[MD] The End of Faith

[david buchanan]

Ian said:
What matters is not what people "profess" to believe, a "label" they adopt, but what people do with such beliefs, tolerance of other beliefs, pragmatism in the face of empirical evidence etc ... quality & values.

dmb says:
It doesn't matter what people believe? It only matters what people do with their beliefs? Since nobody ever acted in the absence of their beliefs, I think you've made a distinction without a difference. I mean, beliefs matter precisely because people do things with them. Those actions define the problem being discussed, no? I think you're just being wish-wishy in a way that gives breathing room to all kinds of nonsense. I agree with Harris in thinking that this kind of "moderation" only lends support to fanaticism. It's a kind of grotesque even-handedness. It is a form of moderation that serves some very immoderate things, which means it is incoherent too.

 

 
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