Why Religion Must End: Interview with Sam Harris A leading atheist says people must embrace rationalism, not faith--or they will never overcome their differences. What is your response to people who like science, who agree with it, but who say "It's not enough, it doesn't satisfy me, I need more?" With religious moderates, you have people talking about just wanting meaning in their lives, which I argue is a total non-sequitur when it comes down to justifying your belief in God. If I told you that I thought there was a diamond the size of a refrigerator buried in my backyard, and you asked me, why do you think that? I say, this belief gives my life meaning, or my family draws a lot of joy from this belief, and we dig for this diamond every Sunday and we have this gigantic pit in our lawn. I would start to sound like a lunatic to you. You can't believe there really is a diamond in your backyard because it gives your life meaning. If that's possible, that's self-deception that nobody wants. What if people prefer self-deception to despair and chaos? I would argue that is really not the alternative. What is the alternative? If there's no God who orders things, some people would say there's chaos, it's all random, their life is meaningless. There really is despair out there--especially about evolution. You don't have to believe in God to have the most extraordinary, mystical experience. Personally, I've spent two years