Anyone believe they actually have a God have the courage to debate me, or did your God not give you a spine, balls, or a brain? My email is in the description. I know most of you have no ability to think for yourselves. But it should be very easy to make me look Foolish since I know nothing about religion. Waiting for your email cowards.

I wish it were otherwise, but the people who still believe uncritically in Bronze Age myths and act out accordingly, are delaying the point in history where we might otherwise live in peace, free of pointlessly divisive, religious violence.

As an old man hurtling towards oblivion, I find Sam Harris' calm discussions comforting in this mad world we live in.

Forget the Shakespeare analogy. If J K Rowling had been around 2,000 years ago. Half the world would now be worshipping the great prophet Harry Potter and all his 'miracles'!!

Yup. Sam nailed it. Religious people are frightening.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves - that we've been (taken.) so credulous. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. (So the old bamboozles tend to persist as the new bamboozles rise.)” - Carl Sagan (in other words, when someone is “In Too Deep” they no longer care about the truth. Instead, they care more about keeping that lie/belief alive)

I look at a religious person and wonder how they can make such a huge leap without any proof. It boggles my mind and breaks my brain.

Brilliant and succinct. Thank you Sam Harris; you are a beacon of light on this immensely important subject.

Well done Sam for counteracting people with 6th century mentality in the 21st age of reasoning and evidence and not irrational blind faith

If people like Sam were running countries the world would be a far better place. I'm so glad I found him even at a late stage in my life.

*_You can't change the mind of someone who's had their learning turned off by religious indoctrination. The promises and threats of their religion make dumping it too scary._*

No one can articulate this better than Sam. He’s logical, precise and ultimately, compelling.

A very articulate and well-reasoned response. Thanks, Sam.

Sam has the ability and patience to tell it like it is

Thank God. for Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins.

I admire Sam very much; his calmness and clarity are great. He never gets thrown off is so intelligent.

YES! Finally an educated person that speaks sensibly. Thank you.

To those religious people.Would you give up your religion if it guaranteed world peace ?

Once again ... Sam sums it up succinctly. I am always astounded at the extraordinary lengths people will go to, and the sheer amount of mental gymnastics they will perform, in an attempt to cling to the absurd.

Sam has answered this question hundreds of times before, but has the patience to say it again.

“I’d rather have questions I can’t answer than answers I can’t question.“ Richard Feynman.

This was a concise intelligent response centered on the widespread specific claims of the domineering christian religion in our population and in our government.

Not mathematics or medicine but tells how to sacrifice goats. Eloquent, brilliant but more than all that ......very funny......😂 😂😂😂

Excellent and simple analysis. Thank you.

Tell a religious person that you found a talking cat and they will demand evidence, but they will have no problem believing there’s a god that does miracles

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,simple as that. Nuff said.

I always enjoy listening to Sam. Very intelligent, calm and articulate. Unfortunately, I think the willingness of people to believe things based on factors other than logic was cooked into our species by evolutionary forces and holds sway over most of humanity, so thinkers like Sam are vastly outnumbered. As a species, we have a long way to go.

2000+ years and not one iota of proof of anything. Please! Oops, Here comes Santa Claus.

"a case for atheism" is already a weird thing to say. Every religious person is an atheist to every religion but their own

I find that as America is descending into an evangelical nightmare there are too few of us listening to this voice of reason

Hi Sam, I was lucky enough to have discovered you in the early days in San Diego, and then later at the first Beyond Belief conference in La Jolla, among other venues. I'm very glad you're still at it with more ammunition than ever and want to wish you continued success in this vital campaign!

I always find it a pleasure to listen to Sam Harris. his logic and common sense is fantastic. and his sense of humor is perfect, it breaks up any monotony that might come up in his discussion's. and he's highly intelligent. but it's something that I noticed about Atheist's. they all seem to be highly intelligent. You have Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, and Carl Sagan, Aron Ra, Lawrence Krause, Neil Degrassi Tyson, and Steven Pinker, and many other Atheist's. there seems to be a connection with being of higher intelligence and Atheism? but another nice thing about Atheism, is a person doesn't have to be highly intelligent to be an Atheist. anyone can be an Atheist if they simply choose to do so.

So, Sam lays it out in the first 30 seconds, then expounds in the next two minutes to perfection. And I’m three minutes in.

