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Originally Posted by Wastedyouth
Affleck doesn't come off well in the video because he is far too emotional about the subject. And in doing so often resorts to the same bad argument tactics he so loud cries against when religious people use them. I like him for a lot of things, but he is highly opinionated and can never admit he's wrong.
But Maher, wow, what a clown. I used to have a lot of respect for the guy but he has some deep seated issues with Islam that taint everything he is claiming. That and the fact that Maher makes claims to statistics and "widely believed facts" about Islam that on the whole are not completely true, just to strengthen his argument.
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It's probably less about his feelings about Islam and more about his feelings about religion in general. Mahar is a chest beating atheist.
Affleck does come off badly, but I wasn't that impressed with Harris either. A lot about what he said (says) has the feeling of 'there's lies, damned lies, and there's statistics' to it. The numbers could be true, but it's not the whole story, and it's probably cherry picked some.
The biggest issue I believe is simply the wealth and education levels of the countries that are Islamic or largely Islamic. I'm not going to say that as it exists in the world now, there are outdated, prejudicaln and even violent ideas and movements associated with Islam. Not just associated, but intertwined with. And yes, more so than other religions.
However, is that because of the religion, or simply because a lot of people practicing it are poor and uneducated? It's the latter. Anyone remember the dark ages of Christianity? Just as violent. Just as harmful towards women. They just didn't have modern weapons.
As it stands now, there is obviously some truth to what Harris preaches. But, it's framing the whole discussion incorrectly. It would be better to look at the practitioners of Islam in first world countries and compare it to other religions that are big in those nations. Then I believe you would find the stats quite similar.