Research Fail

[Subheading: Glaring Omission]

Dear Sam Harris,

When you were writing your anti-Religion polemic The End of Reason: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason - a book which, in part, explores and philosophizes upon, the nature of human belief, contrasting the irrational aspects of religious beliefs with the rational aspects of most other beliefs - did it ever occur to you to speak with (even interview) a person with religious beliefs and, you know, ask them how they came to have these beliefs. You could've spoken to sample groups from various religions; isn't this the kind of thing researchers do, especially researchers researching people - I think it's called primary data. You're extra harshly critical of Islam; given that Islam is the second most populous of all the religions, surely you could've found some people of this faith and asked them about their beliefs (Hint: hang outside a mosque on Friday afternoon, you're bound to find some Islamic peoples). You've written a book critiquing religion and yet you don't appear to have consulted with any theologians - either an academic or a cleric (eg a priest, a rabbi, an imam). I'm afraid I'm going to have to give this book an F.

Effulgent13
(PS: I'm not religious - lapsed Catholicism notwithstanding)