On the Soapbox

I recently read this column by Sam Harris* at the LA Times. The crux of what he has to say is neatly encapsulated in the 5th-to-last paragraph:

The problem is that wherever one stands on this continuum, one inadvertently shelters those who are more fanatical than oneself from criticism. Ordinary fundamentalist Christians, by maintaining that the Bible is the perfect word of God, inadvertently support the Dominionists--men and women who, by the millions, are quietly working to turn our country into a totalitarian theocracy reminiscent of John Calvin's Geneva. Christian moderates, by their lingering attachment to the unique divinity of Jesus, protect the faith of fundamentalists from public scorn. Christian liberals--who aren't sure what they believe but just love the experience of going to church occasionally--deny the moderates a proper collision with scientific rationality. And in this way centuries have come and gone without an honest word being spoken about God in our society.

While I have never liked religious extremists and fundamentalists, religious moderates and liberals are those whose beliefs I do not agree with, but that I will happily respect and accept. Harris' argument that moderates serve as an enabler and shield for those who are more extreme is thus a troubling--though interesting--take on things. On one hand, I think it is intriguing. But for the most part, I have some doubts about how true it is in reality and to what extent those in the middle of the spectrum really do provide a favorable environment for those at the extreme, and this is certainly not helped by Harris being a poor articulator of ideas. I am curious what others think about this.

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* He is basically condensing what he wrote in his book, The End of Faith, into a much shorter form with this column, and quite frankly, I think it is much more lucid and well-articulated here (though still scatter-brained) than it ever was in his tediously long-winded book.