“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
“[On the ancient Venus figurines:] If the central religious figure was a woman giving birth and not, as in our time, a man dying on a cross, it would not be unreasonable to infer that life and the love of life - rather than death and the fear of death - were dominant in society as well as art.” IfsMenGivingWellsArtReligionReligiousDyingFiguresBirthCrossesAncientOur TimeLife And DeathLove LifeDominantFear Of DeathUnreasonableVenusGiving Birth Author:Riane Eisler
“When I read of the vain discussions of the present day about the Virgin Birth and other old dogmas which belong to the past, I feel how great the need is still of a real interest in the religion which builds up character, teaches brotherly love, and opens up to the seeker such a world of usefulness and the beauty of holiness.” WorldNeedsFeelsStillsRealCharacterPastReligionWomenInterestTeachBirthVainDiscussionHolinessDogmaVirginsSeekersUsefulnessPresent DayDogmatismOld DogBrotherlyBrotherly LoveVirgin Birth Author:Olympia Brown
“[Keeping kosher was] the symbol of an initiation, like the insignia of a secret brotherhood, that set her apart and gave her freedom and dignity. Every law whose yoke she accepted willingly seemed to add to her freedom: she herself had chosen . . . To enter that brotherhood. Her Judaism was no longer a stigma, a meaningless accident of birth from which she could escape . . . It had become a distinction, the essence of her self-hood, what she was, what she wanted to be, not merely what she happened to be.” SelfWantedLawReligionWomenSecretHappenedBirthDignityEssenceAddAccidentsAcceptedChosenSymbolsDistinctionMeaninglessBrotherhoodJudaismHoodStigmaYokeInitiationKosher Author:Jessie Sampter
“You will notice that in all disputes between Christians since the birth of the Church, Rome has always favored the doctrine which most completely subjugated the human mind and annihilated reason.” MindHumansReasonChristianReligionChurchAtheismBirthDoctrineHuman MindRomeDisputes Author:Voltaire
“Missionaries in the developing world waste a lot of time and money (not to mention the goodwill of non-Christians) proselytizing to the needy. . . . While missionaries do many noble things at great risk to themselves, their dogmatism still spreads ignorance and death. By contrast, volunteers for secular organizations . . . do not waste . . . time telling people about the virgin birth of Jesus. Nor do they tell people in sub-Saharan Africa - where nearly four million people die from AIDS every year - that condom use is sinful.” PeopleWorldYearsStillsUseChristianReligionDiesJesusMillionsFourRiskIgnoranceBirthWasteOrganizationSpreadNobleAidsDevelopingWasting TimeContrastSecularVolunteerVirginsGoodwillNeedyCondomDogmatismTime And MoneyGreat RiskProselytizingVirgin BirthSub Saharan AfricaJesus BirthCondom Use Author:Sam Harris
“If you have a faith, it is statistically overwhelmingly likely that it is the same faith as your parents and grandparents had. No doubt soaring cathedrals, stirring music, moving stories and parables, help a bit. But by far the most important variable determining your religion is the accident of birth. The convictions that you so passionately believe would have been a completely different, and largely contradictory, set of convictions, if only you had happened to be born in a different place.” IfsBelieveHas BeensImportantDifferentHelpingStoriesMovingReligionBitsParentBornDoubtHappenedBirthAtheistConvictionAccidentsNo DoubtGrandparentSoarContradictoryDifferent PlaceStirringCathedralsVariablesParablesParents And Grandparents Author:Richard Dawkins
“If the ignorance of nature gave birth to gods, the knowledge of nature is calculated to destroy them.” IfsScienceReligionKnowledgeAtheismIgnoranceBirthAtheistAtheisticTheismTheistIgnorance And Fear Author:Baron d'Holbach
“If the bible myth of Jonah in the whale and the Mother Goose myth of Jack and the Beanstalk were switched at birth so that Jack in the Beanstalk were in the bible, do you think any child would notice?” IfsThinkingChildrenMotherReligionBirthMythWhalesGeeseJonahMother Goose Author:Bill Maher
“If we go back to the beginning, we shall find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that fancy, enthusiasm, or deceit adorned them; that weakness worships them; that credulity preserves them and that custom, respect and tyranny support them in order to make the blindness of men serve their own interests. If the ignorance of nature gave birth to gods, the knowledge of nature is calculated to destroy them.” IfsMenReligionOrderInterestSupportAtheismIgnoranceBirthWorshipWeaknessAtheistTyrannyEnthusiasmPreservesFancyDeceitCustomsAgnosticBlindnessCredulityReligion GodIgnorance And Fear Author:Bill Maher