Way to go Sam. Thank you for articulating what needs to be said and unraveling the knot of defense that the 3 Abrahamic religions push.

Even if there is a creator, it's not the god we've put in our books 2000 years ago in a desert to men who didnt even know that germs are not god curses. The level of suffering, death, chaos in our world over such a long time is a testament to that fact.

The only thing I have ever seen gods really do is become mythologies.

the most miraculous aspect of the universe is that nothing miraculous ever happens. you can put that one in the bank

Well done Sam!

One of the arguments that I have always used on this topic is essentially this... If your god in omnipotent, then all it would have needed to do is create a bible that CANNOT be altered by man. It would be evidence of the supernatural by the fact that it would be the only thing in existence that could not be changed, no matter how hard we try. The only christian response that I ever get is either dumbfounded no answer at all or another circular idea saying that god works in mysterious ways or I am not worthy to tell their god how it should behave.

These simple arguments SH puts out keeps me up at night. They are so simple and logical. Miracles, really? Open your eyes people! Grrrr

I could never come across this clear with my thoughts. Sam turns my feelings and thoughts about my religious upbringing into something pure, simple, and calming.

Every one of us who are religious or not should applaud Sam Harris' analyses of one of the greatest quick-sand patches that have endured throughout human history: religion. Apparently 95% of Harris' fellow Americans believe in some sort of divine being responsible for all and everything that exists. One can only imagine the vitriolic responses of tens of millions of people whom Sam has made angry at him for even mentioning that God might not exist. One of Harris' departed dear friends, 'Hitch' to him or Hitchens to us said that religion was one of our first attempts of mankind to understanding our surroundings. The problem of course, is that certain clever individuals saw how they could control others by proclaiming they had access to the hidden hand of the almighty. The Catholic Church made itself into an invincible organization that in reality enslaved its millions and millions of followers to never-ending support by promising an afterlife in God's country club. The Jews have taken the bait so seriously that they have indoctrinated their population into thinking that, yes, we are the chosen ones, God loves us the best. The Muslims go off-the-charts in their interpretation of an illiterate merchant's rise to the heavens when he died and flew to heaven on a winged horse. The Hindus worship a God-like creature that an unknown artist probably threw away as a bad attempt at making some sort of new way to show motion. Excuse me to all and anyone if I have offended you; I only want to say that we should listen to masters of our civilization, and Sam Harris is a master. He is trying to give us an off-ramp from the first belief system that we invented and that we let take us over to the present day.

All religions are man made. God is an invisible parent/friend to fill the gap of not knowing and to cope with the fear of the unknown.

Safe in the arms of ever present unfolding reality ! ❤

Wow,..so succinct ,..right to the point,..no drama.

I have always believed the same. Like Hell, for instance. How can one not believe that is nothing other than man made? It reeks of, "Let's think of the worst horror we can to scare ppl into staying put in that seat and have us control society." And yet, there is my atheist father who a week before he passed saw my mother floating in the dining room and so many just prior to death seeing dead loved ones and talking to them. I watched my own father-in-law reach to the ceiling, arms stretched as far as he could reach, yet he'd been unconscious for nearly days when we brought a preacher in. He was a Veteran in many wars and lingered. We were praying he'd go as the suffering was so great and thought, maybe he needs to know he did his duty to this country and nothing else. He lingered for another day and it wasn't until my husband got in the bed with him, holding him to say "Dad, I know you love me", till he finally let go. Right then his dad looked towards him, as he could no longer see from high doses of morphine, smiled and died. It was as if he needed him to know that. But I remain, like Sam, seeing wisdom in much of texts but I'd never say or try and describe powers beyond natural law that this universe holds. Too many books say they have the truth. I do not believe any of us knows.

I now know something far more extense than infinity.. thanks Sam...!!

Awareness is known by awareness alone; is the sole irreducible axiom of reality. To put forth a syllable to the contrary is but to concede.

Compassion and realism. Excellent interview!

Man invented God in order to provide him with eternal life that nature denies him.

Great interview. Harris was as eloquent and clever as I've seen him. Tip for Coach Castle: You don't have to be close enough to the camera to eat it. 😏

Thank you God for fixing the cataracts of Sam’s mum 🎵 😆

It's easier to fool people than convince them they've been fooled.....Mark Twain

Brilliant Sam. We live in a world conflicted over which end of the egg is the correct one to break.

correct. however, persistence of this dreadful affair shows that the human ape has not changed since antiquity and is still tormented by superstition due to fear of death.

