tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post8385655564845004836..comments2024-03-26T14:20:38.103-04:00Comments on The Thought Criminal: Sam Harris Takes On The Tall Trees And Gets Tangled In The "Weeds" A Report From The New Dark Age of "Science"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-85214555928455696922015-05-06T13:09:14.867-04:002015-05-06T13:09:14.867-04:00I don't have a whole lot of respect for PEN or...I don't have a whole lot of respect for PEN or the scribbling profession, with some notable and honorable exceptions. I will look into it, it sounds worth looking into. The Thought Criminalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01381376556757084468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-42266954639737319382015-05-06T09:41:26.521-04:002015-05-06T09:41:26.521-04:00I don't like to engage in this kind of argumen...I don't like to engage in this kind of argument, but PEN has given an award to "Charlie Hebdo" for their "courage." Salon published in article making reference to a speech Garry Trudeau gave on the matter (I need to look up the original) and I agreed with Trudeau that "Charlie Hebdo" wasn't really to be honored because of their martyrdom, that it didn't elevate what they did, which Trudeau described as "punching down" rather than up.<br /><br />The connection is that PEN also gave Harris an award for his first book, "The End of Faith." He was praised as the time (not necessarily by PEN) for his "courage."<br /><br />It's a very warped idea of courage that's being bandied about; seems to be all about a very particular class of people. Same as it ever was, I suppose....Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-38751687350957778212015-05-06T09:36:41.657-04:002015-05-06T09:36:41.657-04:00There is a controversy now about the canonization ...There is a controversy now about the canonization of an American saint by Pope Francis, which he is due to finalize when he comes to America. Critics say the soon-to-be saint was a slave master and abused the natives, and doesn't deserve sainthood.<br /><br />I know nothing of the case, having never heard of the man, who founded several missions in California. I do know the Catholic church was an arm of the Spanish king, and was anything but Christian and docile in dealing with the natives here. OTOH, an historian interviewed on BBC said both critics and supporters of the canonization were cherry-picking facts to support their positions.<br /><br />Same as it ever was.<br /><br />But it came to mind when I read Harris' charge that Christians baptized babies, and then immediately dispatched them. I put that down with my Baptist friend's sincere belief the priest impregnated the nuns, and buried the aborted fetuses on the grounds of the convents. Balderdash and lies, in other words.<br /><br />The exchange at the Salon site has been almost comical. It made me look up some of what I'd posted about Harris, and the best of what I had was reviews of his books (which I've never bothered to read, life is too short to waste it on fools). The reviews were far more intelligent than anything raised by any of the Harris fanboys at Salon, who retreated into "oh, yeah?" and "Prove it!", the sandbox taunts of children that pass for logic in most comment sections. <br /><br />For people who profess to be "logical" and "rational" and, therefore, completely anti-religious (the three go hand in hand, especially with the "New Atheist" fanboys who love them some Harris, et al.), they really aren't capable of the hard work of reasoning. Chomsky is a supremely rational thinker (too much so for some of his positions, frankly). As one commenter at Salon said, Chomsky gutted Harris like a fish. Yet neither Harris nor his supporters had the intelligence (or reasoning ability) to realize what had happened.<br /><br />Reasoning really is supremely difficult. It's almost amusing how few people are capable of it, yet think themselves more rational than thou. Small wonder Harris has such a following among them.Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.com