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Atheism Quotes

“Early America does not deserve to be considered uniquely, distinctly or even predominantly Christian... There is no lost Golden Age to which American Christians may return.”

May Doe Age Christian America Lost Atheism Return Deserve Positive Atheism Golden Golden Age

Author:Mark Noll

“Christians have ... identified their opponents, whether Jews, pagans, or heretics, with forces of evil, and so with Satan... Nor have things improved since. The blood-soaked history of persecution, torture, murder, and destruction perpetrated in the name of religion is difficult to grasp, let alohne summarize, from the slaughter of Christians to the Crusades to the Inquisitiion to the Reformation to the European witchcraze to colonialization to today's bitter coflict in the Middle East.”

“As Stephen Jay Gould pointed out in Time, in no other Western country is the teaching of Evolution regarded as controversial. Throughout the world, one way or another, most Christian denominations have managed to reconcile belief in God with belief in the mechanisms of natural selection. A French or German or Scandinavian politician who called for students to entertain as a reasonable deduction from existing evidence the proposition that Earth is at most 10,000 years old would be bundled off to a mental hospital.”

“I do not expect that the mere fact that I was once an evangelical apologist and now see things differently should itself count as evidence that I must be right. That would be the genetic fallacy. It would be just as erroneous to think that John Rankin must be right in having embraced evangelical Christianity since he had once been an agnostic Unitarian and repudiated it for the Christian faith.”

Thinking Should Facts Would Be Christian Christianity Atheism Evidence Mere Positive Atheism Agnostic Christian Faith Evangelical Fallacy Unitarian

Author:Robert M. Price

“Christians believe themselves to be the aristocracy of heaven upon earth, they are admitted to the spiritual court, while millions of men in foreign lands have never been presented. They bow their knees and say they are 'miserable sinners,' and their hearts rankle with abominable pride. Poor infatuated fools! Their servility is real and their insolence is real but their king is a phantom and their palace is a dream.”

Source: The Martyrdom of Man

“It is evident, indeed, that such a doctrine, taken by itself in a literal manner, had no future. The world, in continuing to exist, caused it to crumble. One generation of man at the most was the limit of its endurance. The faith of the first Christian generation is intelligible, but the faith of the second generation is no longer so. After the death of John, or of the last survivor, whoever he might be, of the group which had seen the master, the word of Jesus was convicted of falsehood.”

Source: The Life of Jesus: Works of Renan

“These bible people remind me of another calamity similar to this missionary scheme, when our people, or any christian power would go to Africa for the pious purpose of kidnapping negroes, the mother would cry out to her children "run, run, the christians are coming," so when ever you hear "bibles," run for your life, if you do not want your pockets picked, or to be insulted and slandered as I was... and if you hear "hopeful conversions" or the "gospel," don't stop to look behind you.”

People Ifs Want Looks Children Running Christian Mother Purpose Behinds Atheism Cry Positive Atheism Conversion Hopeful Pockets Missionary Schemes Calamity Behind You Pious Insulted Kidnapping

Author:Anne Royall

“I know few Christians so convinced of the splendor of the rooms in their Father's house, as to be happier when their friends are called to those mansions... Nor has the Church's ardent "desire to depart, and be with Christ," ever cured it of the singular habit of putting on mourning for every person summoned to such departure.”

Knows Persons Christian Desire Father House Christ Church Rooms Atheism Habit Positive Atheism Convinced Mourning Departure Splendor Mansions Ardent

Book:The crown of wild olive: Munera pulveris. Pre-Raphaelitism. Aratra Pentelici, etc

Source: The crown of wild olive: Munera pulveris. Pre-Raphaelitism. Aratra Pentelici, etc

“Thrust your head into the public street, to gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces.”

Christian Faces Atheism Streets Fool Positive Atheism Thrust

Author:William Shakespeare

“We have a hieroglyphical inscription in the British Museum as early as the reign of Sevechus of the eighth century before the Christian era, showing that the doctrine of Trinity in Unity already formed part of their religion and that ... the three gods only made one person.”

