#mental

There are few things more dangerous than inbred religious certainty. ↗

— Bart D. Ehrman

#dogma #fanaticism #fundamentalism #religion #religion

What obligation is more binding than to protect the cherished, to defend whoever or whatever cannot defend itself, and to nurture in turn that which has given nourishment? I’m reminded of words written by John Seed, an Australian environmentalist. When he began considering these questions, he believed, “I am protecting the rain forest.” But as his thought evolved, he realized, “I am part of the rain forest protecting myself. ↗

— Richard Nelson

#nature #transcendence #nature

Anthropomorphism originally meant the attribution of human characteristics to God. It is curious that the word is now used almost exclusively to ascribe human characteristics--such as fidelity or altruism or pride, or emotions such as love, embarrassment, or sadness--to the nonhuman animal. One isguilty of anthropomorphism, though it is no longer a sacrilegious word. It is a derogatory, dismissive one that connotes a sort of rampant sentimentality. It’s just another word in the arsenal of the many words used to attack the animal rights movement. ↗

— Joy Williams

#animals #anthromorphism #sentimentality #love

Modern materialists and religious extremists alike lack the spiritual animistic reverence for non-human beings that every culture once understood as a given. ↗

— Zeena Schreck

#animism #beatdom #environmentalism #materialism-versus-spiritualism #religious-extremism

Darwinists are right to say that selection favours the organisms that leave alive the most progeny, but vigorous growth takes place within a constrained space where feedback from the environment allows the emergence of natural self-regulation. ↗

— James Lovelock

#nature

By polluting clear water with slime you will never find good drinking water. ↗

— Aeschylus

#clear #drinking #drinking water #find #good

Nobody's favorite movie is some dark, dysfunctional slasher story. Everybody's favorite song is a sentimental song. So why all of a sudden is it bad to be sentimental in books? ↗

— Mitch Albom

#books #dark #dysfunctional #everybody #favorite

Critics have a problem with sentimentality. Readers do not. I write for readers. ↗

— Mitch Albom

#i #i write #problem #readers #sentimentality

Well, I think the worst part about tribalism is its tendency to fundamentalize, and if I can fight fundamentalism in any of its forms I'm happy. ↗

— Sherman Alexie

#any #fight #forms #fundamentalism #happy

In times of conflict, war, poverty or religious fundamentalism, women and children are the first and most numerous victims. Women need all their courage today. ↗

— Isabel Allende

#conflict #courage #first #fundamentalism #most