A debate between Chris Hedges and Sam Harris that covers much of the same ground thats been discussed here over the past several days. I suspect that this excellent debate wont change anyones mind but I do think that both Sam and Chris do an excellent job of putting forth arguments for their respective points of view. My personal take is that while my religious views (or lack thereof) are more in line with those of Sam Harris, his analysis of the causes and motivations behind terrorism in the Middle East, his singling out Islam as peculiarly more dangerous than all other religions [which he does in this debate and has done many other times] and his characterization of the Muslim and Arab world in general is misguided and lacks nuance. I have a problem with religious fundamentalists of all sorts but Sams ideas about what causes fundamentalism to gain a stronghold (in any society) is overly simplistic. By the same token, I feel that Hedges makes a false distinction between religion and tribalism but I completely agree with him that what propels all totalitarian movements forward (including fundamentalist movements) is personal and economic despair. (Check out from 1:11:41 - 1:15:34.) youtu.be/prWFkt9-HT0
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 21:16:26 +0000