“To put it as simply as possible: I am not a Muslim.[...] I do not accept the charge of apostacy, because I have never in my adult life affirmed any belief, and what one has not affirmed one can not be said to have apostasized from. The Islam I know states clearly that 'there can be no coercion in matters of religion'. The many Muslims I respect would be horrified by the idea that they belong to their faith purely by virtue of birth, and that a person who freely chose not to be a Muslim could therefore be put to death.” KnowsPersonsSaidIdeasMatterStatesWould BeReligionBeliefAcceptingVirtueBirthAdultsIslamCan NotCoercion Author:Salman Rushdie
“In matters concerning religion, I consider myself not a child but an adult with 35 years of experience.” YearsChildrenMatterReligionAdultsYears Of Experience Book:Collected Works Source: Collected Works
“Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom are among the least religious societies on earth. According to the United Nations' Human Development Report (2005), they are also the healthiest, as indicated by life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality, homicide rate, and infant mortality. . . . Conversely, the fifty nations now ranked lowest in terms of the United Nations' human development index are unwaveringly religious.” HumansEarthReligionNationsTermReligiousUnitedDevelopmentAdultsRateEducationalGenderIncomeKingdomsFiftyReportsCanadaJapanAustraliaMortalityLowestLiteracyUnited NationsInfantAttainmentGender EqualityHuman DevelopmentSwedenBelgiumSwitzerlandUnited KingdomHomicideDenmarkExpectancyNorwayIcelandNetherlandsLife ExpectancyInfant Mortality Book:Letter to a Christian Nation Source: Letter to a Christian Nation
“I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent.” HomeYoungDeathReligionLibertyPracticeDyingProtectIntellectualAdultsInnocentPrivacyPerversionCreationist Author:Arthur C. Clarke
“Christianity may be OK between consenting adults in private but should not be taught to young children.” ShouldMayChildrenYoungReligionChristianityTaughtAdultsBiologyYoung ChildrenTeaching ChildrenChristian Education Author:Francis Crick
“The kindly God who lovingly fashioned each and every one of us and sprinkled the sky with shining stars for our delight - that God is, like Santa Claus, a myth of childhood, not anything [that] a sane, undeluded adult could literally believe in. That God must either be turned into a symbol for something less concrete or abandoned altogether.” BelieveReligionStarsSkyAtheismChildhoodAdultsShiningDelightMythSymbolsAbandonedConcreteSaneSantaSanta ClausShining Star Book:Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life Source: Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life
“In childhood our credulity serves us well. It helps us to pack, with extraordinary rapidity, our skulls full of the wisdom of our parents and our ancestors. But if we don't grow out of it in the fullness of time, our ... nature makes us a sitting target for astrologers, mediums, gurus, evangelists, and quacks. We need to replace the automatic credulity of childhood with the constructive skepticism of adult science.” IfsNeedsWellsHelpingReligionGrowsParentAtheismChildhoodSittingAdultsExtraordinaryMediumsTargetAncestorSkepticismPacksFullnessConstructiveGuruSkullsCredulityEvangelistsQuacks Author:Richard Dawkins