অধিকাংশ সমস্যার উৎস - ধর্মবিশ্বাস?

দু'টি প্রশ্নের উত্তর দিয়েছেন খ্যাতনামা নাস্তিক স্যাম হ্যারিস। তাঁর কথায় যুক্তি আছে কি না, নিজেই ভেবে দেখুন। কয়েকটি উদ্ধৃতি:

... what astonishes me when I read the newspaper or watch the news is how many problems are the direct result of what people believe about God. I mean there are days when I open the New York Times where fully half of the stories – in a way that’s unacknowledged by the paper – relate to people’s religious convictions.

... it (religion) is manufacturing violence, and unnecessary conflict, and misuses of our resources. And what’s more, it is very rare that we acknowledge . . . I mean now we’re beginning to acknowledge the role that Islam is playing in Muslim terrorism; but even that has been very slow to come. I mean it has been obvious for many, many years – long before September 11th...

... these people are really willing to die for what they believe. And we know it’s not a matter of economics. I’m gonna speak specifically to the Muslim word for a moment. We know it’s not a matter of economics and education, because this recent plot in the U.K., these are all doctors who are . . . who are aspiring suicide bombers. And you know, how much more education did these doctors need? One was a neurosurgeon. You find me a neurosurgeon suicide bomber, and you tell me the problem is education and economics, it clearly isn’t. And . . . but the deeper problem, and I think a far more sinister problem, is that it is possible to be well educated – so well educated that you can be a neurosurgeon – and still believe that you can get 72 virgins in paradise.

... we have allowed a certain mode of thought – religion – to thrive in a cocoon of this sphere of protection from criticism. It is just taboo to criticize people’s religious beliefs.