Saturday, February 18, 2012

Religion as the "Perfection of Narcissism"

Below is a video of part of a talk that Sam Harris gave at the University of Notre Dame.  I found it on YouTube under the title "Sam Harris simply destroys catholicism".  He certainly levels some devastating critiques at Catholicism in the video, but mostly he speaks about the problem of theodicy (the question of why god allows evil) and how the fact that believers are undisturbed by this evil proves their utter lack of empathy and compassion for other people.  This lack of empathy for others combined with the smug self-satisfaction of believers for having been born into the "one true religion" is, as Sam correctly notes, "the perfection of narcissism."

4 comments:

  1. Why do people continually (conveniently) confuse religion with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? He rules, like it or lump it.

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    Replies
    1. "Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?"

      ...being a tad selective, there don't you think?

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  2. Christianity is a religion. Your blind faith in it does not change that fact.

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  3. The fact is, religion is salvation-by-works, it's all about the self, the fasting, prayer formulas, and especially the brown-nosing. Meanwhile, where your heart is, doesn't enter into the picture. The Lord however knows what BS is and He cannot be fooled. There is only one God, the rest are worse than mere delusions.

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