This article must adhere to the policy on biographies of living persons. Controversial material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted or if there are other concerns relative to this policy, report it on the living persons biographies noticeboard. |
|
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page. |
|
|
B |
This article has been rated as B-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ] |
More information about this article... |
|
|
The following comments have been left for this page:
[edit] Weasel Words, POV & Lack of Context
Generally, the article on Sam Harris seems like a thinly vialed endorsement of his ideas.
The reasons for Harris' notability, specifically, the debates in the US re creationism and intelligent design vs. natural selection/evolution, the events of 9/11, debates about the "clash of civilizations", US empire, the subsequent "war on terror", and controversy over us foreign policy such as "preemptive war", the use of torture, and US military presence in the Mid East, which is obviously where Harris' arguments concerning religion and Islam generate the most heat among supporters and critics alike. Generally, the article is written in a a way that obscures understanding of why Harris is notable (in my opinion) in order to weasel out of discussing why he is also so controversial.
In summary, the article lacks sufficient context and could be improved by way of the following:
- Harris' biography, specifically, something about his upbringing, the historical context, motives for and development of his ideas about religion, atheism and spirituality.
- I also think that Harris' ideas concerning "spirituality" need more fleshing out as he poses these as an alternative to "religion" and this to is a source of much controversy, even among atheists. Many Atheists have expressed gross reservations regarding whether or not Harris can even properly be called an Atheist himself. Therefore, these ideas are worthy of greater elaboration.
- There aught to be separate sections concerning his position re the Iraq war and occupation since what he has said about it has been a major source of criticism and to spite his claims he has held different positions on its efficacy and ethicasy over the last few years.
- Given the special place that Islam occupies in his critique of religion, his support for a what would amount to an imperial program of military subjugation of the Islamic world and his position on "ethnic profiling" (what most would simply term "racial profiling") he has been accused of "racism" (most recently in a debate with Chris Hedges) and this serious controversy is not explicitly addressed in the article. In fact, in the "controversy section, it only mentions that Harris debated with Hedges, without any mention of what they debated. Harris himself has seen fit to refute such accusations on his own website so this issue can't be insignificant.
- Generally, the controversy section needs to summarize the various arguments against Harris' "world views", and should be organized into subheadings.
-- Betamod 06:40, 9 August 2007 (UTC) (edit)
|
|
|
An appropriate infobox may need to be added to this article, or the current infobox may need to be updated. Please refer to the list of biography infoboxes for further information. |
|
Sam Harris (author) is part of WikiProject Atheism, which aims to organize, expand, clean up, and guide atheism related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page for more details.
|
??? |
This article has not yet received a rating on the Project's quality scale. Please rate the article and then leave a short summary here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article. |
For more information and how you can help click Show →
If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page for more details.
Quick help: |
See changes to: |
|
|
|
- Clarify references in Atheism, using footnotes.
|
|