What are your favorite quotes regarding religion? Which ones represent your opinions? Here are a few that I like. I found them posted on another message board. They may be biased, but what isn't? post your quotes too, no matter what your views are. "Children don't spontaneously pray, speak in tongues or read Scriptures; they have to learn these behaviors. Religions require invasive social construction for their perpetuation, for they are always one generation away from extinction." Advanced Atheist "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." -- Stephen Roberts, quoted from Rob Fenton, in a letter to Cliff Walker (September 29, 2000) [Thanks CA for correcting me] "Religion is comparable to a child hood neurosis"-- Sigmund Freud "I do not believe in the god of theology who rewards good and punishes evil"-- Albert Einstein "The world would be astonished to learn how great a proportion of its brightest ornaments, of those most distinguished, even in popular estimation for wisdom and virtue, are complete skeptics in religion"-- John stuart Mill "As far as religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake... religion is all bunk"-- Thomas Edison Refering to Christians' opinions:"We look at the ancient Greeks with their gods on a mountain top throwing lightning bolts and say, 'Those ancient Greeks. They were so silly. So primitive and naive. Not like our religions. We have burning bushes talking to people and guys walking on water. We're ...sophisticated.'" - Paul Provenza "I hereby state my opinion that the notion of a god is a basic superstition and that there is no evidence for the existence of any god(s). Further, devils, demons, angels and saints are myths; there is no life after death, no heaven or hell; the Pope is a dangerous, bigoted, medieval dinosaur, and the Holy Ghost is a comic-book character worthy of laughter and derision. I accuse the Christian god of murder by allowing the Holocaust to take place--not to mention the 'ethnic cleansing' presently being performed by Christians in our world -- and I condemn and vilify this mythical deity for encouraging racial prejudice and commanding the degradation of women." - James Randi "I think I'm probably an atheist, but rather angry with God for not existing." - Terry Pratchett There was one by Woody Allen somewhere, but I can't find it...
on God and Religion Hmmm, how about: I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. - Frank Lloyd Wright Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one. - Thomas Jefferson Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force. - Flavius Josephus
Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906) American feminist leader and suffragist I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -- in 1896, addressing the National American Woman Suffrage Association meeting
Grey Seal; "Yeah to you I'm an atheist, to god I'm the loyal opposition." - Woody Allen That the one?
Because when mankind knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and [3] godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, mankind became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. .....Paul of Tarsus, a city in Asia minor.
"Not only is there no god, but try finding a plumber on sunday!" - Woody Allen I know these off heart, that's the sad part.
Because when mankind knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and [3] godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, mankind became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. .....Paul of Tarsus, a city in Asia minor.
Do not condemn the judgment of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong. I don't mind those who are born again, just as long as they don't think that they get twice as many rights.
Principia Mathematica: ...He (God) is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his duration reaches from eternity to eternity; his presence from infinity to infinity; he governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be done. He is …eternal and infinite; …he endures and is present. He endures forever, and is everywhere present; and, by existing always and everywhere, he constitutes duration and space... We know him only by his most wise and excellent contrivances of things... [W]e reverence and adore him as his servants… Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Little science takes you away from God but more of it takes you to Him.5 Louis Pasteur
1. Nietzsche wasn’t the one who declared ‘God is dead’, it was a character that he created who said that. Try actually reading his work sometime. 2. "God" (If he even exists Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ) wasn’t the one who killed Nietzsche, Nietzsche actually died from complications brought on by a syphilitic infection. Btw, Here are a few Nietzsche quotes you might enjoy… Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! "I call Christianity the one great curse, the one enormous and innermost perversion, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are too venemous, too underhand, too underground and too petty--I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind." "The last Christian died on the cross." "Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life's nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in "another" or "better" life." "After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands."
How about GWB's declaration that Wiccans should not be allowed rights? How about GWB's dad's claim that atheists are not patriots? Some goodass quotes there.
