"There is a great ladder of religious cruelty, and, of its many rungs, three are the most important. People used to make human sacrifices to their god, perhaps even sacrificing those they loved the best ... Then, during the moral epoch of humanity, people sacrificed the strongest instincts they had, their 'nature,' to their god... Finally: what was left to be sacrificed? ... Didn't people have to sacrifice God himself and worship rocks, stupidity, gravity, fate, or nothingness out of sheer cruelty to themselves?"
Religious quotes
Religious
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Religious quotes (page 58 of 358)
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"Your god is dead and only the ignorant weep. And if you claim there is a hell, then we shall meet there!"
"The most fatal seductive lie that has yet existed"
"We have to keep our God placated with prayer, and even then we are never sure of him-how much higher and finer is the Indian's God...Our illogical God is all-powerful in name, but impotent in fact; the Great Spirit is not all-powerful, but does the very best he can for his injun and does it free of charge"
"I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. And yet-I am inclined to expect one."
"It was not that Adam ate the apple for the apple's sake, but because it was forbidden. It would have been better for us-oh infinitely better for us-if the serpent had been forbidden"
"Surely the ass who invented the first religion ought to be the first ass damned"
"Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion"
"There are many scapegoats for our sins, but the most popular one is Providence."
"Grown people everywhere are always likely to cling to the religion they were brought up in."
"Everybody likes to go their own way–to choose their own time and manner of devotion."
"Especially now when views are becoming more polarized, we must work to understand each other across political, religious and national boundaries."
"Nostalgia is also a trait of the organizations that I call lodges - everything from corporate cultures to religious sects. Their bonding power often exceeds loyalty to family or country because they create intimacy through shared ideals and beliefs, ceremonies, stories, and legends, and depend on it for their survival. The message is clear: Don't question what we're doing. Just appreciate how long we've been doing it."
"I think the Muslim religious is a little too tight. It doesn't fit humans. Humans can't possibly fit into it, so there are a lot of really unhappy people, terribly repressed. It is a religion that works against you because the template don't fit. It's not human, you know."
"You got your God and so do I."
"You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor, but he's a little smart for you to fool."
"As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him."
"We should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an equal chance for honors and power we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society."
"I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish - where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all."
"I believe the American people are more concerned with a man's views and abilities than with the church to which he belongs. I believe the founding fathers meant it when they provided in Article VI of the Constitution that there should be no religious test for public office. And I believe that the American people mean to adhere to those principles today."