#atheism

The atheism and nihilism of my earlier years now seems shallow, and even a bit cocky. ↗

— Anne Rice

#religion #religion

Christians talk as though goodness was their idea but good behavior doesn't have any religious origin. Our prisons are filled with the devout. ↗

— Andy Rooney

#christianity #christians #devout #devouts #goodness

As I work in the afternoon on committing to paper some of my morning's thoughts, I find myself just about to close on the knotty question of whether or not I believe in God. In fact I am about to type, 'I do not believe in God', when the sky goes black as ink, there is a thunderclap and a huge crash of thunder and a downpour of epic proportions. I never do complete the sentence. ↗

— Michael Palin

#atheism #belief #religion #religion

If you ask the religious person "What do you believe in?" he will tell you about one thing. But if you ask him "What do you not believe in?" he will tell you about many, many things! And if you ask an atheist "What do you believe in?" he will say "Nothing." The only difference between an atheist and a religious person, is one thing. If one thing isn't there, there would be no difference at all! When I say I am losing my religion, I am not saying that I'm losing my belief; but I am saying that I'm losing my disbeliefs. ↗

— C. JoyBell C.

#learning-to-believe #letting-go-of-disbelief #losing-my-religion #religion #religion

Nothing draws people more quickly away from religion than an open mind. ↗

— Hemant Mehta

#religion #religion

The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts. ↗

— Ricky Gervais

#religion #science #religion

I don't differentiate much, except in degree, between people who believe in religion from those who believe in astrology, magic or the supernatural. ↗

— Andy Rooney

#astrology #atheism #belief #beliefs #magic

As is well known, the priests are the most evil enemies—but why? Because they are the most impotent. It is because of their impotence that in them hatred grows to monstrous and uncanny proportions, to the most spiritual and poisonous kind of hatred. The truly great haters in world history have always been priests; likewise the most ingenious haters: other kinds of spirit hardly come into consideration when compared with the spirit of priestly vengefulness. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#hatred #priest #religion #religion

Almost all religions provide opportunities for human beings to convince themselves of their own righteousness, to speak in the name of God, and even to go to war on God's behalf. This 'blasphemy of certainty' is also rife among secularists who in their case have not God but science or the proletariat on their side. ↗

— Stephen R. Prothero

#holy-war #religion #religion

It seems to me there is less meanness in atheism, by a good measure. It seems that the spirit of religious self-righteousness this article deplores is precisely the spirit in which it is written. Of course he's right about many things, one of them being the destructive potency of religious self-righteousness. (p. 146) ↗

— Marilynne Robinson

#religion #self-righteousness #religion