Nice little article, hits the nail on the head...

**R13** · March 28th, 2010, 02:22 PM

couldn't have been said better.

(CNN) -- For the world to tackle truly important problems, people have to stop looking to religion to guide their moral compasses, the philosopher Sam Harris told CNN.

"We should be talking about real problems, like nuclear proliferation and genocide and poverty and the crisis in education," Harris said in a recent interview at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. TED is a nonprofit group dedicated to "ideas worth spreading."

"These are issues which tremendous swings in human well-being depend on. And it's not at the center of our moral concern."

Religion causes people to fixate on issues of less moral importance, said Harris, a well-known secularist, philosopher and neuroscientist who is the author of the books "The End of Faith" and "Letter to a Christian Nation."

"Religion has convinced us that there's something else entirely other than concerns about suffering. There's concerns about what God wants, there's concerns about what's going to happen in the afterlife," he said.

"And, therefore, we talk about things like gay marriage as if it's the greatest problem of the 21st century. We even have a liberal president who ostensibly is against gay marriage because his faith tells him it's an abomination.

"It's completely insane."

Watch Harris' talk at the TED Conference

Harris also said people should not be afraid to declare that certain acts are right and others are wrong. A person who would spill battery acid on a girl for trying to learn to read, for instance, he said, is objectively wrong by scientific standards.

"It's not our job to not judge it and say, 'Well, to each his own. Everyone has to work out their own strategy for human fulfillment.' That's just not true," he said.

"There's people who are wrong about human fulfillment."

Harris placed no faith in the idea that Muslims and Christians will be able to put their differences aside and cooperate on global issues.

"There's no way to reconcile Islam with Christianity," he said. "This difference of opinion admits of compromise as much as a coin toss does."

Philosopher: Why we should ditch religion - CNN.com

**1inStripes** · March 28th, 2010, 05:02 PM

Isn't am Harris a guy that is classified as an atheist, yet believes in Buddism?

**R13** · March 28th, 2010, 06:03 PM

I don't know about believing in it, but he's big on the meditation part and loosely uses atheism...the "by definition" type. I think very highly of Buddhism though, it lacks the bloodiness of Christianity and Islam, it's done a lot more positives than negatives unlike ones like those 2. And Buddha's teachings are what I like to live by, it's the same thing really Jesus taught, but promotes free-thought and free-will - perfect combination.

**cosmo99** · March 28th, 2010, 06:06 PM

Philosopher: Why we should ditch religion - CNN.com

Lets say even if there was a "Law" that said no one in the USA can practice religion of any kind.. For those of us with faith, you can't take that away. For those of us that have God in our hearts, you can't take that away. I have often heard the saying that you can take my body but you can't take my soul. Now I know that a lot of posters on here do not believe in God but I do. I don't ask you to skirt around any thing and never say that there isn't a God because if you don't believe then that is you, but for me, I believe. I am not at all going to say you are stupid or ignorant and I think the same courtesy should be applied (not saying that anyone has said these things, I'm just sayin').. So, enjoy the rest of your Palm Sunday!

**R13** · March 28th, 2010, 06:19 PM

Who are all of these people? I know of 3, me and buckeye are agnostics and I think biggin is an atheist, maybe agnostic...but I could be wrong. It's a pretty religious board. I don't think he's calling for a law, but that if people just dropped religion, the world would be a better place. And that it would do a lot of good here in the US too, so that we could focus on real issues and not ones that have been blown up solely because of religion...but really aren't problems at all. I haven't ever said 'there isn't a God", I don't know and while I think there probably isn't, I can never say for certain. I just wish the other side would have that same mentality, because they don't know either - that wasn't towards you, jsut in general.

**cosmo99** · March 28th, 2010, 06:32 PM

You 3 are enough to be a bunch LOL!! (Just kiddin)..when you say that you can't say whether or not there is a God, that is where my faith comes in. I fully believe there is a God.
I know he isn't calling for a law I was basically saying "what if".. There are just somethings you can't take from people so not having a religious USA really wouldn't help because you can't take a person's religion or beliefs away from them.

**R13** · March 28th, 2010, 09:14 PM

I'd never support taking religion away from anyone, I agree with you, but there's some things I'd like to see change. I'd like to see more open-mindedness, in schools, laws and especially parents with their children - now there's 2 that can actually be changed, but the last is up to the parents. It's still looked down on to question your religion, there was a poll that said atheists are the least trusted group in America, it's ridiculous. There's so much misinformation and refusal to take a look at the other side it's ridiculous, I'm confident that if things were laid out and questioning was more widely accepted, there would be a lot less religion/Christianity in America. It's more accepted over the past 20+ years and in that 20 years, Christianity has dropped 10% and atheists/agnostics have more than doubled.

**1inStripes** · March 28th, 2010, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by R13

I'd never support taking religion away from anyone, I agree with you, but there's some things I'd like to see change. I'd like to see more open-mindedness, in schools, laws and especially parents with their children - now there's 2 that can actually be changed, but the last is up to the parents. It's still looked down on to question your religion, there was a poll that said atheists are the least trusted group in America, it's ridiculous. There's so much misinformation and refusal to take a look at the other side it's ridiculous, I'm confident that if things were laid out and questioning was more widely accepted, there would be a lot less religion/Christianity in America. It's more accepted over the past 20+ years and in that 20 years, Christianity has dropped 10% and atheists/agnostics have more than doubled.

No one said this place was getting any smarter.. ;p

**Biggin** · March 28th, 2010, 10:39 PM

i agree with some of what the article is saying, but i can sum up my thoughts easily:

I dont want anyone to stop practicing their faith or believing in what they believe in.
But, religion has no place in politics, period. Its illogical to govern a whole set of people, with many different beliefs, by a set of moral codes from one religion.
Religious interference in the government shows favortism towards a bloc of people at the expense of the others.

**CoeburnCane** · March 29th, 2010, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by Biggin

i agree with some of what the article is saying, but i can sum up my thoughts easily:

I dont want anyone to stop practicing their faith or believing in what they believe in.
But, religion has no place in politics, period. Its illogical to govern a whole set of people, with many different beliefs, by a set of moral codes from one religion.
Religious interference in the government shows favortism towards a bloc of people at the expense of the others.

I agree with all of that right there.

Let me also add that faith is a wonderful thing, it can cause great things to happen in life. I also believe in having a personal relationship with God (or whatever deity you believe in), as in prayer/meditation and doing your best to let your personal relationship show through your daily life.

HOWEVER--the problem is faith is a holy thing, while religion is a man-made thing. Inherent in man is sin. Thusly, religion will bend to the will of men before it will bend to the will of God. Want proof? Look around at all the people doing "X" in the name of God/the church.

Next time you see that--take "X" on it's own and ask yourself if that would be OK to do, religion as an excuse aside. Be honest with yourself when you answer.

I think you'll surprise yourself with the answers you find.