Sam Harris vs. Ben Affleck

Last month I gave one cheer for Sam Harris, the atheist author who wrongly excoriates Christianity but defends Israel and realistically criticizes Islam. This week I’m impressed by his blog post on Tuesday, “Can Liberalism Be Saved From Itself?” He was getting in the last word in relation to his appearance on Bill Maher’s HBO rantfest, when Ben Affleck fell into an actor’s occupational hazard: I directed and starred in a film set in the Middle East so I’m an expert on Islam.

“Contrary to what many liberals believe, those bad boys who are getting off the bus in Syria at this moment to join ISIS are not all psychopaths, nor are they simply depressed people who have gone to the desert to die,” Harris wrote. “Most of them are profoundly motivated by their beliefs. Many surely feel like spiritual James Bonds, fighting a cosmic war against evil. After all, they are spreading the one true faith to the ends of the earth—or they will die trying, and be martyred, and then spend eternity in Paradise. Secular liberals seem unable to grasp how psychologically rewarding this worldview must be.”

When Affleck spoke about moderate Muslims who condemn ISIS, Harris asked, “What do you think would happen if we had burned a copy of the Koran on tonight’s show? There would be riots in scores of countries. Embassies would fall. In response to our mistreating a book, millions of Muslims would take to the streets, and we would spend the rest of our lives fending off credible threats of murder. But when ISIS crucifies people, buries children alive, and rapes and tortures women by the thousands—all in the name of Islam—the response is a few small demonstrations in Europe and a hashtag.”

Harris called for “honest talk about the link between belief and behavior.” He agreed with Affleck that the war in Iraq was catastrophic, but “take a moment to appreciate how bleak it is to admit that the world would be better off if we had left Saddam Hussein in power. Here was one of the most evil men who ever lived, holding an entire country hostage. And yet his tyranny was also preventing a religious war between Shia and Sunni, the massacre of Christians, and other sectarian horrors. To say that we should have left Saddam Hussein alone says some very depressing things about the Muslim world.”