Sam Harris

People of faith fall on a continuum: some draw solace and inspiration from a specific spiritual tradition, and yet remain fully committed to tolerance and diversity, while others would burn the earth to cinders

if it would put an end to heresy. There are, in other words, religious moderates and religious extremists, and their various passions and projects should not be confused.

However, religious moderates are themselves the bearers of a terrible dogma: they imagine that the path to peace will be paved once each of us has learned to respect the unjustified beliefs of others. I hope to show that the very ideal of religious tolerance-born of the notion that every human being should be free to believe whatever he wants about God — is one of the principal forces driving us toward the abyss.

Two myths now keep faith beyond the fray of rational criticism, and they seem to foster religious extremism and religious moderation equally.

Firstly, most of us believe that there are good things that people get from religious faith (e.g., strong communities, ethical behaviour, spiritual experience) that cannot be had elsewhere; and secondly, many of us also believe that the terrible things that are sometimes done in the name of religion are the products not of faith per se but of our baser natures-forces like greed, hatred, and fear-for which religious beliefs are themselves the best (or even the only) remedy. — Beliefnet.comk