Persons Made Christian Three Atheism Century Unity British Positive Atheism Doctrine Eras Museums Reign Trinity Inscriptions British Museum

Book:Egyptian mythology and Egyptian Christianity, with their influence on the opinions of modern Christendom

Source: Egyptian mythology and Egyptian Christianity, with their influence on the opinions of modern Christendom

“The evening was very professionally organized, and most of the people were exceptionally polite, although it did make me a little nervous when one church official told me after the debate when a big crowd of people surrounded me that he had assigned me a body guard "just in case." Just in case what? I thought Christians were suppose to be exceptionally tolerant. Well, in any case, I guess I was grateful for the gesture, "just in case."”

People Wells Littles Body Bigs Christian Church Cases Atheism Grateful Crowds Debate Nervous Evening Officials Organized Gestures Polite

Author:Michael Shermer

“The leap of faith is a strategic impasse that confronts every Christian in search of converts; and, as he sees the matter, there is no wrong way to become a Christian. It is the end that is importnat, not the means; it does not matter why you believe, so long as you believe. For the philosopher, in contrast, the paramount issue is the justification of belief, not the fact of belief itself.”

Way Believe Mean Long Doe Ends Matter Facts Christian Belief Issues Atheism Philosopher Positive Atheism Leap Contrast Justification Strategic Wrong Way Paramount Leap Of Faith Impasse

Author:George H. Smith

“As for Christianity's alleged concern with truth, Christian faith is to free inquiry what the Mafia is to free enterprise. Christianity may be represented as a competitor in the realm of ideas to be considered on the basis of its merits, but this is mere disguise. Like the Mafia, if Christianity fails to defeat its competition by legitimate means (which is a forgone conclusion), it resorts to strong-arm tactics. Have faith or be damned - this biblical doctrine alone is enough to exclude Christianity from the domain of reason.”

Source: Atheism: The Case Against God

“The real conflict in the abortion issue is between a value - the right to choose whether or not to have the child - and a moral dictum - don't kill other humans. The more here, even, is flexible and relative. "Thou shall not kill" really means, "don't kill productive, contributing members of your own society that aren't a threat to your safety." If it was not relative, then no "Judeo-Christian" person could ever go to war or execute someone.”

Ifs Humans Mean Children Persons War Real Christian Values Moral Issues Atheism Conflict Members Safety Threat Abortion Productive Relative Flexible Really Mean Contributing

Author:Morris Sullivan

“The better sort of Ishmaelites have been Christian for many centuries and will not publicly eat human flesh uncooked in Lent, without special and costly dispensation from their bishop.”

Humans Has Beens Christian Atheism Special Century Flesh Bishops

Book:Scoop: a novel

Source: Scoop: a novel

“The United States is not a Christian nation. It is a great nation with Christians, among others, in it. But our greatness is based on the fact that there is no official religion.”

States Facts Christian Nations United United States Atheism Greatness Positive Atheism Officials Great Nations Christian Nation

Author:Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.

“It was in this year, 1828, that the standard of "the Christian Party in Politics" was openly unfurled... This was an evident attempt, through the influence of the clergy over the female mind - until this hour lamentably neglected in the United States - to effect a union of Church and State.”

“Atheists have just as much civil right to teach atheism as Christians have to teach Christianity; agnostics have just as much right to teach agnosticism as Christians have to teach their religion.”

Christian Christianity Teach Atheism Atheist Agnosticism

Author:William Jennings Bryan

“Organizational Development: The New Christian Right of the 1980s was dominated by paper organizations that were essentially the mailing lists of a handful of politicized ministers. Such organizations were better at issuing press releases than doing the hard work of political mobilization and advocacy. By contrast, the movement of the 1990s has generated a plethora of grass-roots organizations that allocate meaningful responsibilities to individual members. The goal is to create an army of grassroots activists who know how to stimulate political change.”

