Ben’s Reviews > Letter from a Christian Citizen: A Response to "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris > Status Update

Wilson says that Darwinism lead inevitably to the Jewish holocaust in WWII. He cites one book that argues that the holocaust wouldn't have happened, or wouldn't have been as bad, if Darwinism were not ascendent. But I'm unsure what the point of this argument is. Was the holocaust not received with horror of historical proportions? Is it not regarded, even by secularists, as one of humankind's worst crimes?

After railing against Harris for asserting that some ideas are beyond question, Wilson then says that 'arguments with gravity are difficult to maintain'. Surely, Harris meant by his 'no question' refrain what Wilson means about gravity: not that some scientific dogmas are literally unquestionable (although Harris should be far more careful with his words), but that arguments against them are 'difficult to maintain'.

As Wilson points out, Sam keeps repeating the phrase, 'No question. No question. No question'. That's not a sceptical attitude, nor a scientific one. Kuhn recognises two types of scientist, the revolutionary & the normal. The revolutionary scientists, the ones responsible for its greatest advances, ask questions. The normals don't; they accept dogma & do (valuable) piecemeal work. Sam thinks all science is "normal".

Harris commits the No True Scotsman fallacy by saying that Christians with hard-science degrees, working on hard-science problems, aren't behaving like scientists. He also says that the theory of evolution 'no longer admits of intelligent dispute'. Disappointing: every theory can be intelligently questioned (see Einstein on quantum theory). It is the essence of science to try to undermine itself (falsification).

Apparently Harris claims that the core of science is intellectual honesty. This is stupid. Einstein himself destroyed his reputation in the latter part of his life by insisting against all evidence to the contrary that quantum mechanics was untrue and incorrect. What's true of Einstein is true of lesser scientists: science advances in spite of, often because of, our all-too-human failings, our pride, our spite, etc.

Chapter 8 has some good clapbacks from Wilson. It seems Harris has an incomplete understanding of some of the sociological milieu of the Jews who wrote the Old Testament. Harris asks why God didn't put a treatise on maths in the Bible; Wilson says the Hebrews didn't think it pertinent or more respectable a field of study than poetry. Harris also misunderstands ancient Hebrew norms of scholarly attribution.

Wilson's a Calvinist: 'during [hurricane] Katrina, God was laying waste to the city. Scriptural Christians do not feel in the least bit apologetic about how God governs the world. What He did to New Orleans was holy, righteous, just, good. Some of it may have been an obvious chastisement for those who would build a major city below sea level in hurricane country & then attempt to govern it through corruption & vice.'

In chapter 7, Wilson repeats for the umpteenth time the oversight which is his biggest failing. He asserts as though it were fact the idea that atheism implies, even necessitates, atheism and amorality. In this he reveals himself as ignorant (and I can only assume he is wilfully ignorant, because it's impossible not to know about it) of the thousands of years of discussions of secular ethics and the nature of value.

Chapter 6 discusses the problem of evil. Douglas resolves it by "embracing" the wrath of God, by seeing it as meaningful. This doesn't solve the problem of evil; it merely gives evil a purpose. By analogy, the suffering inherent in nature is good rather than malignantly useless because without it we would not be the creatures we are. But without it, we'd be different creatures. A reason isn't a justification.

Douglas closes by chapter 5 by responding to Sam Harris, who said that God is the most prolific abortionist of all. Douglas's response is, basically, that, yes, He is, but He's allowed to be, because He's God. To quote: "You do not appear to understand that if God is the giver of life (and He is), He may also take that life away." Is abortion bad? Yes. Is it bad when God does it? Apparently not!