Sam Harris talks to U.K. host Piers Morgan. In the video above by OtherBarak.
I've been a follower of Sam's for decades now. I've bought his books and followed his podcasts.
Then I had a falling out with him, mainly over his extreme TDS.
My obligatory throat clearling is that I'm far from a fan-boy of Trump. He's inconsistent, incoherent and inarticulate. Just better than a Kamala. That's all. While Sam's views on him have at times seemed deranged to me. Like when he said to the Triggernometry lads something like "I don't care if Hunter Biden has dead babies in his basement, that still doesn't disqualify Joe...".
But I always thought he was spot on with his critique of Islam. He's well-read on it. As am I. We agree on the basic thrust: that there are many, a large minority, probably a plurality of the 2 billion Muslims world wide who are "deranged" -- Sam's word -- by the doctrines of their faith. And, no, it's not "all religions are equal". It's not "all religions have problematic texts". It's not "Jews are just as bad". Or any of that nonsense. The problem of Jihad, of Islam, is "orders of magnitude" -- Sam's word -- worse in the Muslim world than they are in any other religion on the planet and specifically of Jews.
I wish defenders of Israel -- and I'm glad to see Sam is a staunch defender -- would more often quote the founding documents of both the Israeli state and of Hamas. The Israeli Declaration of Independence sets out their guiding principle, as does the Charter of Hamas set out theirs. They could not be more revealing, or more opposite.
I wrote about before:The Israeli Declaration of Independence. The Hamas Charter
The Israeli Declaration of Independence:
[Article 13] THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
[Article 16]. WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. [Here]
The Hamas Charter (Article 7):
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. (Preamble)The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him." (Article 7)Palestine is an Islamic land... Since this is the case, the Liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Muslim wherever he may be. (Article 13)The Zionist project is a racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project based on seizing the properties of others; it is hostile to the Palestinian people and to their aspiration for freedom, liberation, return and self-determination. The Israeli entity is the plaything of the Zionist project and its base of aggression. (2017, Article iv).
Grok summary of Sam's points:
Sam Harris’ key points:
- Hamas’s actions and widespread Muslim support are primarily driven by religious (jihadist/Islamist) ideology, not just politics or grievances.
- Large numbers of Muslims worldwide are “powerfully deranged” by religious identity/symbols, prioritizing them even over their own children’s lives.
- Gaza/West Bank schools (many UN-funded) teach young children the love of martyrdom and hatred of Jews, producing a culture of suicide bombers and child bombs.
- Society accepts mocking other religions but not Islam, due to the risk of violent “psychopathic rage” over perceived insults to religious symbols.
- Religious fanaticism exists among a tiny minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews/settlers (settlements are provocative), but it is orders of magnitude smaller; most Jews are secular.
- Radicalization stems mainly from ideas of martyrdom and jihad that cross borders and recruit people with no personal grievances.
- Israel is fighting a “suicidal death cult” that uses human shields, embeds among civilians, and sees its own civilian casualties as a PR advantage because believers expect paradise.
It's not a land war in Gaza. It's a religious war. Hamas doesn't want more land for "two states". It wants the annihilation of Israel, the killing and displacement of Jews, so that they can reoccupy "from the River to the Sea". And so does the Palestinian Authority. And so does Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They all do. All the countries surrounding Israel. The all want it.
And what's the west's reaction? On the Left it's to say: "Ok, let's recognise Palestine as a state". Which Australia has done. To its shame. Though at their current Labor Party Conference they seem to be proud of what they've done. I say: Shame.
