When Atheists Attack

I've read this like 5 times and could read it 5 more. Sam makes excellent points. Too bad some people just don't get it and never will. LOST!

To the previous poster: please please explain to me how Mr. Harris is an ???idiot???.

Webster???s defines idiot as: a foolish or stupid person or a person affected with extreme mental retardation.

Mr. Harris has published numerous books, won prizes in literature, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in neuroscience at Stanford University. Indeed, his resume and his body of work is quite the opposite of an ???idiot.???

Perhaps it is you Loriw, who is the idiot. Perhaps you are the type of person so blinded by the myth of religion that you cannot see beyond your limited, narrow dogmatic view of the world (and yes Loriw, the world is older than 6000 years) and will label someone an ???idiot??? merely because they disagree in the believe that a jewish carpenter was the son of god. Only a ???foolish or stupid person??? would see that resume and call him an idiot.

Moreover, although this is an opinion piece, please tell me where the facts that Mr. Harris cites are untrue. Ms. Palin is an evangelical christian that takes the text in a 2000 year old book (whom no one knows actually wrote, and no Loriw, it was not ???God???) as LITERAL and also rejects hundreds of years of scientific study, scholarship and research with respect to evolution as non-sense. Sorry, Loriw, that is also the definition of idiocy, because only a ???foolish or stupid person??? would dismiss logic, reason, science, and observation in favor of an un-provable, unscientific, and illogical myth that that is religion.

I can only come to the conclusion that the people who depise Sarah Palin are jealous. Green with Jealousy. What other human emotion would elicite such rage? Sandra Bernhardt just did a stage show (I believe it was a scene from Rosemary's baby) which was so mean and vile I expected her head to do a 360 and green vomit to spew forth from the opening in the front of her head. Many of the posts just say how stupid she is...but no evidence to back it up. I guess only Harvard grads are suitted to run the country. We were founded to escape Kings and royalty. We were to be goverened by Citizen representatives. Why does it always have to be a lawyer. We should elect someone based on their Character, not on their image or ability to speak well. I would trst John McCain with the Presidency because he proved his character in a vietnamese POW camp. For you liberals who are unfamiliar with the term, Character is how you behave when no one is looking. Obama puts down average Americans for toting guns and thumping Bibles. He is two faced and hypocritical. I also trsut Sarah Palin, because of her Character.. She can learn and do anything she puts her mind to do. Last time I checked you couldn't major in "President " at Harvard. Chose people based on Character, not on education level. They will make the best decisions for us as a country. Clinton was a Rhodes scholar, but would anyone trust him with their wife or daughter? Don't let the liberal media aka TASS decide who will be the next President. They have implanted alll these doubts in your minds. America needs a free press. If Obama gets elected our so called free press automatically converts to a propaganda machine. Now all the liberals: please feel free to correct my grammer a, spelling and syntax. That is how you judge people.

Here's an article about people in Alaska who don't like Ms. Palin even though she paid every one 3200 dollars with stolen money:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/23/palin/?source=newsletter

I could not have said it better myself. This article sums up everything that I find so terrifying, not only in possibility of a VP Palin, but in the mindset of her supporters.
I'm sure she's a nice person, and it seems that she has been a fairly good Govenor, but to suggest that she is ready to be VP or, heaven forbid, President of the most powerful country on Earth is not only laughable, it's dangerous. This election honestly scares me. What has happened to my country? Since when did Separation of Church and state become optional? This is not the America that the founding Fathers had in mind...who, by the way, were for the most part NOT Christian.

Hmm, maybe we should had sent Palin to Olympics to do some swimming for US, she can swim right? And I am sure she would not had hesitated to step up on the start block (and take a place from a dedicated athlete, who had trained for that moment most of her life) and do her very best without blinking her eye. Or she could had wired her house for electricity, or flown a jet to JFK... Who needs all these specialists, or elites, if the regular guy and girl can do it with enough faith in God. WHAT COULD GO WRONG??? Please, (God in heaven or where ever you reside), lets not find out...

Sarah Palin's selection was an insult to all the much better qualified Republican women who were passed over in the selection process. It is also an insult to women voters and to voters in general to think that we would be so easily bought. If this campaign is any indication of her intended role in the White House, I think she should be insulted too--the token Mom. Keep her in the background and bring her out only when you need some applause. Give her written speeches on teleprompters and don???t let her speak on her own. Certainly she can???t be entrusted to meet the press except in controlled environments. The fact that she???s not insisting to get out there and face the tough questions tells me that she also knows she???s not ready.

