July 25, 2011
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Sam Harris
I have made it clear that I think the atheists out there trying to connect the terrorist attack in Norway to religion and Christianity are only proving my point that many atheists are religious in their beliefs and have become obsessive fanatics. There are no facts to back that bull shit up and guess what well known Atheist agrees with me?
Christian Terrorism
It has been widely reported that Breivik is a “Christian fundamentalist.” Having read parts of his 1500-page manifesto (2083: A European Declaration of Independence), I must say that I have my doubts…. As I have only read parts of this document, I cannot say whether signs of a deeper religious motive appear elsewhere in it. Nevertheless, the above passages would seem to undermine any claim that Breivik is a Christian fundamentalist in the usual sense. What cannot be doubted, however, is that Breivik’s explicit goal was to punish European liberals for their timidity in the face of Islam.I have written a fair amount about the threat that Islam poses to open societies, but I am happy to say that Breivik appears never to have heard of me. He has, however, digested the opinions of many writers who share my general concerns—Theodore Dalrymple, Robert D. Kaplan, Lee Harris, Ibn Warraq, Bernard Lewis, Andrew Bostom, Robert Spencer, Walid Shoebat, Daniel Pipes, Bat Ye’or, Mark Steyn, Samuel Huntington, et al. He even singles out my friend and colleague Ayaan Hirsi Ali for special praise, repeatedly quoting a blogger who thinks she deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. With a friend like Breivik, one will never want for enemies.
One can only hope that the horror and outrage provoked by Breivik’s behavior will temper the growing enthusiasm for right-wing, racist nationalism in Europe. However, one now fears the swing of another pendulum: We are bound to hear a lot of deluded talk about the dangers of “Islamophobia” and about the need to address the threat of “terrorism” in purely generic terms.
Comments (34)
There are nut bags on all sides and it’s a total shame that innocent people are killed at their hand.
I find it interesting though that LowOnThoughtsOuthouse can compare all atheists to Stalin (or Muslims to Bin Laden or any other crazy “Jihadist”) and it’s totally okay by many people, but if one no-name atheist compares her to Hitler or the abortion clinic bombers, or any other list of Christian nutters, it’s totally crossing the line.
Both are wrong obviously, but the reactions of the audiences interest me.
I terrorize atheists! Just call me Olga.
@tgwiy - That comparison is in response to the old bull shit about most war being cause by region.
Atheists are too few in number to have been a major cause of war and religious faith is rarely the reason for war. Facts… but when people are throwing rocks the real targets are often missed
Yeaup. Nut cases are nut cases on every side. Sitting on a fence, you get a better view from up here.
Even if he was a Christian, what would that mean? I t would mean that one Christian man used his freewill to do evil, just like an atheist could use their freewill to commit murder. It’s not an edict for Christianity or atheism.
@musterion99 - No kidding a faith based on love your neighbor as you love yourself has something to do with mass murder go figure that one out.
The guy is an uber Right Wing fanatic. I think his faith is largely inconsequential and more of a footnote than anything else.
@tendollar4ways - Exactly it seems his economics lean socialistic, the rest uber nationalistic to xenophobic. I believe that would be called a NAZI in another time and place
@tendollar4ways - I think you and i would, like Sam Harrris, agree with some of what he believed…yuck
@trunthepaige - From what I have read about the guy’s ideas…he hates socialism and that was one of the reasons he attacked the government camp. He is a small government type.
Your boy GB called the campers who got shot the Nazi’s.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8660986/Norway-shooting-Glenn-Beck-compares-dead-teenagers-to-Hitler-youth.html
@trunthepaige - True to your second comment. Democracy is vunerable to be taken over by an overly fertile group. If you can procreate and create more and more (x) be is Muslim, Atheist, Xtian etc…by sheer numbers you can dominate.
@tendollar4ways - possible but he describe himself as an economic liberal (in Norway).
