Will Harris
Will Harris
William Taylor Harrisis an American professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies...
father teaching night
We read the Golden Rule and judge it to be a brilliant distillation of many of our ethical impulses. And then we come across another of God’s teachings on morality: if a man discovers on his wedding night that his bride is not a virgin, he must stone her to death on her father’s doorstep (Deuteronomy 22:13-21).
spiritual creativity ignorance
Rather than bring the full force of our creativity and rationality to bear on the problems of ethics, social cohesion, and even spiritual experience, moderates merely ask that we relax our standard of adherence to ancient superstitions and taboos, while otherwise maintaining a belief system that was passed down to us from men and women whose lives were simply ravaged by their basic ignorance about the world.
atheist believe needs
Where we have reasons for what we believe, we have no need of faith; where we have no reasons, we have lost both our connection to the world and to one another.
rely-upon intuition world
You are using your own moral intuitions to authenticate the wisdom of the Bible - and then, in the next moment, you assert that we human beings cannot possibly rely upon our own intuitions to rightly guide us in the world.
worried provocative let-me
Let me assure you that my intent is not to offend or merely be provocative. I'm simply worried.
spiritual atheist self
Many of my fellow atheists consider all talk of 'spirituality' or 'mysticism' to be synonymous with mental illness, conscious fraud, or self-deception. I have argued elsewhere that this is a problem - because millions of people have had experiences for which 'spiritual' and 'mystical' seem the only terms available.
worry people share
It's not so much religion per se, it's false certainty that worries me, and religion just has more than its fair share of false certainty or dogmatism. I'm really concerned when I see people pretending to know things they clearly cannot know.
talking civilization islam
To speak specifically of our problem with the Muslim world, we are meandering into a genuine clash of civilizations, and we're deluding ourselves with euphemisms. We're talking about Islam being a religion of peace that's been hijacked by extremists. If ever there were a religion that's not a religion of peace, it is Islam.
differences islam coins
There's no way to reconcile Islam with Christianity. This difference of opinion admits of compromise as much as a coin toss does.
failing well-being wells
Any conception of human well-being you could plausibly have, the Taliban patently fails to maximize it.
cases made willing
In my own case, the most inflammatory statements I have ever made are ones that I have written and remain willing to defend.
morality framework untrue
It's simply untrue that religion provides the only framework for a universal morality.
want moderates lunacy
Moderates want their faith respected. They don't want faith itself criticized, and yet faith itself is what is bringing us all this - this lunacy.
rome religion ashes
And while Protestant reformers broke with Rome on a variety of counts, their treatment of their fellow human beings was no less disgraceful. Public executions were more popular than ever: heretics were still reduced to ash, scholars were tortured and killed for impertinent displays of reason, and fornicators were murdered without a qualm.