Comments on: On Sam Harris and the Limits of Conversational Intolerance

By: Gandalf's beard

Gandalf's beard — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:54:22 +0000

Sam Harris, worst spokesperson for Atheism in recent history…

https://www.facebook.com/notes/gandalfs-beard/sam-harris-worst-spokesperson-for-atheism-in-recent-history/372788029484142

I have been threatened with banning on several occasions by admins on a couple of Atheist/Agnostic FB pages for making reasoned arguments against Harris’s selective, warmongering, “racist” brand of Atheism.

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 01:45:55 +0000

i just finished reading that long and excellent deconstruction piece on Harris. what a superb piece of writing by Theodore Sayeed. as someone who have read Harris’ books and articles and watched his videos on the web, i can say that the critiques leveled by this article on Harris are spot on! *oh, snap*!

quotable quote: “It is sometimes alleged of Harris that no amount of data and facts will budge his doggedly anti-Muslim atavism. I think this is unjust; Harris does evolve with the facts. But like the ever moving goal post, he does so with stealth so as to mask his contradictions.”

this is a very noticeable pattern of Harris. the latest incident which led to him be schooled by security expert Bruce Schneier in their debate on “Profiling” is another excellent example.

Theodore Sayeed have written the most articulate critique of Harris i’ve read so far. Sayeed painstakingly laid out the reasons why i don’t take Harris seriously when it comes to geopolitics and foreign policy, and why i think Harris’s biggest BLIND SPOT is the National Security State.

if you think Harris has any credibility to to be taken seriously on matters of geopolitics and foreign policy, read this excellent piece. if you’re a Harris fanboy and you refuse to read this piece, then blame yourself for being an ignorant fool.

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:40:36 +0000

thanks for the link, Al. will check it out!

By: Al

Al — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:28:58 +0000

Good critique of Harris

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/sam-harris-uncovered.html

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:36:09 +0000

gee, so how about waging a War on Furnitures?

“According to the report, the number of U.S. citizens who died in terrorist attacks increased by two between 2010 and 2011; overall, a comparable number of Americans are crushed to death by their televisions or furniture each year. This is not to diminish the real–albeit shrinking–threat of terrorism, or to minimize the loss and suffering of the 13,000 killed and over 45,000 injured around the world. For Americans, however, it should emphasize that an irrational fear of terrorism is both unwarranted and a poor basis for public policy decisions.”

http://www.classwarfareexists.com/americans-are-as-likely-to-be-killed-by-their-own-furniture-as-by-terrorism/

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:35:38 +0000

How the CIA Operates the International Drug Trade and keeps Drugs Illegal in the US ~ http://decryptedmatrix.com/live/how-the-cia-operates-the-international-drug-trade-and-keeps-drugs-illegal-in-the-us/

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:34:57 +0000

‎”If the number of civilian casualties increased by ten, while the amount of suspected militants killed increased by only one hundred, it is implausible that only twenty additional civilians were killed while the next 1,500 militants lost their lives. In Afghanistan, where American and international forces enjoy significantly greater intelligence and situational awareness from villagers on the ground and surveillance aircraft overhead than in Pakistan, Predator drones have mistakenly killed civilians on several occasions, including twenty-three deaths in a February 2010 incident—as well as U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Smith and Naval reservist Benjamin D. Rast in April 2011, the first U.S. servicemembers killed by an American drone.”

http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2012/06/04/how-many-civilians-are-killed-by-u-s-drones/

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:34:38 +0000

“Even worse, Klaidman — all based on a single and highly aberrational interview excerpt – has the audacity to insinuate that surviving relatives of America’s Muslim drone victims are not just understanding of but grateful for the U.S. attacks. In reality, it’s simply indisputable that drones (for obvious and completely understandable reasons) are a leading cause of rising anti-American hatred among would-be Terrorists and their enablers. His touching little story about how CIA drone operators waited for one of their targets to finish playing with his small child before blowing the father to bits is just too propagandistic for words (aren’t our leaders so deeply humanitarian?). His blithe dismissal of concerns about illegality — as the words of the Fifth Amendment’s due process guarantee flashed on the screen — is nothing but pure ignorance: someone please explain to him that an act of Congress like the AUMF cannot override Constitutional protections. His claim of few civilian deaths ignores the recent revelation that the U.S. “counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants.” And the language that he uses — “no responsible American President would allow Al Qaeda to plot attacks against The Homeland unmolested” — sounds like a George Orwell parody of CIA literature.”

http://www.salon.com/2012/06/08/media_drones_and_rank_propaganda/singleton/

By: c4chaos

c4chaos — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:34:13 +0000

btw, here are some examples of the articles I posted on Sam’s FB page which got deleted…