“A millennial belief in a Holy God may have the effect of deepening the soul, but it is also obviously archaic, and modern influences would presently bring me up to date and reveal how antiquated my origins were. To turn away from those origins, however, has always seemed to me an utter impossibility. It would be a treason to my first consciousness to un-Jew myself.” FirstsMaySoulWould BeTurnsBeliefConsciousnessInfluenceModernEffectsHolyJewImpossibilityTreasonMillennialsUp To DateHoly God Book:There Is Simply Too Much to Think About: Collected Nonfiction Source: There Is Simply Too Much to Think About: Collected Nonfiction
“Obviously, if theism is a belief in a God and atheism is a lack of a belief in a God, no third position or middle ground is possible. A person can either believe or not believe in a God. Therefore, our previous definition of atheism has made an impossibility out of the common usage of agnosticism to mean "neither affirming nor denying a belief in God."” IfsBelieveMeanPersonsMadeBeliefCommonAtheismMiddlePositionThirdsDefinitionsPositive AtheismImpossibilityAgnosticismBelief In GodUsageTheismAffirmingMiddle Ground Book:An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism Source: An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism
“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