The gods and monsters are inside of us.

We are currently witnessing another outbreak of violence in the Middle East and this is basically due to religion . We have a saying that money is the root of all evil but I feel religion usurps it. I just find it so hard to understand why anyone could believe in any religion in this the 21st century. One does not have to an intellectual or be very intelligent to realize that all religions are man made. Life on earth would be so much better for all people if everyone would just exercise their brains more and come to their senses

Religion is men made . Books . Only books . I believe I can believe in an quantum energy kind of dimension ( sort of ) and get rid of everything else . Sam is amazing . Been following him for a long time

"An autistic god with a roulette wheel? What are we praying to?" Haha.

Men invented religions while women were busy doing important things. 😂

"Autistic God with a roulette wheel " made my day.

So refreshing to hear Sam's rational views on Religion again.

Just cool and compassionate logic

Sam has the ability to articulate his views and reasoning in a very compelling manner, and hi keeps his cool with any adversary because he is very connected to the present moment and humanity.

Sam is right on with his analysis and explanation of all religions. Believing in some sort of superior being is non-sensical.

I prefer Atheistic to Atheism. It is not an ism. It is not a belief. It is not “I believe there is no god”, it is “I do not believe your claim of god”.

Well Spoken Sam, Brilliant Mind.

Religion isn't ridiculous, it's desperate. Just the same as cognitive intellectualism. Don't worry, we'll all meet on the way down as we spiral down and out of here still proclaiming our own superiority...

Does anyone know what podcast this is from?

Harris has an ASMR voice

I am Native American, who in my earlier years was a devout, evangelical Christian up to my early adulthood. But the fact that I am not European or Middle Eastern, led me to wonder why God would ignore 3/4 of the world’s population in China, India and south east Asia and and provide holy books, only to the Middle East and Europe

“Easier to fool a man than to convince him to change his mind.” Mark Twain

Sam Harris is an enlightened person and, as such, he forever highlights the difference between ignorance and stupidity. The former is defined as the absence of relevant information and the latter is the inability or the refusal to process relevant information once it has been presented. We all - Sam included - start out as ignorant on one subject or another, but clarity and openness of mind allow those not ego-invested in maintaining their opinions and beliefs to pass from ignorance to intelligence and sometimes even wisdom once relevant information is provided. Those poor, hyper-defensive people who cling to their opinions and beliefs at all costs are simply consigned to being stupid for the rest of their lives.

I agree completely agree with what Sam Harris is saying here . If such a god really existed and he or she can is so great , why doesn't it intervene when there's been such atrocities performed or disasters that cause the deaths of thousands or even millions of people . Or why cant it save peple from serious life tyreatening illness or disfigurements ?! .... if such a god exist sure he or she , wouldn't just be there for certain people in life or those who pray to him or her the most ?!

He never says religion is stupid in this video. He’s primarily attacking Abrahamic religions.

I found CDs out in the forest but I couldn't find a CD player, so I will translate for you

As I always say, "God" gets all the credit when things go well, and none of the blame when they don't. It's pathetic.

To answer Sam's statement made at 2:30: "...It would be easy to write a page that proves the book is supernatural. .." Here's an example: "... love your neighbor like yourself..." That's not human. No human says that. No theory of evolution would work with that. No, apes don't show altruism; i.e. the video of the ape sharing a banana. An ape will protect his pack, but he will also kill any rivals for alpha, and certainly kill any neighboring apes not in his pack. If Jesus said, treat your family like you would like to be treated, that would be human. "Love your neighbor like yourself..." That's supernatural.

THANK YOU… ! ! !

I believe there is a spiritual element to our lives. My beliefs are personal and for myself not for me to convince others of its truth. The best teaching anyone can do is to be a good example that others can recognize or not. Minding our own business is probably the best thing we can do for ourselves and others. Other people's beliefs are just unnecessary distractions from your own chosen path. We all do the best we can with what we know.

There is a spiritual dimension. Learn to connect with it through either prayer or meditation.