“A ground frequently taken by Christian theologians is that the progress and civilization of the world are due to Christianity; and the discussion is complicated by the fact that many eminent servants of humanity have been nominal Christians, of one or other of the sects. My allegation will be that the special services rendered to human progress by these exceptional men have not been in consequence of their adhesion to Christianity, but in spite of it, and that the specific points of advantage to human kind have been in ratio of their direct opposition to precise Biblical enactments.”

Source: Has Humanity Gained from Unbelief?: Two Nights Debate Between Marsden Gibson and Charles Bradlaugh at Newcastle-on-Tyne

“Since the primary motive of the evil is disguise, one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal one's evil from oneself, as well as from others, than to be a deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture? ... I do not mean to imply that the evil are anything other than a small minority among the religious or that the religious motives of most people are in any way spurious. I mean only that evil people tend to gravitate toward piety for the disguise and concealment it can offer them.”

“Although I'm not Christian, I was raised Christian. I'm an atheist, with a slight Buddhist leaning. I've got a very strong sense of morality - it's just a different morality than the loud voices of the Christian morality.... I can't tell you how many films I've turned down because there was an absence of morality. And I don't mean that from any sort of Judeo-Christian-Muslim point of view. I'm not saying they're wrong and can't be made. But, fundamentally, I'm such a humanist that I can't bear to make films that make us feel humanity is more dark than it is light.”

“A book which the Mohammedans foolishly believe to have been written by divine inspiration, but which Christians know to be a wicked imposture, contradictory to the Holy Scriptures.”

Knows Believe Has Beens Book Inspiration Christian Written Atheism Divine Holy Positive Atheism Scripture Wicked Contradictory Holy Scriptures Divine Inspiration

Book:The Devil's Dictionary

Source: The Devil's Dictionary

“Orthodox Christians have the habit of claiming all great men, all men who have held important positions, men of reputation, men of wealth. As soon as the funeral is over clergymen begin to relate imaginary conversations with the deceased, and in a very little while the great man is changed to a Christian - possibly to a saint.”

Source: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

“Our civilization is not Christian. It does not come from the skies. It is not a result of inspiration. It is the child of invention, of discovery, of applied knowledge - that is to say, of science. When man becomes great and grand enough to admit that all have equal rights; when thought is untrammeled; when worship shall consist in doing useful things; when religion means the discharge of obligations to our fellow-men, then, and not until then, will the world be civilized.”

Source: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

“It is often asserted that woman owes all the advantages of the position she occupies to-day to Christianity, but the facts of history show that the Christian Church has done nothing specifically for woman's elevation. In the general march of civilization, she has necessarily reaped the advantage of man's higher development, but we must not claim for Christianity all that has been achieved by science, discovery and invention.”

“This is a Christian country. Why, so is hell. Inasmuch as Strait is the way and narrow is the gate, and few - few - are they that enter in thereat has had the natural effect of making hell the only really prominent Christian community in any of the worlds; but we don't brag of this and certainly it is not proper to brag and boast that America is a Christian country when we all know that certainly five-sixths of our population could not enter in at the narrow gate.”

Source: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition

“Of the 417 commandments, only a single one of the 417 has found ministerial obedience; multiply and replenish the earth. To it sinner & saint, scholar & ignoramus, Christian & savage are alike loyal.”

Earth Christian Found Atheism Saint Positive Atheism Obedience Sinner Scholar Loyal Savages Commandments

Author:Mark Twain

“The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of moral quality control programs based on things certain Christians do not like. What if the next bunch of Washington wives demands a large yellow J on all material written or performed by Jews, in order to save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine?”

