RugbyRebels

There's nothing particularly relevant about this question, I'm just curious what the consensus is. I find some of his work very interesting, even if I don't agree with a lot of it.

I can imagine what Rowan might think. Is he a complete crackpot or is there some worthwhile stuff in there?

I think his views on profiling and 'black lives matter' have, at the very least, created some interesting discussion. Maybe someone else is doing all of this stuff better? I just kind of stumbled on to him and his podcast, it's quite interesting.

He and Reza Aslan have had some pretty heated debates on religion, I find myself rocking back and forth between who's "side" I'm on, as much as that is possible.

Harris is quite abrasive, his views are very rational and hard to argue with but he's almost too dismissive of the realities of the world and hence can come across as aggressive as a religious zealot.

From what I've seen Aslan is more inclusive and perhaps its more likely for his views to take hold, but at the same time the underlying fact is he is promoting religion, which is nonsensical to me.

Haven't seen any of Harris' non-religious stuff so cheers for sharing the link. As you said he's always good for getting you thinking, at the very least.

Just listened to some of his bits on Black Lives matter, in particular, and it reinforces my perception that he is driven by rationality, but its often clouded to the realities of the modern world.

Its very hard to fault him logically, he obviously spends a lot of time building his arguments to make sure they are "foolproof" in a debate situation, but the reality is people aren't computers so these topics need to be broached in a way that generates actual change in an imperfect society.

With religion, yes of course it is all poppycock but the reality is it ain't going anywhere, perhaps step one is understanding and equality before we jump ahead to rationally attacking everyone. With Black Lives Matter, yes the end result is everyone being treated equally, but step one to getting there is recognising the scales sometimes have to be artificially tipped too far the other way to reconcile current situations.

Mikey Brown wrote:There's nothing particularly relevant about this question, I'm just curious what the consensus is. I find some of his work very interesting, even if I don't agree with a lot of it.

I can imagine what Rowan might think. Is he a complete crackpot or is there some worthwhile stuff in there?

I think his views on profiling and 'black lives matter' have, at the very least, created some interesting discussion. Maybe someone else is doing all of this stuff better? I just kind of stumbled on to him and his podcast, it's quite interesting.

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Agree with Jared re Aslan (which means 'lion,' btw). He's a very clever fellow who makes some excellent points and has destroyed a few misconceptions about Islam, but ultimately he is driven by religion, and while I have a sort of agnostic each-to-their-own apporach to religion because everything's possible, I don't have a lot of respect for scripture and its disciples.

Not familiar with Harris. I'll check out the vid when I have a bit of time and get back to you.

That particular clip just seemed like a lot of superfluous woffle to me, and largely of a 'White Man's Burden' nature. Also, the features attributed to Islam that were depicted are actually not widely practised by Muslims. The burqa, for example, is not compulsory in most Islamic countries and was banned here in Turkey, as it was by Assad in Syria (though both countries have relaxed that particular law more recently). Where is it compulsory? America's close ally Saudi Arabia enforces it, as does the Taliban in Afghanistan, which is the legacy of a US-backed Mujahideen rebellion to overthrow the socialist government of that nation in the 1970s, under which women had enjoyed full equal rights. No mention in that clip either of American bombing of the Middle East. What moral questions should be raised about this from the purely scientific perspective? How about the crimes of the US-backed Egyptian dictatorship and Israeli Apartheid regime against their Muslim subjects. That could have been raised as well