"There seems, however, to be a problem with some of our more cherished beliefs about the world: they are leading us, inexorably, to kill one another.… - Sam Harris

It seems that if our species ever eradicates itself through war, it will not be because it was written in the stars but because it was written in our books; it is what we do with words like 'God' and 'paradise' and ''sin' in the present that will determine our future.

solitary confinement — which is essentially what we are talking about — is considered a punishment inside a maximum-security prison. Even when forced to live among murderers and rapists, most people still prefer the company of others to spending any significant amount of time alone in a room.

My friend the musician and playwright Baba Brinkman — whom I worked with on The Rap Guide to Consciousness — put it beautifully: “What we call reality is just when we all agree about our hallucinations.

Most people in positions of leadership in our country will say that there is no direct link between the Muslim faith and “terrorism.” It is clear, however, that Muslims hate the West in the very terms of their faith and that the Koran mandates such hatred.