Sam Harris Quotes

I have always marveled that so many religions exact such revenge against dissenters. It only weakens the appeal of their faith and contradicts any claims they might have made that 'all religions are basically the same.' If all religions were indeed the same, why not let someone be 'converted' to another religion?

If the Shiites in a Sunni-dominated country insisted on practicing their religion openly, then … the Sunni state had no choice but to wage war on them.

If we look back into history for the character of the present sects of Christianity, we shall find that few have not in their turn been persecutors, and complainers of persecution.

If there ever was a religious war full of terror, it was the crusades. But you can't blame Christianity because a few adventurers did this. That's my message.

There is nothing intrinsic linking any religion with any act of violence. The crusades don't prove that Christianity was violent. The Inquisition doesn't prove that Christianity tortures people. But that Christianity did torture people.

It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.

We must confront persecution faced by many Christian communities and the intolerance that plagues us. We must overcome anti-Semitism and the prejudice that divides us. We must defeat Islamophobia and the fears that weaken us.

When you forcefully suppress religious nationalism, you radicalize it.

Look at all the misery in the Middle East, for example. All these countries have Islam in common, and far too few dare to criticize Islam as an ideology, and what it's doing to these countries. I know I might get punched in the face for saying these things, but my conviction is that less religion in the world would be better.

All religions have periods in their history which are looked back to with retrospective fear and trembling as eras of persecution, and each religion has its own book of martyrs.

Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them, capture and besiege them and prepare for them every kind of ambush…But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free.

We’re not fighting for Christianity but against human fanaticism of all kinds.

Act to Prevent the Further Growth of Popery

Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites.

Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims! And put that in the minutes. What I want to do is to promote Christianity as the only true religion.

Invade their (Moslems) country. Kill their leaders. Convert them to Christianity.

Neither experience nor improvement can root out the inveterate prejudices of the Roman Catholics, or render them less cruel or inexorable to Protestants.

No Christian would pray for violence but it would be utterly naïve to sweep the issue of Islam under the carpet. Let no Muslim think that they have the monopoly on violence.

Islamic Holy war against followers of other religions, such as Jews, is required unless they convert to Islam or pay the poll tax.

The Moors tolerated Christendom when they were ascendant, but the Christian Inquisition harbored no reciprocal emotion.

For the love of the Faith [Islam] I became enemies of the Hindus and pagans.

We seem to be the victims of religious dogma, both from the Christian Right here and, of course, in the East with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

It is intolerable that in our country citizens should feel so upset and under assault because of their religious choice that they would conclude that they have to hide.

Persecution is as necessary to religion as pruning to an orchard.

The Christians are coming to get you, and they are not pleasant people.