Posts Tagged ‘deism’
Due to the immense popularity of the first part of “Great Quotes for Atheists/Non-Believers,” I have come back with another list of great quotes for the atheist/agnostic/non-believer!
“Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? “
- Douglas Adams
“I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously.”
- Douglas Adams
“I don’t believe in an afterlife, so I don’t have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.”
- Isaac Asimov
“Man is, and always has been, a maker of gods. It has been the most serious and significant occupation of his sojourn in the world.”
- John Burroughs
“[...] since the order of world is regulated by death, perhaps is it better for God we do not believe in him and we fight with all our might against death, without raising our eyes heavenward where he keeps silent.”
- Albert Camus
“I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.”
- George Carlin
“The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history”
- Noam Chomsky
“Isn’t killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity?”
- Arthur C. Clarke
“I do not believe in God because I do not believe in Mother Goose.”
- Clarence Darrow
“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”
- Richard Dawkins
“I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God.”
- Thomas Edison
“I don’t try to imagine a personal god; it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.”
- Albert Einstein
“The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.”
- Sigmund Freud
“A believer is a bird in a cage, a freethinker is an eagle parting the clouds with tireless wing.”
- Robert G. Ingersoll
“A man is not moral because he is obedient through fear or ignorance. Morality lives in the realm of perceived obligation… “
- Robert G. Ingersoll
“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry.”
- Thomas Jefferson
“The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.”
- Karl Marx
“The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.”
- Karl Marx
“Religion deserves no more respect than a pile of garbage.”
- H. L. Mencken
“Religion, like poetry, is simply a concerted effort to deny the most obvious realities.”
- H. L. Mencken
“Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.”
- John Stuart Mill
“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“God is dead: but considering the state Man is in, there will perhaps be caves, for ages yet, in which his shadow will be shown.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his doctrine.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“All religions begin with a revolt against morality, and perish when morality conquers them.”
- George Bernard Shaw
“A miracle signifies nothing more than an event… the cause of which cannot be explained by another familiar instance, or…. which the narrator is unable to explain.”
- Baruch Spinoza
“The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost their power of reasoning.”
- Voltaire
“Did science promise happiness? I do not believe it. It promised truth, and the question is to know if we will ever make happiness with truth.”
- Emile Zola
Tags: agnostic, agnosticism, Atheism, atheism quotes, atheist, atheist quotes, church, deism, god, great quotes, quotes, Religion
The God Delusion, a 2006 book by British Scientist Richard Dawkins is the exact opposite of a casual read. From the opening chapters, the book challenges the reader to rethink their beliefs and question why they ever thought that way in the first place. This is where the differences between The God Delusion and your run of the mill religious/”inspirational” books begin (and there’s quite a few of them), but certainly not where it ends. The God Delusion is simply not meant for a close minded person, for it requires the reader to do exactly what the Bible or the Quran don’t, and that is to think for themselves.
First Chapter - A Deeply Religious Non-Believer
The book begins by differentiating Einsteinian “religion” and theistic religion. This book intends to debate the former and not the latter. That distinction is one that needs to be made prior to the bulk of the argument. As, the concept of Deism or Pantheism is light years away from theistic religion…though very often they are grouped together as if they are very similar in nature, when in fact they are not. It then addresses the odd cultural norm of respect given to faith. Many people believe things that are a matter of faith should be respected blindly and never questioned. We can debate all sorts of topics, from sports to politics, but when it comes to faith…one must do so “respectfully.” This cultural norm has allowed religion to get away with mind boggling stupidity.
Second Chapter - The God Hypothesis
This chapter largely deals with the claim of a god. First it discusses how monotheism is not much of an advancement from polytheism, and how one needs to simply subtract one more god from monotheism to reach a real intellectual stance, atheism. It then dismisses the claim that many folk in America make that the founding fathers were Christians and the constitution was written with a Christian god in mind. That is a claim that’s very often made, yet never substantiated, (as it couldn’t be)…The men who are considered the founding fathers were in fact children of the Enlightenment, and largely could be considered Deists rather than theists. The rest of the chapter is devoted to other such claims which are also false.
