Are Athesists Angry?
It’s hard to find a hint of anger in Sam Harris’ voice when he and Reza Aslan debate ‘Religion and Reason’ as broadcast on CSPAN’s BookTV. ( web / real video )
Whereas some of Harris’ debate partners can get a little sandpapery, puffing-out-their-chests trying and insulating their battered agurments with poor logic and weak statements propped up with self-important attitude. At least that’s what happened with Dennis Prager and Harris did a four-round exchange about faith for Jewcy.com.
To be fair, Sam Harris is not a gentle human being, but he’s not cruel either; at least not outside of the bounds of a healthy intellectual debate. He has the simple advantage of having impeccable rhetoric and reasoning.
Which leads to the question, does faith stand a chance against reason in any debate? Keep in mind that I don’t think that intellectual debates are the be-all-end-all of truth, just one useful tool for exploring an issue.