Buddhist exceptionalism in the present day is exemplified by writers such as Robert Wright (2017), Sam Harris (2014), and Stephen Batchelor (2015). Among the claims made by such proponents are that Buddhism is not really a religion but a science of the mind, that modern science can validate Buddhism, and that Buddhism is wholly rational. Thompson repudiates all of these claims. Not only does he argue that they distort Buddhism, but also that they distort science.