On Nov 22, 2009, at 1:54 PM, do.rflex wrote:
>> Alright, at the risk of being so labelled, I'm >> going to quote from one of Sam Harris' books, >> The End of Faith, in which he starts out by describing >> a seemingly ordinary day in the life of a seemingly >> ordinary young man, as he boards a bus: >> >> "The young man takes his seat beside a middle-aged couple… smiles. >> With the press of a button he destroys himself, the couple at his >> side, and twenty others on the bus. The nails, ball bearings, and rat >> poison ensure further casualties on the street and in the surrounding >> cars. All has gone according to plan. >> The young man's parents soon learn of his fate. Although saddened to >> have lost a son, they feel tremendous pride at his accomplishment. >> They know that he has gone to heaven and prepared the way for them to >> follow. He has also sent his victims to hell for eternity. It is a >> double victory. >> >> These are the facts. This is all we know for certain about the young >> man…. Why is it so easy, then, so trivially easy—you-could-almost- >> bet- >> your-life-on-it easy—to guess the young man's religion?" >> >> >> While the passage is chilling enough, IMO, the real >> kicker I think is the second paragraph, in which >> his friends, neighbors and even his parents celebrate his final >> "victory." >> >> I suppose you could label Harris a bigot too, >> altho he never mentions the young man's religion, >> or much of anything else about him, >> it being clearly unnecessary. >> >> I think Vaj has Islam as it is practiced today >> in much of the world pinned down, and all >> these attempts to label him and discredit >> what he's said are pathetic. Nobody ever >> denied there are terrorists in most faiths, >> but in no other *today* has it been so >> accepted and even glorified. >> >> Anyway, I thought things were getting a bit >> dull this morning and that Vaj might like a >> break, so have at it. :) >> >> Sal >> > > Nobody can tell me that 1.3 billion human beings are predisposed by > their religion to condone what that boy in Harris' story did. Of course not all are, flex, just many. Still doubtful? On page 126 he puts up the results of a poll he took asking respondents in 12 Muslim nations if suicide bombing in defense of Islam is ever justified. The results are scary. In 10 of those countries, an overwhelming majority believe that yes, it is justified. Only in Pakistan (where you have a tie) and Turkey (with a mere 20% believing it) do you not have a majority. And as Harris points out, even if all the countries were as relatively benign as Turkey, it would still be a major problem. I'm sure you could find fault with the poll, or ask how it was conducted, etc. But it looks pretty straightforward to me. Sal ------------------------------------ To subscribe, send a message to: fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: fairfieldlife-dig...@yahoogroups.com fairfieldlife-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: fairfieldlife-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
