#theism

The problem I want to talk to you about tonight is the problem of belief. What does it mean to believe? We use this word all the time, and I think behind it lurk some really extraordinary taboos and confusions. What I want to argue tonight is that how we talk about belief- how we fail to criticize or criticize the beliefs of others, has more importance to us personally, more consequence to us personally and to civilization than perhaps anything else that is in our power to influence. ↗

— Sam Harris

#atheism #belief #ethics #humanism #religion

I do not believe in God, because I believe in man. Whatever his mistakes, man has for thousands of years been working to undo the botched job your god has made. ↗

— Emma Goldman

#common-sense #religion #religion

Saying that you are moral because you believe in a god is like saying you are an economist because you play monopoly. ↗

— Robert W. Cox

#economics #god #monopoly #morality #religion

We are all tricked. We think that religion tells us what to believe; but it doesn't, it is telling us what not to believe. Atheism is not the absence of religion; atheism is the most undiluted form of religion: it tells us not to believe in anything at all. Atheists hate the religious and the religious hate atheists, but this is only a deception! We are all deceived! There is only one boat and we are all in it! All at the same time! ↗

— C. JoyBell C.

#deception #dogma #religion #the-great-deception #trickery

I don't believe in angels and I have trouble with the whole God thing. I don't want to say I don't believe in God but I don't think I do. But I believe in people who do. ↗

— Billy Connolly

#atheism #belief #christianity #god #religion

Religious belief is without reason and without dignity, and its record is near-universally dreadful. ↗

— Martin Amis

#atheism #dignity #irrationality #reason #religion

Belief is otiose; reality is sufficiently awesome as it stands. ↗

— Martin Amis

#awe #humanism #reality #religion #religion

Religiosity developed because successful religions made groups more efficient at turning resources into offspring." (including art, cathedrals, cities, earthworks, etc?) ↗

— Jonathan Haidt

#religion #art

Science knows it doesn't know everything; otherwise, it'd stop. But just because science doesn't know everything doesn't mean you can fill in the gaps with whatever fairy tale most appeals to you. ↗

— Dara Ó Briain

#creationism #religion #science #religion

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis argues that human beings cannot be truly good or moral without faith in God and without submis- sion to the will of Christ. Unfortunately, Lewis does not provide any actual data for his assertions. They are nothing more than the mild musings of a wealthy British man, pondering the state of humanity’s soul between his sips of tea. Had Lewis actually famil- iarized himself with real human beings of the secular sort, per- haps sat and talked with them, he would have had to reconsider this notion. As so many apostates explained to me, morality is most certainly possible beyond the confines of faith. Can people be good without God? Can a moral orientation be sustained and developed outside of a religious context? The answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes. ↗

— Phil Zuckerman

#atheism #ethics #morality #morals #religion