letter to a christian nation by sam harris

It is remarkably easy for a person to arrive at this epiphany-and yet, it had to be spread at the point of a bayonet throughout the Confederate South, among the most pious Christians this country has ever known.' (pp. 'The moment a person recognizes that slaves are human beings like himself, enjoying the same capacity for suffering and happiness, he will understand that it is patently evil to own them and treat them like farm equipment. You are, of course, free to interpret the Bible differently-though isn't it amazing that you have succeeded in discerning the true teachings of Christianity, while the most influential thinkers in the history of your faith have failed?' (pp.

Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. 'The problem, however, is that the teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. The next three quotes demonstrate that the Bible (and all religions in general) is not necessarily the best moral compass to live by: The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency.' (p. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious.

'Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. Remarking on how America stands virtually alone among the developed nations in the percentage of people who read the Bible literally: Most of them are self-explanatory, but I will add comments where necessary to help put them in context.

Just finished reading Sam Harris' new book 'Letter to a Christian Nation' and I'd like to post some of my favorite quotes.

Letter to a christian nation by sam harris