[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Daradon

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 I'm not going to say that as it exists in the world now, there are outdated, prejudicaln and even violent ideas and movements associated with Islam.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.

Affleck is 100% emotional on the subject. I get that and it does afflect the conversation... (did you see what I did there #clevergirl)