It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he need not exixt in order to save us.~Peter de Vries~
Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals. ~Agnes Repplier There's nothing an agnostic can't do if he doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not. ~Monty Python, The Meaning of Life Scriptures: the sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based. ~Ambrose Bierce Suppose we've chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to church we're just making him madder and madder. ~Homer Simpson's version of Pascal's Wager, The Simpsons Whenever a man believes that he has the exact truth from God, there is in that man no spirit of compromise. He has not the modesty born of the imperfections of human nature; he has the arrogance of theological certainty and the tyranny born of ignorant assurance. Believing himself to be the slave of God, he imitates his master, and of all tyrants, the worst is a slave in power. ~Robert Ingersoll, Some Reasons Why I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect had intended for us to forgo their use. ~Galileo Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. ~Thomas Jefferson We must conduct research and then accept the results. If they don't stand up to experimentation, Buddha's own words must be rejected. ~Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama Two attempts have been made...to evade the problem. The first is the Credo quia absurdum of the early Father of the Church. It maintains that religious doctrines are outside the jurisdiction of reason - are above reason. Their truth must be felt inwardly, and they need not be comprehended.... Am I to be obliged to believe every absurdity? And if not, why this one in particular? ~Sigmund Freud To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today. ~Isaac Asimov Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches. ~Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274, Summa Theologica Faith is an absolutely marvelous tool. With faith there is no question too big for even the smallest mind. ~Rev. Donald Morgan, Atheologian He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave. ~Andrew Carnegie A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the Lord in vain - then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system? ~Robert A. Heinlein No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on its legs again in the name of Jesus. ~G.B. Shaw, Androcles and the Lion, 1912 If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul. ~Isaac Asimov, I. Asimov: A Memoir Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof. ~Ashley Montague If I were to construct a God I would furnish Him with some way and qualities and characteristics which the Present lacks. He would not stoop to ask for any man's compliments, praises, flatteries; and He would be far above exacting them. I would have Him as self-respecting as the better sort of man in these regards. He would not be a merchant, a trader. He would not buy these things. He would not sell, or offer to sell, temporary benefits of the joys of eternity for the product called worship. I would have Him as dignified as the better sort of man in this regard. He would value no love but the love born of kindnesses conferred; not that born of benevolences contracted for. Repentance in a man's heart for a wrong done would cancel and annul that sin; and no verbal prayers for forgiveness be required or desired or expected of that man. In His Bible there would be no Unforgivable Sin. He would recognize in Himself the Author and Inventor of Sin and Author and Inventor of the Vehicle and Appliances for its commission; and would place the whole responsibility where it would of right belong: upon Himself, the only Sinner. He would not be a jealous God - a trait so small that even men despise it in each other. He would not boast. He would keep private His admirations of Himself; He would regard self-praise as unbecoming the dignity of his position. He would not have the spirit of vengeance in His heart. Then it would not issue from His lips. There would not be any hell - except the one we live in from the cradle to the grave. There would not be any heaven - the kind described in the world's Bibles. He would spend some of His eternities in trying to forgive Himself for making man unhappy when he could have made him happy with the same effort and he would spend the rest of them in studying astronomy. ~Mark Twain ~Raithere
And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?" They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed." And Jesus replied, "What?" Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who teaches my hands to wage war, and my fingers to do battle. The Bible, Psalms 144:1 The church says that the Earth is flat, but I have seen the shadow on the moon and I have more faith in the shadow than in the church. The reason I know I am God is because one day as I was praying, I realized I was talking to myself. The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of resoning. If Jesus was hung, would we pray to a rope? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church. Humanity's first sin was faith; the first virtue was doubt. Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy. I think the only power higher than myself is the power of all of us combined There is a legend of a comfort-loving man who died and was borne to the other world where every wish was gratified. No effort, no struggle was required of him. He became bored and said, 'I can't stand this everlasting bliss any longer. I want to feel there are things I cannot have. I want to go to hell.' The attendant replied: 'And where do you think you are, sir?'" A belief is not merely an idea that the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence. For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us ------ Kinda long, I know, but it's every one I have!
"Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven" -mark twain "people like him think that if the church didn’t exist cucumbers wouln’t grow" -off some TV show about Darwin "God is much bigger than religion" -me (as far as I know)