Source: Real Frank Zappa Book

“The Christian priesthood, finding the doctrines of Christ leveled to every understanding, and too plain to need explanation, saw, in the mysticism of Plato, materials with which they might build up an artificial system which might, from it's indistinctness, admit everlasting controversy, give employment for their order, and introduce it to profit, power and pre-eminence.”

Source: Jefferson: Political Writings

“Every Christian sect gives a great handle to Atheism by their general dogma that, without a revelation, there would not be sufficient proof of the being of god.”

Giving Christian Atheism Positive Atheism Proof Handle Sufficient Revelations Dogma Sects

Book:The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, cont

Source: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, cont

“There was the strangest combination of church influence against me. Baker is a Campbellite; and therefore, as I suppose with few exceptions, got all of that Church. My wife had some relations in the Presbyterian churches, and some in the Episcopal churches; and therefore, wherever it would tell, I was set down as either one or the other, while it was everywhere contended that no Christian ought to vote for me because I belonged to no Church, and was suspected of being a Deist and had talked of fighting a duel.”

Christian Fighting Church Wife Atheism Influence Ought Vote Relation Positive Atheism My Wife Combination Exception Bakers Presbyterians Deist Vote For Me

Author:Abraham Lincoln

“Mr. Lincoln's maxim and philosophy were: 'What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.' He never joined any Church. He was a religious man always, I think, but was not a technical Christian.”

Thinking Men Philosophy Christian Church Religious Prayer Atheism Positive Atheism Maxims Decree

Author:Mary Todd Lincoln

“What I got in Sunday school ... was simply a firm conviction that the Christian faith was full of palpable absurdities, and the Christian God preposterous.... The act of worship, as carried on by Christians, seems to me to be debasing rather than ennobling. It involves groveling before a being who, if he really exists, deserves to be denounced instead of respected.”

Ifs Seems School Christian Atheism Worship Deserve Conviction Positive Atheism Firm Sunday Absurdity Christian Faith Sunday School Christian God Groveling

Author:H. L. Mencken

“Christian endeavor is notoriously hard on female pulchritude.”

Hard Christian Atheism Female Positive Atheism Endeavor

Author:H. L. Mencken

“It can do truth no service to blind the fact, known to all who have the most ordinary acquaintance with literary history, that a large portion of the noblest and most valuable moral teaching has been the work not only of men who did not know, but of men who knew and rejected the Christian faith.”

Knows Men Has Beens Facts Christian Can Do Known Moral Atheism Teaching Ordinary Blind Valuable Positive Atheism Portions Rejected Acquaintance Christian Faith

Author:John Stuart Mill

“What little recognition the idea of obligation to the public obtains in modern morality, is derived from Greek and Roman sources, not from Christian; as, even in the morality of private life, whatever exists of magnanimity, high-mindeness, personal dignity, even the sense of honour, is derived from the purely human, not the religious part of our education, and never could have grown out of a standard of ethics in which the only worth, professedly recognized, is that of obedience.”

“Christian morality (so called) has all the characters of a reaction.... In its horror of sensuality, it made an idol of asceticism, which has been gradually compromised away into one of legality. It holds out the hope of heaven and the threat of hell, as the appointed and appropriate motives to a virtuous life - in this falling far below the best of the ancients, and doing what lies in it to give to human morality an essentially selfish character.... It is essentially a doctrine of passive obedience; it inculcates submission to all authorities found established.”

Source: Utilitarianism, liberty, and representative government

“It is no credit to the orthodox that they do not now believe all the absurdities that were believed 150 years ago. The gradual emasculation of the Christian doctrine has been effected in spite of the most vigorous resistance, and solely as the result of the onslaughts of freethinkers.”

Years Believe Has Beens Christian Results Atheism Years Ago Credit Positive Atheism Resistance Doctrine Spite Orthodox Absurdity Vigorous Freethinker Christian Doctrine Emasculation

Book:Why I Am Not a Christian

Source: Why I Am Not a Christian

“I was almost persuaded to be a Christian. I thought I never again could be thoughtless and worldly. But I soon forgot my morning prayer or else it was irksome to me. One by one my old habits returned and I cared less for religion than ever.”

