It is merely an accident of history that it is considered normal in our society to believe that the Creator of the universe can hear your thoughts while it is demonstrative of mental illness to believe that he is communicating with you by having the rain tap in Morse code on your bedroom window.[2]
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Society tolerates believing a deity hears thoughts but pathologizes similar claims of direct communication.
- In plain terms
- It is odd we accept some religious claims but not others.
- What can you take from it?
- Question which beliefs society accepts as normal.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we accept one but not the other?
- Are religious claims rational?
Another view
Some argue the distinction relies on degree and context.
More from Sam Harris
It is difficult to imagine a set of beliefs more suggestive of mental illness than those that lie at the heart of many of our religious traditions.[2]
Permalink to quote #7 Nothing is more sacred than the facts.
Permalink to quote #4 Most religions have merely canonized a few products of ancient ignorance and derangement and passed them down to us as though they were primordial truths.[2]
Permalink to quote #8
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