I was wrong about new atheism, Sam Harris, and Islam
October 19, 2005 by: Dan Arel

I have recently come under attack by Sam Harris fans for my critiques of Harris’ work on Islam, mainly one piece I wrote over a year ago called Is new atheism dead or even a term worth saving? In which I heavily critiqued Harris, Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher for what I saw at the time as wrongly blaming Islam for the problems caused by American politics.

In many follow up pieces, I have corrected my position but it seems some people still come across an old post and come after me for it. So here it is, the piece that explains why I was wrong. I have changed my mind after discussing these issues with countless others, re-reading the works of Harris, etc.

Let this be the piece that clears it up.

...

Alright, putting aside the argument some will make that Dawkins recent tweets do harm atheism (this is very debatable), Dawkins and Harris are not so endless in this battle. Dawkins is often misunderstood or too brash for some, and Harris has actually made great strides to defend atheism, especially in the face of the mass shootings that some wish to blame on non-belief.

But on Islam, I was wrong. Yes, I still believe that politics plays a massive role in Islamic extremism, to the extent that it is an incredible recruiting tool and also does drive their targets, but that ignores just how much religion is used as the motivator and justification for such extremism.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2015/10/i-was-wrong-about-new-atheism-sam-harris-and-Islam