Third Chapter - Arguments For god’s Existence
The third chapter is rather self explanatory, it deals with various claims made to support god’s existence. These claims include, Thomas Aquinas “proofs,” The ontological argument, The argument from beauty, The argument from personal experience, The argument from scripture, The argument from admired religious scientists, Pascal’s Wager and Bayesian arguments. Most arguments you have heard for god’s existence often take root in those groups, and Dawkins promptly negates all these arguments as being possible to prove god’s existence.
Fourth Chapter - Why There Almost Certainly Is No God
Many people stop right at the point that, “we can’t completely disprove god, therefore we should leave the topic alone.” That is of course is a rather weak thing, because if our ancestors thought the same way, we would still be thinking that lightning was part of god’s will. This chapter provides the reasoning to go from a(n) Agnostic, Deistic or Pantheistic stance all the way to the Atheistic world view.
Fifth Chapter - The Roots Of Religion
A common argument for the possibility of the existence of a god is one that states, “religion is a human universal, therefore god must exist in some form.” Again, the premise is correct yet the conclusion is off the mark entirely. That is of course the problem with much of the religious thought, the premise is the search for truth, and the conclusion is that, “I don’t know, therefore god did it…” When will people realize that even if you say “god did it,” that doesn’t explain anything at all. Back to the book itself, in the bulk of this chapter, Dawkins explores the history of religion, its purpose for human survival and its development over thousands of years. It is a very interesting chapter for anyone who is possibly enticed by the argument of its universality.
Sixth Chapter - The Roots of Morality, Why Are We Good?
Another very interesting chapter, very similar to the previous chapter, except with regards to morality. An argument that many religious moderates use is the one from morality. They believe that, without the “great” monotheism’s, we wouldn’t know right from wrong. The moral precepts left by the history of religion is why society on the whole is good, therefore religion might be physically true, but it serves a great purpose. Again, a horrible argument, though a much weaker stance than most others. If you have ever read Dawkins’ earlier work such as, The Selfish Gene, one can get a good grasp of how this chapter starts. Morality is beneficial for individual human survival and, thus evolution by natural selection would keep it going. The argument Dawkins makes is far more complex than just that, and is grounded in more biological facts, but that is the jist of it. He then discusses the argument raised in the book “The Brothers Karamazov,” and that is, “why be good if there is no god.” That is such a despicable question, and an insult to humans, it other words, the question is asking, “Would you murder you neighbor if you knew there was no ultimate punishment?”…If you really are stopped from killing and raping due to your belief in god’s existence, you are not moral, and actually quite the opposite.
Seventh Chapter - The “Good” Book And The Changing Moral Zeitgeist
Every chapter in this book has been great, and it does not let up here either. This chapter talks about the morality (or lack thereof) within the supposed “good” book. It continues to demonstrate how any decent religious person would have to pick and choose which parts of the “good” book to accept, and which to leave aside. This cherry picking is extremely interesting, as unconsciously, people realize that certain parts are moral and certain parts are immortal. This judgement that seemingly any religious person has is available to everyone. So it is therefore established, religion gets our morality from us, not the other way around. It then delves into the wickedness of the New Testament, often regarded as a much more moral book that the Old Testament. While obviously the New Testament is an upgrade over its predecessor, its morality isn’t very praiseworthy either. The notion of Heaven and Hell that is promoted is a specific aspect in which the New Testament is actually more wicked. It then discusses a few eye opening studies and statistics which really put things into perspective. The chapter closes with refuting the old, “Hitler and Stalin were Atheists…” I wont even give that argument any refutation as it is baseless and false, though Dawkins does quite masterfully.
Eighth Chapter - What’s So Wrong With Religion? Why be So Hostile?
An earlier chapter advances the view of the Atheist, and this chapter advances the view of the Anti-Theist as well as the justification of vocal criticism of religion. Most readers of this blog will already know why I am personally hostile to religion, and faith in general, but Dawkins adds quite a few more reasons: the religious right and their opposition to the teaching of science, stem cell research and homosexuality. He then articulates a point made by American Author, Sam Harris, and that is how moderation provides a cloak for extremism. The major argument is against faith, as faith is a cop-out of thinking, it allows people to take actions without really thinking them over, or just assuming they are right because god or their preacher said so. We have already seen the disastrous effects that faith can have when met with modernity, and thus the position to oppose religion in the public sphere is advanced as vital for modernity.
