and dogma, I do not know what is!!!

[arraba99]

Sam says that most Muslims are deranged! Can I say that most Jews are deranged because of Israel's genocidal war against Palestinians, Lebanese and Arabs, or because of the behaviour of Jewish settlers extremist who not only kill children and woman in Palestine and steel their Palestinian land but in fact burn their trees and crops as taught in Torah. Sam is a mindless bigot with an IQ of a goat - Reza shreds his argument to pieces. Just look at Sam’s face.

[arraba99]

Although I do not fully agree with Reza, but listen to the intelligent and well founded argument and listen to Sam's primitive and entertainment motivated ideas.

[ritchloui]

I would like to see an edited version of this debate that cuts out Reza. His argument is tiresome in the extreme, in fact I find it rather repulsive listening to him. He takes up FAR too much time with wildly inaccurate and incoherent assertions and just keeps going so as to avoid precise rebuttals to each and every one of them.

[ritchloui]

Yes, let's look at Islamic history; not the carefully sanitized version of it that makes claims to it being progressive and innovative - yes, the shameless appropriation as 'Islamic' all the achievements of the peoples of advanced civilisations it had conquered who continued their work for a while DESPITE Islam. Where is Arabia's history? What has Islam systematically destroyed of its pre-Islamic conquests?

[l3lip]

1:42

"The easiest thing in the world is to write a book called 'A Problem with Religion.'"

How dare Reza have the audacity to state such a fatuous remark. As he stated before, Muslims make up approximately 1.5 billion people of the world (23%) as opposed to the 2.3% of the world who are atheists.

That's a cold, cold ivory tower you sit in Reza.

[theocean1973]

Mao didn't say "I'm going to massacre 60 million chinese people in the name of secularism". He and all the other communist and fascist tyrants did their horrific deeds in the name of communist and fascist dogma, which are basically religions of their own. Reza connecting secularism with Mao and Stalin is as insulting as it is and profoundly stupid.

[averylbrooks]

@theocean1973

Great comment, I couldn't agree with you more.

[bhigr]

TuQuoque fallacy. Other ideologies are also evil! This does not legitimize the evils of religion.

[antiGoebbels]

Aslan is either a shameless charlatan or he does not know what he's talking about.

[2610paul]

Reza Aslan seem to have lost it. He just goes in circles not knowing where he would land.

[phizbin]

jacobk2 misses the point - FOX news is not spreading another view - they are selling a false view. I listen to both channels, and Maddow often shows the faults of both sides, while FOX has only one side.

Several studies have shown that FOX viewers believe things that are not true, which appears to be intentional. This is not news - it is propaganda that Goebbels would be proud of...

[jacobk2]

That Mr. Aslan deriding FOX news? Fox news at least brings facts and gives another perspective to News rather than the radical fanciful LEFT of other media sources, esp. CNBC..MADDOW, Oberman etc...

[TheDmo22222]

@jacobk2 hahahahahahaha, wow. You can't be serious.

[koripley]

Boy Aslan is truly reaching now. He's resorting to the same stupid arguments you hear from all the religious apologists. I'm assuming this dude is some sort of a muslim, I'm guessing. I have never yet heard one of these religious guys make an argument that didn't boil down to faith, and secularism promotes evil. It's very tiring.

[hrmIwonder]

Sophisticated? Seriously Reza? Isn't it pretty easy to see the link between religion and nationalism, both being outcroppings of tribalism and bolstered by in group out group type thinking? Just a thought.

[FighterDoken]

1:29 Aslan awakens a sleeping giant

2:04 Harris causes Aslan to have a stutter attack

I'm not sure of Reza Aslan is qualified to be in this debate.

[allinsman]

Hitler was a roman catholic and frequently referred to the "Creator" of humanity/the universe so he's a completely unvalid argument against atheism or science.

[iverhythm]

I have not seen a secular document or science paper advocate the killing of witches or infidels.

[HimmuraTube]

Yep...the whole point of the secular argument is that people that kill for their religion do it solely because their religion gives them a mandate to do so.

[omnitribeco]

no but the eugenicists with this darwinistic ideology have less than apathy for human life and wish to decrease the population dramatically. just pointing out the other side, the fundamentalists are not just among the god believing.

[signorelli21]

i wish the moderator would stop talking

[Linkous12]

As I go from one part of this debate to the next, I find myself liking Aslan less and less (I remember doing this when I watched him debate Dennett).

[Linkous12]

The debate I was referring to was Dennett vs. D'Souza, sorry.

[pp0u50f3]

easy mistake to make, D'Souza and Reza have equally anoying voices and both use their intellect to present tempting but ultimately false arguments for the plausability of religion

[pp0u50f3]

how can socialism be blamed for nazism?

[Chuckomatic5000]

pp0u50f3 should read "The Road to Serfdom" by Hayek. It's a tough read - very intellectual and makes you think. Absolutely worth reading.

[pomeroy82]

This is great! Sam is the man! Just owned the fuck out of Reza! it's like watching a fight and someone just got jacked!

[tumarkhan]

harris speaks the truth

aslan is mere shallow thinker whose fundamental knowledge based on history of no more than 6000 yrs...

[TheRepublicX]

Its frightening that Reza has the audacity to claim that sam harris is presenting the 'itellectually unsophisicated" arguement.....Reza gets fuckin shat on.

[taz0k2]

I think that if a discussion will last long enough the atheist will always win.

But I think that Reza's argument was surprisingly good for coming from a Islam defender. I give him cred for that