“The necessary precondition for the birth of science as we know it is, it would seem, the diffusion through society of the belief that the universe is both rational and contingent. Such a belief is the presupposition of modern science and cannot by any conceivable argument be a product of science. One has to ask: Upon what is this belief founded?” KnowsSeemsUniverseAsksBeliefModernProductsBirthArgumentRationalModern ScienceDiffusion Book:Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture Source: Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture
“[I]n contrast to the common belief that they are the world's greatest cynics, the best journalists are the world's great idealists. They have experienced firsthand the great soothing balance of human existence. For every disgrace there is triumph, for every wrong there is a moment of justice, for every funeral a wedding, for every obituary a birth announcement.” WorldHumansMomentsBeliefJusticeCommonExistenceBirthBalanceTriumphJournalistFuneralContrastDisgraceGreat IdeaHuman ExistenceSoothingIdealistAnnouncementsObituary Author:Anna Quindlen
“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
“The life-history of the individual is first and foremost an accommodation to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.” FirstsLittlesMomentsAbleCultureIndividualBeliefBornCommunityBirthHabitActivityShapesCreaturesBehaviorStandardsPatternsCustomsImpossibilityAccommodations Author:Ruth Benedict
“Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief, and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or some failure of energy stifles the movement at its birth. The only difference between the expression of an opinion and an incitement is the speaker's enthusiasm for the result.” IfsIdeasBeliefEnergyDifferencesJusticeResultsOpinionMovementExpressionBirthOffersEnthusiasmSpeakersIncitement Author:Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
“The Bible represents a fundamental guidepost for millions of people on the planet, in much the same way the Koran, Torah, and Pali Canon offer guidance to people of other religions. If you and I could dig up documentation that contradicted the holy stories of Islamic belief, Judaic belief, Buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.” PeopleIfsWayShouldStoriesJesusBeliefBornMillionsPlanetsBirthHolyOffersFundamentalsWaveBuddhistGuidanceIslamicFlagsVirginsLiteralPaganMetaphoricalCanonLotusesDocumentationTorahVirgin Birth Author:Dan Brown