Atheism has the courage to acknowledge reality rather then engage in the group think fantasy of religion

(12:39) "...an autistic God with a roulette wheel" 😁🤣 Sam cracks me up 😆. Shits funny af.

I think the definition of cult and religion needs to merge. If were of the same thinking as today, back when some of the "older" religions were created we would be labelling them as such. However simply because people have been duped longer, it is given a distinction. Religious cult(s)

Sam Harris is awesome

If every word in the Bible is divinely inspired by God then how is that in the New Testament the Christian translators changed the Greek word *δούλος* to man-servant? There is only one meaning for *δούλος* and that is "slave". The word appears around 130 times in the NT and in every case it has been distorted to mean man-servant.

Nothing is supernatural or everything is. I,m not a very smart guy but I think Sam is.

"An autistic god with a roulette wheel"; Mr Harris, that is worthy of Voltaire himself, although when I use this quote, I'll alter it to say "psychopathic". Thank you!

Religion is believing somebody else's experiences. Spirituality is having your own experiences.

Since no atheist will take up my challenge to openly debate this topic, I'll state my case without an opponent. This is why I'm convinced that God exists; To begin with it must be honestly conceded that no human being is certain whether God is real or not real. As many say he is as those who say he isn't Therefore logic suggests a 50/50 chance that either side is correct. If the atheists says "I don't think it's 50/50 at all, then its incumbent upon him to offer evidence that is convincing enough to change that neutral starting point. Conversely, the theist must offer evidence that tips the weight of the argument in favor of belief if he can. This seems a fair starting point for this discussion, and therefore I begin. It's not possible to treat this subject briefly because its too complicated. Point one; Our universe began some 13.6 billion years ago with the Big Bang. All matter and energy was compressed into what we call the original "singularity" so named because nothing else existed, or so it's thought. Cosmologists tell us that this "object" contained not only all matter and energy, but time itself was not created until this object exploded and brought into existence the four dimensional space time continuum that is our present reality because time describes and allows for the changing states of matter in motion and so the physical universe could not exist independent of the linear forward movement of time. It's also asserted that the laws of physics that imposes limits on all physical matter came into being after the the Big Bang, and not before. Yet this singularity that existed prior to the emergence of both time and the laws of physics became unstable for some reason when it reached a certain unsustainable limit of temperature and density. So this original singularity that we know was real existed in a place where neither time or the laws of physics existed. Yet something, some controlling, limiting power acted upon, the singularity and caused it to explode in colossal fashion. Yet whatever that controlling power was it had to exist outside the boundary of linear time since time itself didn't come into existence until this explosion took place with the Big Bang. The logic is inescapable; something existing outside of time and exerting a powerful controlling force prevented the singularity from remaining in a condition of stasis. Something outside of time might rightly be described as eternal, and so the logic is something very powerful and eternal brought our universe into existence. Point two; After the Big Bang enormous amounts of matter and antimatter were produce in prodigious amounts. When these two oppositely charged forces come into contact they violently cancel each other out. Had the number of atoms of matter and antimatter been equal the result would be a universe devoid of all matter, but as it happened a very, very slight amount of normal matter survived this titanic battle and enabled the physical evolution of the universe to proceed. What was the ratio of matter to antimatter? Lawrence Krause (no friend of theism) said the margin was a billion to one, meaning a billion atoms of matter, destroying a billion atoms of antimatter with one atom of normal matter surviving. Does anyone really think this occurred by blind chance? A survivable universe depended on this billion to one chance and yet here we are. It gets harrier. A long lived universe that's conducive to stellar and eventual biological evolution need billions of years of stability for their slow development. A universe stable for hundreds of millions of years is not long enough but what is it that's needed for this longevity? We need a universe that's perfectly balanced with interactions between matter and energy that are perfectly synchronized and that's what we have. All the interplay between matter and energy appears formulaic and prefigured. In other words the unmistakable result of mind and conscious direction. Point three; Instantiated throughout our cosmos are countless examples of evolved emergent complexity. The universe seems to possess the innate ability to self organize into ever greater levels of complexity. From a universe of mostly hydrogen atoms, the simplest atom, to the periodic table of heavier elements. We ourselves are exhibit A in this process. Our beginnings as arboreal primates to modern man is reflective of the same principle of evolved emergent complexity. Something is driving the universe to become conscious of itself through this fundamental process in a way that is directed, and intentional. If you put two heart cells on a microscope slide their beat (and yes they beat) is not synchronized until they touch. Something akin to energy and information, and intelligence makes this possible. Point three; Consciousness is fundamental to the universe and more and more neuroscientists are accepting this idea. We experience "consciousness" and wrongly believe our brain produces it. This is erroneous. Our brains give us the ability to "experience" consciousness but cannot produce this poorly understood phenomenon. There is only one kind of "consciousness" and it predates the human brain, and also the creation of the universe. We think we generate consciousness because we mistakenly equate the "experience" of consciousness with consciousness itself. They are two very different things. Our brains produce cognition as in thought, perception, memory and the like but these things are not consciousness. Consciousness is similar to the quiet few moments in a theater when the lights go out and silence fills the room. There is a palpable expectation of a new experience in the air and human minds are eagerly receptive. Consciousness is the universal back ground space where all thought, imagination and experience originate. This means that every individual is capable of entering this back ground realm of consciousness as deeply or as slightly as he or she chooses. This explains why a secluded monk has a very different view of life than a rough unlearned man. Universal consciousness is a direct manifestation of one of the three attributes associated with God, namely omniscience. The other two, omnipresence and omnipotence are impossible for humans to directly experience but because we are sentient beings we directly experience God's omniscience through experiencing via cognition the universal consciousness that originates from God. Point four; The word "God can be a verbal trigger that evokes enormously different responses in people. To someone who's been abused by a priest the word is poison, yet to another it evokes a sense of peace. It's a highly charged word and is very prone to being misunderstood. Do not be misled into accepting the way others define this word. Don't confuse religion with the existence of God. They are very different. Does God exist is a question akin to "who should I marry" , or "What should I do with my life?" Only you can answer this basic question. Work out the logic yourself. When you do, please reject the silly and easy answers found in the bible and the nonsense preached in churches. They have very little to do with God and everything to do with worldly power and influence. Point five: A closer definition of God might be; God is an all powerful form of lucid energy that is eternal, whose dominant attribute is love. He's not anthropomorphic, he's not vengeful, he doesn't verbally talk to people. He is all powerful, eternal, completely benevolent and totally accessible. My original proposition was a 50/50 possibility of Gods existence I think I've offered enough evidence to move the needle to the likelihood that God does exist. If you disagree please tell me why in specific terms and please try to join the argument by responding directly to my points. Please try to resist silly, glib one liners.

