How not to attack religion...

A friend of mine, someone I hold in esteem, recently posted the following quote by Sam Harris which is found in his little book "Letter to a Christian Nation":

"The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive."

This seems disingenuous of Harris to me. He cannot be unaware that all nations of humankind have religious traditions and that all of them recognise some sort of communication with the divine, whether directly in contemplation, through the agency of magic mushrooms or the like, or by casting runes and other kinds of divination. And as far as I know all modern societies also set limits beyond which claims of communication with the divine are held to be at least suspicious and potentially insane at worst. The details vary between societies and religions. He must also be aware that throughout recorded history rulers have sought to legitimate themselves and their policies by associating them in some way with the divine will. And we, skeptics that we are, tend to think that there is less sincerity in these claims and more cynicism than might have been thought by most people at the time. It also seems to me that it is precisely the interposition of a hairdryer that, in any modern society, would tip the balance from an accepted, if disparaged, norm into lunacy. If he cannot see why this is so, then his imagination is sadly lacking and his human empathy is in need of an upgrade.

As an atheist I think it is a sad, and sometimes a dangerous, thing that political leaders still resort to these tactics. It is even more sad that some of them even believe the claims that they make. But my opinions in this matter do not licence me to deride human history and the human emotions that drive religious hunger, nor do they make snide quips that I dream up an acceptable form of rational discussion.