Via Andrew Sullivan, we find Sam Harris telling atheists not to consider themselves atheists at the annual atheist conference, and suggests that there is a need for more specificity in meting out criticism of religion:
The problem is that the concept of atheism imposes upon us a false burden of remaining fixated on people's beliefs about God and remaining even-handed in our treatment of religion. But we shouldn't be fixated, and we shouldn't be even-handed. In fact, we should be quick to point out the differences among religions, for two reasons.
First, these differences make all religions look contingent, and therefore silly. Consider the unique features of Mormonism, which may have some relevance in the next Presidential election. Mormonism, it seems to me, is -- objectively -- just a little more idiotic than Christianity is. It has to be: because it is Christianity plus some very stupid ideas. For instance, the Mormons think Jesus is going to return to earth and administer his Thousand years of Peace, at least part of the time, from the state of Missouri. Why does this make Mormonism less likely to be true than Christianity? Because whatever probability you assign to Jesus' coming back, you have to assign a lesser probability to his coming back and keeping a summer home in Jackson County, Missouri. If Mitt Romney wants to be the next President of the United States, he should be made to feel the burden of our incredulity. We can make common cause with our Christian brothers and sisters on this point. Just what does the man believe? The world should know. And it is almost guaranteed to be embarrassing even to most people who believe in the biblical God.
I myself think that if Jesus were coming to Missouri, he'd be much more likely to set up shop in Branson. And that the argument against making a lack of faith into some sort of movement is a fair one, since classifying yourself as such leaves you open to having to defend your lack of belief in god as a faith in and of itself. And it amounts to naming something that isn't there in the first place.
--Kate Sheppard