Yeah, that has been my main gripe with the so called holy book : how underwhelming it is. Just think, if it had mentioned with just a sentence the effect of Penicillin.

Great video

Sam mentions there are "many books" contemporary with the The Bible and equal in wisdom from that period 2 - 4 thousand years ago. I wonder why he would not name one?

If the "Laws Of Nature" could be suspended, then it follows that it was not a law after all, we just hadn't figured it out yet?

Amazing

Sam made me a christian. The way he completely disregarded his own principle and fell into the biggest Trump derangement syndrome. He basically fell for the propaganda that Trump=Satan, having no real image of evil in his head it was easy to cast it into someone. Sam made me realise that we can’t escape it because that’s how our mind work, if you disregard our religion that got our culture here you will not be enlighten and rational, You will fall for the first idea that sound good and fill the void you have. That’s how communist and Nazi kill millions and it’s how woke is currently destroying our civilisiation. You need a story at the center of any phylosophy of life, that story need to be accessible at all level of society, not just for the highly educated that spend their life on it. It must allow people who did bad thing to correct themselves, people that live with grief to go past it and focus on the living, strear people toward good actions, generosity and prevent vengence. That tribe must also create another generation that will keep that flame alive and improve for the next one. If Sam can build that and prove that his tribe can follow it and live better lives then it would be an alternative, I might even be tempted. Otherwise what he is doing is trying to destroy the few remaining parts of our civilisation.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Sad that Sam is not going to go to a good place in death

Well, in a world without FREE WILL, what option religion had but to be ridiculous?

How does positing a god answer any questions about man and his place in the unverse? If there were a god, and there certainly isn't one of any specificity, we wouldn't comprehend it.

Did Jesus Christ exist? Was he human? Then where is His grave?? Conspiracy is such a convenient explanation but you can’t prove it with any facts.