Harris And Maher

Two relatively famous white guys got together on television after the recent trial of Dylann Roof, and just after a terrorist attack in Quebec City. In the former case, Roof gunned down innocent church goers in America, and in the latter case Bissonnette gunned down innocent members of a mosque in Quebec City. Both of the killers were white, just like Adam Lanza was white, Jared Loughner, James Holmes, and many others. None of them were particularly religious.

So what did the two white guys decide to talk about? Did they even mention the attack in Quebec City? No…..they decided to discuss Muslims. They decided to talk about a religion and how there needs to be a civil war within that religion. Harris claimed that there was a war of ideas going on — that was the important part for him. Then he went on about what would happen if another religion like Mormonism, or Scientology happened to be the religion of a mass murderer or terrorist. How would we treat people who practiced that religion?

But what is it that ties white guys together who have committed terrorist attacks? It isn’t religion, or there would probably be some kind of war on Christianity. Perhaps it’s mental illness or white supremacy delusions. Maybe no one will ever know what drives them to such atrocities. It’s possible that each one of them did it for different “reasons.” It’s obvious that it isn’t about religion. In fact some of them were atheists, just like the white guys on the telly. You don’t hear Harris and Maher talking about atheism as being the common thread, even though it’s quite possible that many atheists haven’t developed a healthy ethics towards the world and life. Why would you feel the need to if you don’t believe in any higher power? It’s just a short step from there to claiming that nothing really has any meaning, so why bother being good? When is the last time you have heard atheists discuss ethics, instead of rambling on about how vigorously they don’t believe in God?

The fact that they chose to critique Islam just after the Muslim ban by Trump really just demonstrates how their critique fits perfectly with the ongoing war on terror narrative of the state (or whatever name you want to call it at this point) that has been going on for almost twenty years now. The only difference is their glorification of atheism as if anyone really gives a shit whether they believe in God or not.