#theism

You may go over the world and you will find that every form of religion which has breathed upon this earth has degraded woman... I have been traveling over the old world during the last few years and have found new food for thought. What power is it that makes the Hindoo woman burn herself upon the funeral pyre of her husband? Her religion. What holds the Turkish woman in the harem? Her religion. By what power do the Mormons perpetuate their system of polygamy? By their religion/ Man, of himself, could not do this; but when he declares, 'Thus saith the Lord,' of course he can do it. So long as ministers stand up and tell us Christ is the head of the church, so is man the head of woman, how are we to break the chains which have held women down through the ages? You Christian women look at the Hindoo, the Turkish, the Mormon women, and wonder how they can be held in such bondage... Now I ask you if our religion teaches the dignity of woman? It teaches us the abominable idea of the sixth century--Augustine's idea--that motherhood is a curse; that woman is the author of sin, and is most corrupt. Can we ever cultivate any proper sense of self-respect as long as women take such sentiments from the mouths of the priesthood? ↗

— Elizabeth Cady Stanton

#atheism #feminism #age

But if the gods do not exist at all - then we are lost,' I said. On the contrary - we are found!' said Aesop. But when we are afraid, who can we turn to, if not the gods?' Ourselves. We turn to ourselves anyway. We only pretend there are gods and that they care about us. It is a comforting falsehood. ↗

— Erica Jong

#inspirational #inspirational

Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There`s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning. ↗

— Bill Gates

#atheism #efficiency #religion #religion

First the priests arrive. Then the conquistadores. ↗

— James Clavell

#priests #religion #religion

God is a book I can no longer read. ↗

— Floriano Martins

#god #religion #religion

The greatest trick Christianity ever pulled was convincing the world that Satan exists. ↗

— Aaron B. Powell

#christianity-religion-atheism #deism #religion

Although the far territory of the extreme can exert an intoxicating pull on susceptible individuals of all bents, extremism seems to be especially prevalent among those inclined by temperament or upbringing toward religious pursuits. Faith is the very antithesis of reason, injudiciousness a crucial component of spiritual devotion. And when religious fanaticism supplants ratiocination, all bets are suddenly off. ↗

— Jon Krakauer

#faith #mormon #reason #religion #faith

Education levels are highly and negatively correlated to religious belief. In other words, ignorance is bliss. ↗

— Cesar Nascimento

#atheism #belief #rationalism #rationality #religion

Compared to the unleashed forces of warfare and of faith, Mount Vesuvius was kinder to the legacy of antiquity. ↗

— Stephen Greenblatt

#christianity #faith #religion #war #faith

Maybe awful things is how God speaks to us, Vernon thought, trudging up the lightless tunnel. Maybe folks don’t trust in good things no more. Maybe awful things is all God’s got to remind us he’s alive. Maybe war is God come to life in men. Vernon pushed on toward the light of day. He stepped out onto the ledge and into the heat, and it felt like leaving a theater after the matinee had shown a sad film, the glare of sunshine after the darkness far too real to suffer. ↗

— Alan Heathcock

#bleak #christian-behavior #loss-of-faith #misery #no-redemption