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| Tel Megiddo (Photo by Joe Freeman) |
While making it clear that he certainly doesn’t support everything Israel has been doing, Sam Harris also contends:
The truth is, we are all living in Israel. It’s just that some of us haven’t realized it yet.
In comparing the ultimate goals of Israel and Hamas, Harris notes an essential difference. He explains that if the Israelis could have it their way, they would probably choose to “live in peace with their neighbors… continue to build out their high tech sector and thrive.” Harris then states that groups such as ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hamas instead “want to impose their religious views on the rest of humanity,” and “stifle every freedom that decent, educated, secular people care about.”
Harris concludes that throughout human history there have been those who would readily “destroy the very possibility of human happiness” in order to pursue their own staunch views of Paradise. When this occurs, it becomes impossible for civilians everywhere “to live peacefully in a secular, pluralistic world…”
In this sense, we are all near the hills of Megiddo. In this sense, we are all within close range of fundamentalism's not-so-friendly fire.
Resources
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/why-dont-i-criticize-israel
Copyright August 6, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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