And please don???t compare Sarah Palin to Ronald Reagan who was much more astute and knew what was going on before he decided to run. He wasn???t taken by surprise. He didn???t have to take a Cliff Notes course behind closed doors. At this dangerous moment in our history when we seem about to crash and burn are we really going to make the choice of a President like a high school popularity contest?

In the past 50 years I've read more than once that In order for a democratic society to function properly there needs to be a well informed and well educated populace - and we ain't got one! The Republicans have found they can manipulate American voters using the "moron factor". In 2004 they won using the religious "moron factor". In this election year they are tapping into the female "moron factor". Let's see what happens!!!!

Because of your letter, I am now more convinced than ever that I will vote for Mrs. Palin. Joseph was a boy sold into slavery, and went from jail the second highest in command in Egypt. Moses was a shepherd in the Land of Midian, after running for his life, for taking the life of an Egyptian who was mistreating one of his people. King David had been just a shepherd boy, but battled an armor bearing, weapon toting giant, and was chosen to be King of Israel. Gideon was one of the least of his people, but became one of the Judges of Israel. Queen Esther was a woman chosen to be a part of King Ahasuerus's harem, A lowly jew, looked down upon by the people in power, her wisdom and faith saved her people. Your right, Sara Palin is not capable of leading our nation; but God is! If Mrs. Palin is the Christian you say she is, she will try to lead this nation based on God's Word (the Bible), she will pray daily and ask God for wisdom, she will settle for truth and justice regardless of how well she is rated by the polls. Yes, I have a college education, I served my country in the military, I am a faithful Christian, husband and father. I love my country; The United States of America! I will stand with those others who say, God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home! .

because palin is a good mother doesnt make her fit to run this nation. the state of alaska doesnt have alot of people so i think that anyone can be governor of alaska but handing her another 49 states is obsurd!!!!!!!!!!! if you want to continue in this turmoil then vote republican if you want change then vote for obama!!!!!!!

I disagree with the idea that Sam Harris is insulting Sarah Palin's religious views. While he is an admitted atheist, who disagrees with all religions, not just Christianity as some would like to think, I believe his main argument is that one should not substitute religious conviction with critical thinking and an ability to do a given job. A person's faith is their own affair, but when you use that faith to trumpet your credentials for a public office, then your faith becomes the public's affair. I find it intellectually chilling when someone uses their faith in a God to justify a course of action. As Sam Harris so ably stated a belief in God does not automatically qualify you to be a neurosurgeon, yet for millions of people in this country it does seem to qualify you to be president. I do not object to Sarah Palin becuase she is a conservative, though I do disagree with her stance on a number of issues, I object to Sarah Palin because she seems equate cast critical thinking and balanced decision making into the realm of the snobbery and elitism. She and her like would rather rely on gut instincts and the belief that God is on their side, I find that scary. I would prefer my President to have the highest quality of education available in this country, I would like him/her to be as critical a thinker as possible, and I would wish that they be able to put aside their personal religious belief and do what they think is best for the whole of the land and not just for those who believer as they do.

I disagree with the idea that Sam Harris is insulting Sarah Palin's religious views. While he is an admitted atheist, who disagrees with all religions, not just Christianity as some would like to think, I believe his main argument is that one should not substitute religious conviction with critical thinking and an ability to do a given job. A person's faith is their own affair, but when you use that faith to trumpet your credentials for a public office, then your faith becomes the public's affair. I find it intellectually chilling when someone uses their faith in a God to justify a course of action. As Sam Harris so ably stated a belief in God does not automatically qualify you to be a neurosurgeon, yet for millions of people in this country it does seem to qualify you to be president. I do not object to Sarah Palin becuase she is a conservative, though I do disagree with her stance on a number of issues, I object to Sarah Palin because she seems equate cast critical thinking and balanced decision making into the realm of the snobbery and elitism. She and her like would rather rely on gut instincts and the belief that God is on their side, I find that scary. I would prefer my President to have the highest quality of education available in this country, I would like him/her to be as critical a thinker as possible, and I would wish that they be able to put aside their personal religious belief and do what they think is best for the whole of the land and not just for those who believer as they do.