Sam Harris is focused on the madness of Islam...the doctrine, that set of beliefs and the fact that, like the Christian bible the Koran contains a lot of outrageous and ridiculous bullshit.

He likes to over and over again point out that in Muslim majority countries...theocracies...they still do the barbaric bullshit that Christians did for centuries. Kill, torture, treat women like garbage, and show zero tolerance for other beliefs and obviously sexual orientations.

Not for nothing but it is pretty damn simple and does not take any sort of degree to point out the insane and stupid aspects of any religion. So, is he making a point?

No.

Sam Harris is about the low hanging fruit...he's just a different kind of Donald Trump.

In the video you linked to he is asked questions from audience members who, quite honestly seem a bit more clued in than he is...or Sam is just dishonest. He shrugs off poverty, never talks about the fact that these countries where this occurs have for centuries been subjugated to the whims of Westerners that helped establish or continue to encourage a ruling class in these countries with the hope and intent that the people in them were kept poor and ignorant and useful to the needs of these modernized and advanced Western countries. They provide a cheap labor force that will work in horrific conditions and help mine the wealth of these countries, be it oil, minerals, textiles, drugs...whatever...leaving them living horrific lives while their countries are raped and their ruling class or wealthy 1% live the high life and send their children off to get educated in the Western world. Western governments, not just the United States, have always supported these conditions in these countries because they generally always worked to our advantage. Well, now that the world has changed through science and technology these people that have been subjugated for centuries have found ways to get at us.

Human beings have always turned to faith or religion when there is nothing else for them to turn to. Poverty, a lack of hope and education is a breeding ground for the rise of ugly fanaticism.

So, how do you change that? Does Sam know? He often seems to suggest that we have this dialogue where he points out what a bunch of ridiculous barbarians there are in these religious groups, Muslims being the prime target, and makes stupid analogies about bald white men and profiling.

His dialogue is not designed though to heal or to help...it is designed to ridicule and enrage.

He sits on stage with a man that is a "Westernized" Muslim. He is educated, dressed like a Westerner, and obviously enjoys a life in first world countries where he appreciates all that they offer. Of course he recognizes that radical Islamists are fucking nuts.

We live in a country that has taken great strides forward with regards to science, technology, education and human rights. Of course religion and the beliefs that go with it have suffered and gone into decline but it was only a couple hundred years ago that we would burn "witches" to death or drown them right here.

The thing is our country wanted to move forward. We strove to do so. These countries that still have theocracies and countries that are majority Muslim countries have intentionally been prevented from taking these strides...because keeping these people stupid, poor, and subjugated worked in our favor and in the favor of their generally Western supported ruling class.

Now we have to deal with it. It won't be easy and Sam Harris is not part of the solution.

However, if we look at how our Western countries advanced, and it was a bloody advance, that will give us some pretty big clues as to how this advance might take place for places that embrace radical Islamic ideas.