Christian Prayer Morning Atheism Habit Positive Atheism Worldly Old Habits Morning Prayer

Book:The Letters of Emily Dickinson

Source: The Letters of Emily Dickinson

“If there were a reason for preferring the Christian religion to natural religion, it would be because the former offers us, on the nature of God and man, enlightenment that the latter lacks. Now, this is not at all the case; for Christianity, instead of clarifying, gives rise to an infinite multitude of obscurities and difficulties.”

Ifs Men Giving Reason Would Be Christian Natural Christianity Cases Atheism Offers Enlightenment Difficulty Infinite Positive Atheism Former Latter Multitudes Obscurity Clarifying

Author:Denis Diderot

“Have not all theists painted their Deity as the god of love and goodness? Yet after thousands of years of such preachments the gods remain deaf to the agony of the human race. Confucius cares not for the poverty, squalor and misery of the people of China. Buddha remains undisturbed in his philosophical indifference to the famine and starvation of outraged Hindoos; Jahve continues deaf to the bitter cry of Israel; while Jesus refuses to rise from the dead against his Christians who are butchering each other.”

Source: Mother Earth, a Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Social Science and Literature

“On the Cross the Jesus of the Four Gospels, who was God, cried out My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God cannot forsake himself, Jesus was God himself. Yet God forsook Jesus, and the latter cried out to know why he was forsaken. Any able divine will explain that of course he knew, and that he was not forsaken. The explanation renders it difficult to believe the dying cry, and the passage becomes one of the mysteries of the holy Christian religion, which, unless a man rightly believe, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.”

Source: Why do Men Starve? Who Was Jesus Christ? Poverty: Its Effects on the Political Condition of the People and other Essays

“Christians call it faith ... I call it the herd.”

Christian Atheism Positive Atheism Herds

Book:Beyond Good and Evil

Source: Beyond Good and Evil

“Christian churches and Muslim groups have no more right to have their say than women's institutes or trades unions. The government has actively encouraged faith-based education, and therefore given a megaphone to religious voices and fundamentalists.”

Government Christian Given Voice Church Religious Groups Atheism Trade Unions Institute Christian Church Trade Unions Faith Based Institutes

Author:A.C. Grayling

“We are a people of different faiths, but we are one. Which faith conquers the other is not the question; rather, the question is whether Christianity stands or falls.... We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity... in fact our movement is Christian. We are filled with a desire for Catholics and Protestants to discover one another in the deep distress of our own people.”

People Ideas Different Facts Christian Desire Fall Christianity Atheism Movement Catholic Filled Conquer Tolerate Distress Protestants Different Faiths

Author:Adolf Hitler

“If positive Christianity means love of one's neighbour, i.e. the tending of the sick, the clothing of the poor, the feeding of the hungry, the giving of drink to those who are thirsty, then it is we who are the more positive Christians. For in these spheres the community of the people of National Socialist Germany has accomplished a prodigious work.”

Source: The Speeches of Adolf Hitler: April 1922-August 1939

“Imbued with the desire to secure for the German people the great religious, moral, and cultural values rooted in the two Christian Confessions, we have abolished the political organizations but strengthened the religious institutions.”

People Two Christian Political Desire Values Religious Moral Atheism Organization Institutions Secure Rooted Confession Great Religious

Book:The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939: An English Translation of Representative Passages Arranged Under Subjects and Edited by Norman H. Baynes

Source: The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939: An English Translation of Representative Passages Arranged Under Subjects and Edited by Norman H. Baynes

“I have found Christian dogma unintelligible.”

Christian Found Atheism Dogma

Author:Benjamin Franklin

“The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans, and capitalism stole it from the Christians.”

Christian Atheism Capitalism Winter Pagan Solstice Winter Solstice

Author:George Monbiot