Ninth Chapter - Childhood, Abuse And The Escape From Religion
This chapter is very similar to my blog post on Child Abuse and Religion, as this is what that blog post is based upon. Dawkins takes issue with the labeling of young children, likening it to a form of child abuse. By not giving a child a chance to label (or not label) themselves, the parents are in effect stunting the child’s growth as a thinker and person. By automatically giving them a label, they make it that much harder for the child to escape the religion later in life. Dawkins often talks about how the Feminists employed a campaign of “consciousness-raising” and that is exactly what this chapter does. We wouldn’t dare call a child of racist parent a racist child, yet we accept that parents can label their own children on their own beliefs. Dawkins does say that we must of course educate children on religion, as one cannot understand modern history without it, but not allowing a child to choose which religion, or even no religion they want to follow is indeed a form of child abuse.
Tenth Chapter - A Much Needed Gap?
Many Atheists say they miss their former religion, almost like a missing limb. They wish they could believe, but simply cannot given the evidence otherwise and the lack of evidence for god’s existence. They miss the feeling of community and inspiration. They say that only religion can fill that gap, but is that really true. Of course I would affirm it is not true. Religion makes people feel good, and it provides quite a deal of comfort. My personal issue with such a stance is that, it means nothing, just because it feels good means absolutely nothing. Wouldn’t it be much more comforting to know the truth? Doesn’t knowledge of the real universe provide so much more awe and inspiration? I would maintain that it does, and a religious explanation of the universe actually cheapens the truth. This book review is thus over, but I will end with the beautiful ending of The God Delusion By Richard Dawkins.
How should we interpret Haldane’s ‘queerer than we can
suppose’? Queerer than can, in principle, be supposed? Or just
queerer than we can suppose, given the limitation of our brains’
evolutionary apprenticeship in Middle World? Could we, by training
and practice, emancipate ourselves from Middle World, tear off
our black burka, and achieve some sort of intuitive - as well as just
mathematical - understanding of the very small, the very large, and
the very fast? I genuinely don’t know the answer, but I am thrilled
to be alive at a time when humanity is pushing against the limits of
understanding. Even better, we may eventually discover that there
are no limits.
Tags: anti-theism, Atheism, christianity, dawkins, deism, delusion, god, islam, Religion, richarddawkins, thegoddelusion, theism
I hate, those top (insert number here) lists…so in order to avoid such nonsense, I will simply post them in alphabetical order of their authors name.
Part Two is now posted here: Great Quotes for Atheists/Non-Believers (Part 2)
“The world holds two classes of men - intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence.” -Abu Ala Al-Ma’arri
“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.” -Isaac Asimov
“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.” -Napoleon Bonaparte
“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” -Richard Dawkins
“I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. ” -Albert Einstein
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” -Epicurus
“The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason.” -Benjamin Franklin
“What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.” -Christopher Hitchens
“The inspiration of the bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it.” -Robert G. Ingersoll
“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus…will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” -Thomas Jefferson
“Beliefs are dangerous. Beliefs allow the mind to stop functioning. A non-functioning mind is clinically dead. Believe in nothing.” -Maynard James Keenan
“The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.” -Abraham Lincoln
“What have been [Christianity's] fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.” -James Madison
“Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand.” -Karl Marx
“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” -Karl Marx
“I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any Church that I know of. My own mind is my own Church.” -Thomas Paine
“…the Bible is such a book of lies and contradictions there is no knowing which part to believe or whether any.” -Thomas Paine
“Who needs Satan when you have a God like this?” -Robert M. Price
“So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.” -Bertrand Russell
“I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.” -Bertrand Russell
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.” -Seneca the Younger
“No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means.” -George Bernard Shaw
“A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.” -Mark Twain
“Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.” -Peter Ustinov
“Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.” -Voltaire
“Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” -Voltaire
“The first clergyman was the first rascal who met the first fool” -Voltaire
“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” -Steven Weinberg
——–
I probably have missed some great ones and I will add to this list often. If you have good quotes please contact me asap!
Update: Added a few more into the post!
Tags: anti-theism, Atheism, church, deism, islam
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