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Sunday, February 12, 2006

Sam Harris on Islam and the Danish cartoons

One of my favorite authors, Sam Harris, has written another extraordinary piece, this time on the website Truthdig (archaeology meets media criticism). In it he offers his opinion on the recent violence over the Danish cartoons that have resulted in anger and violence among outraged Muslims (see my post here). He articulates why Muslims are outraged and proceeds to lay the smackdown:

It is time we recognized—and obliged the Muslim world to recognize—that “Muslim extremism” is not extreme among Muslims. Mainstream Islam itself represents an extremist rejection of intellectual honesty, gender equality, secular politics and genuine pluralism. The truth about Islam is as politically incorrect as it is terrifying: Islam is all fringe and no center. In Islam, we confront a civilization with an arrested history. It is as though a portal in time has opened, and the Christians of the 14th century are pouring into our world.

Read the piece and be enlightened. And if you haven't already, pick up The End of Faith by Sam Harris. It is the one book that has most profoundly changed my life.

Posted by Will at February 12, 2006 11:09 PM in In the News | Philosophy and Religion

Comments

Thanks for pointing that out. It's another site added to my newsreader :)

Posted by: alun [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 13, 2006 10:20 AM