@trunthepaige - Euro’s are weird. Classic Liberal is Conservative in Europe.
From what I’ve read, it seems the man is a political extremist, not a religious one.
I LOVE Sam Harris and I am NOT an atheist. But critical thinking is your friend and walking talking snakes is not using critical thinking skills.
The religion I grew up in damaged the lives of people beyond what is imaginable. Without the Sam Harris’s to bring balance we would definitely be stoning sodomites and “adulterers”.
@musterion99 - It’s like Hitler. Since he was a genocidal maniac that means he is automatically a Christian.
@tgwiy - Just call me Olga since you have trouble spelling my name.
I am correct about atheism because their is nothing in atheism that tempers man’s tendency toward total evil and since atheists make up their own morality, Stalin mass murdering 20 million Ukrainian peasants is a good thing from his point of view.
And since your point of view is no better than his, because you are both human beings created equal, there is nothing or no one to say that he did a bad thing.
Christianity, on the other hand specifically teaches that murder and mayhem are wrong. So if a bozo goes hog wild, murders, say 62 people in cold blood and bombs a government building to smithereens, we can definitely say that what he did was wrong.
Christian values allow us to make moral judgments. Atheism does not.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - Wow you got boring fast.
@tgwiy - Atheists do have trouble with their gnat-like attention span, simple reasoning and hard cold facts.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - No, atheists and Christian alike have trouble dealing with trolls such as yourself because all you do is spread lies and hate. Religion has nothing to do with character.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - Atheists love that one.
@tgwiy - I urge you to take the time to read my comment. It explains exactly the error atheists make when they exercise their version of moral equivalency.
You were the one who attacked me. I responded with wit, reason and facts.
I have never understood why atheists see their personal, hateful attacks as completely innocent, but then regard thoughtful discussion as trolling.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - I never attacked you.
I simply renamed you for your crimes against humanity as you so lovingly did to others on this site.
Nothing personal
@tgwiy - Whether one has character or not is a value judgment.
Atheists cannot make value judgments unless they adopt Christian values or values from some other religion whose values come from the Creator.
Morals can only come from an authority that is greater than man.
Man cannot create morals because all men are created equal and that makes all version of morality created by men equal.
So Stalin’s morality of mass murder is just as good as your version of what character is sense you are not better than he is.
@tgwiy - Yeah right. So you are excusing yourself because you acted like me.
You have just admitted to being a pious, sanctimonious hypocrite. You’d be very much at home posting on Revelife.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - Do as you say not as you do eh?
@tgwiy - @LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - I thought this one was one of my dull ones…go figure whatever you do, do not chase each other off. I like both of you.
@tgwiy - Changing the subject won’t do you any good. Atheism is a hoax. And you are the proof that atheists always seek yet ignore.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace -
Right, because some desert dwelling dude rising from the dead totally happened. Not a hoax at all.
@tgwiy - You are changing the subject – AGAIN. But I’ll bite.
The civilizing force that Judeo-Christianity is, is undeniable. You are enjoying Western Civilization, courtesy of that “desert dwelling dude.”
Your anti-Christian bigotry is astounding. If you had any of that character you supposedly cherish, you would show a little respect for the greatest social force on earth.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - I’m going to go ahead and deny that anyone ever, was able to rise from the dead after 3 days. Maybe a coma, but not from being dead.
It’s ridiculous.
@tgwiy - You are making an issue of something that is totally irrelevant.
Western Civilization is the greatest civilization in human history. And it was powered by Christianity. All the values you hold dear come from Christianity.
So to make fun of Jesus of Nazareth is supremely inane.
Maybe he’s a right-wing crazy, maybe not. But he is crazy. We can all agree on that.
Um, did you read the passage you quoted from harris? He was saying he didn’t think he had religious motivation for the killing. So did the first xanga atheist to comment on your blog.
How you concluded that atheists (and specifically sam harris) are out to use this incident to smear christians is beyond me. You see what you want to see.