Sam Harris's first rose to prominence in the early 2000's as one of the key members of the New Atheism movement. However, he does not call himself an atheist, and actually rejects the label. His argument is that, by making it normal and necessary for those who do not believe in a God to define themselves as such, we are perpetuating religion's grip on public discourse. This essay observes that Harris has offered a parallel argument for decrying the 'Antiracist' label, which tends to build racism…
Read moreSam Harris's first rose to prominence in the early 2000's as one of the key members of the New Atheism movement. However, he does not call himself an atheist, and actually rejects the label. His argument is that, by making it normal and necessary for those who do not believe in a God to define themselves as such, we are perpetuating religion's grip on public discourse. This essay observes that Harris has offered a parallel argument for decrying the 'Antiracist' label, which tends to build racism up to be an unconscious, unavoidable and ubiquitous fact that we should strive to identify in every facet of social life. Sam Harris's views on modern forms of social justice activism resemble his early critique of atheism's struggle against religious dogma. Both pursuits share the same kind of endgoal, the same strategic and philosophical obstacles, and the same vital precondition: intellectual integrity.
