Now, I am asking this as a lifelong atheist who doesn’t know all that much about relgigion. But I just read this book (is that the hottest author ever, by the way?), which raised a lot of questions in my pretty little head.
The author states that “real” (i.e., fundamentalist) Christians, Jews and Muslims believe that their particular Holy Book is the Word of God. No questions asked. Follow every word. This makes sense, right?
He goes on to state that the nice, reasonable, “cafeteria” Christians, Jews and Muslims—the kind we befriend and chat with here on the Boards—are fooling themselves. “Well, I believe in the Old Testament [or New Testament, or Koran], but I don’t believe you should stone adultresses to death or torch entire towns because some inhabitants are infidels.”
Harris argues that these people are making deals with themselves psychologically, because if they admitted that some of their religion is outdated rantings from thousands of years ago, they’d have to let in a chink of reason and admit that maybe none of their Holy Book held water.
Opinions?