Sam Harris called Islam- the motherlode of bad ideas, Why did the firebrand scholar have to criticise Islam like this, was there any specific agenda or was he simply speaking the truth?
Dr Sam Harris, American philosopher, neuroscientist, Yoga expert is an authoritative voice in American academia.
But he is no stranger to controversy, hailed as one of the ‘Four Horsemen of New Atheism’, he stormed the theology-science debate with his controversial 2005 book ‘The End of Faith’.
But most interesting of all is his take on Islam and Christianity.
In a debate with Ben Affleck on the Bill Maher show, Sam Harris calls ‘Islam the motherlode of bad ideas’.
While his observation is spot on, let’s understand why Islam is the ‘motherlode of bad ideas’.
Slaying of Infidels
Islam and its holy scriptures literally sanctions resorting to ‘jihad’. While there are multiple forms of jihad, the most popular is the one that is waged against ‘kafirs’.
J Sai Deepak, in India, Bharat and Pakistan-The Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilization argues that the roots of Jihad date back to the time of Sunni theologian Ibn Tahmayya in the 11th century.
Jihad expressely urges Muslims to slay ‘kafirs’ and establish an Islamic caliphate. It urges ‘true believers’ to spread the one and only true faith.
How can we expect civility & tolerance from such a dangerous religion?
No Faith for Women
The next nasty thing in the ‘you-know-who’ religion is that it is blantantly anti-women.
Several injunctions in that religion’s holiest book do not give adequate rights to women.
Muslim women are forbidden from marrying men of other faith, for that to happen the latter will have to convert to Islam, in order to become a real ‘Momin’.
Further, women are not at all allowed to go the Mosque to pray, they have to remain confined to their homes.
Throughout the history of Islam, there has never been a single female mathematician, astronomer, historian, scientist etc.
Over the years, a pernicious practice has developed in many Islamic societies- the mandatory practice of wearing the hijab.
So much so that Mahsa Amini in Iran was killed last September because of ‘improperly wearing the hijab’, it then triggered anti-establishment and anti-hijab protests in that country.
This does highlight that Islam-‘the motherlode of bad ideas’.
Anti-Rationalist & Unscientific
Islam, according to Dr Harris is unscientific as well.
It rejects the Darwinian theory of evolution, it rejects that human beings are nothing but the most intelligent animal and we have descended from primates.
It doesn’t encourage Muslims to cultivate a rationalist and skeptical mindset.
This is evident from the fact that the penalty for apostasy in Islam is death.
It is anti-science and anti-rationalist.
The concept of heaven, hell and the conception of Earth doesn’t pass the scientific test of empiricism and experimentation.
That is, perhaps, the reason why Dr Richard Dawkins, Dr Dennis Dennett, Anand Ranganathan are all critical of the anti-scientific underpinnings of the ‘you-know-who religion’.
Therefore, it is quite clear that Islam-‘the motherlode of bad ideas’.