Thoughts on Letters to a Christian Nation

Sam Harris' argument for stem cell research is very good. He raises good questions. I don't know much at all about stem cell research and haven't seen the other side of the issue, so I can't really say what I believe about it, but if I looked no further than Sam Harris' argument for it, I would probobly be convinced.

When does life begin? Abortionists, Christians, scientists - everyone has different views. But they can't all be right, there's got to be one true answer. I wish God would just tell us. It would be so much easier.

It was interesting to me to hear Sam Harris talking about the immorality of giving precedence to a thing that, to him, isn't a life, over an injured, suffering, fully-formed person. Although I haven't looked into this stuff very much , I've sensed that Christians who are against stem-cell research and abortion are against the advocates of these things. Like they're evil or something. But Sam Harris shows that he too, like Christians, is simply looking for the moral right, for what's best. He's not for killing human beings - he believes the things that are being "killed" are not actually alive yet. He may be right, he may be wrong, but he's not trying to be diabolic, killing human lives for fun. He believes that what he believes is right.

Another thought: the interview with Sam Harris reminded me of the Einstein stuff from The God Delusion. Harris says that Letters to a Christian Nation was written as a response to the letters a bunch of Christians sent him. In the description of the book at the Simon and Schuster website, it says that after publishing The End of Faith, Harris "received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God." It reminds me of the condemning letters Einstein recieved from evangelicals for his beliefs. Maybe Sam Harris would be kinder toward Christianity if Christians would be kinder toward him. It's hard to respect something if it won't respect you.