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Naturalism Quotes

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Naturalism Quotes

“The careful observations and the acute reasonings of the Italian geologists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; the speculations of Leibnitz in the 'Protogaea' and of Buffon in his 'Théorie de la Terre;' the sober and profound reasonings of Hutton, in the latter part of the eighteenth century; all these tended to show that the fabric of the earth itself implied the continuance of processes of natural causation for a period of time as great, in relation to human history, as the distances of the heavenly bodies from us are, in relation to terrestrial standards of measurement. The abyss of time began to loom as large as the abyss of space. And this revelation to sight and touch, of a link here and a link there of a practically infinite chain of natural causes and effects, prepared the way, as perhaps nothing else has done, for the modern form of the ancient theory of evolution.”

“Humans are a terrestrial species biased toward attributing the forces we see around us to familiar forces on land. But the more we look, the more we learn that everything arises from the sea and everything falls away to the sea, and the deep blue home is home to every one of us, whether we are beings of water, air, rock, ice, or soil.”

“We ought to regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its antecedent state and as the cause of the state that is to follow. An intelligence knowing all the forces acting in nature at a given instant, as well as the momentary positions of all things in the universe, would be able to comprehend in one single formula the motions of the largest bodies as well as the lightest atoms in the world, provided that its intellect were sufficiently powerful to subject all data to analysis; to it nothing would be uncertain, the future as well as the past would be present to its eyes. The perfection that the human mind has been able to give to astronomy affords but a feeble outline of such an intelligence.”

“I sing to you of many more gods, gods of wind and water, gods of each mineral and the events that created them. I sing to you of the gods of protons, of quarks, of atomic forces binding and holding. I sing to you of the god of the dust that flies off the ice-burned comet, and the god of the spaces in between. I sing to you of the god that twists like a serpent at the center of every sun and is found again coiled within every electron, shared by both and worshiped by each in its own way. I sing to you of the god that collects asteroids together in mockeries of his sister’s solar systems, jealous of his elder sibling’s power. I sing to you of all these, and many, many more." - Lupa, "The Forgotten Gods of Nature”

“I sing to you of the deities of the Dictyostelidal slime molds, sexless and strange, at once a thousand voices and one song united. I sing to you of hard times when the wood has rotted away and the sun bakes the earth, and while as individuals we die, together we thrive. The divinities ask for sacrifice, the thousand voices demand it. Those who die to give life to the others, who raise up the new generation so that they may spread far and wide—these become a part of that sacred host, their voices immortalized not in cells but in spirit." - Lupa, "The Forgotten Gods of Nature”

“The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle.”

“But recently I have learned from discussions with a variety of scientists and other non-philosophers (e.g., the scientists participating with me in the Sean Carroll workshop on the future of naturalism) that they lean the other way: free will, in their view, is obviously incompatible with naturalism, with determinism, and very likely incoherent against any background, so they cheerfully insist that of course they don't have free will, couldn’t have free will, but so what? It has nothing to do with morality or the meaning of life. Their advice to me at the symposium was simple: recast my pressing question as whether naturalism (materialism, determinism, science...) has any implications for what we may call moral competence. For instance, does neuroscience show that we cannot be responsible for our choices, cannot justifiably be praised or blamed, rewarded or punished? Abandon the term 'free will' to the libertarians and other incompatibilists, who can pursue their fantasies untroubled. Note that this is not a dismissal of the important issues; it’s a proposal about which camp gets to use, and define, the term. I am beginning to appreciate the benefits of discarding the term 'free will' altogether, but that course too involves a lot of heavy lifting, if one is to avoid being misunderstood.”

“The most essential prediction of Darwinism is that, given an astronomical number of chances, unintelligent processes can make seemingly-designed systems, ones of the complexity of those found in the cell. ID specifically denies this, predicting that in the absence of intelligent input no such systems would develop. So Darwinism and ID make clear, opposite predictions of what we should find when we examine genetic results from a stupendous number of organisms that are under relentless pressure from natural selection. The recent genetic results are a stringent test. The results: 1) Darwinism’s prediction is falsified; 2) Design’s prediction is confirmed.”

“God without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but Fate and Nature. Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the same always and everywhere, could produce no variety of things. All that diversity of natural things which we find suited to different times and places could arise from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being necessarily existing.”

“Things that look like they were designed, probably were... If intelligence is an operative component of the universe, a science that methodologically excludes its existence will be susceptible to being trapped in an endless chase for materialistic causes that do not exist... Where there are sufficient grounds for inferring intelligent causation, based on evidence of "specified complexity," it should be considered as a component of scientific theories. Inclusion of intelligent causation in the scientific equation is not novel and has not impeded the practice of science in the past, e.g. Newton and Kepler, in an age when science was not constrained by a philosophical materialism, and by many current scientists who have remained open to following the evidence where it leads.”

“The theory of phlogiston was an inversion of the true nature of combustion. Removing phlogiston was in reality adding oxygen, while adding phlogiston was actually removing oxygen. The theory was a total misrepresentation of reality. Phlogiston did not even exist, and yet its existence was firmly believed and the theory adhered to rigidly for nearly one hundred years throughout the eighteenth century. ... As experimentation continued the properties of phlogiston became more bizarre and contradictory. But instead of questioning the existence of this mysterious substance it was made to serve more comprehensive purposes. ... For the skeptic or indeed to anyone prepared to step out of the circle of Darwinian belief, it is not hard to find inversions of common sense in modern evolutionary thought which are strikingly reminiscent of the mental gymnastics of the phlogiston chemists or the medieval astronomers. To the skeptic, the proposition that the genetic programmes of higher organisms, consisting of something close to a thousand million bits of information, equivalent to the sequence of letters in a small library of one thousand volumes, containing in encoded form countless thousands of intricate algorithms controlling, specifying and ordering the growth and development of billions and billions of cells into the form of a complex organism, were composed by a purely random process is simply an affront to reason. But to the Darwinist the idea is accepted without a ripple of doubt - the paradigm takes precedence!”

“Atheists are the most honest of the human race. These people are unable to live a double life; they are unable to lie to themselves. Of course it's an evolutionary handicap, and if that handicap was widespread, our species would run the risk of extinction”

“Don't create unbelief or doubt in people's minds. When you do so you ruin their lives and you have nothing to give them in its place. It's ok if people delude themselves; those delusions keep their day running.”

LifeGodReligionFaithSpiritualityHopeBeliefHeavenReligiousExistenceDoubtAtheismHonestyMoralityIntegrityRespectEthicsAtheistBelieverDebateFaith QuotesFaithfulParadiseMeaning Of LifeSelf RespectExistentialismHopefulHeavenlyDelusionMaterialismHopelessSincerityAfterlifeGoddessFaith In GodSpirituality QuotesAgnosticGodsHopelessnessHope QuotesFaithfulnessReligious FaithBelief QuotesHeavenly FatherHeaven And HellThere Is No GodAgnosticismHeaven QuotesDoubtfulUnbeliefAtheisticNaturalismReligion And PhiloshophyBelief In GodReligion SpiritualityFaith In YourselfHopesDeludedHopeful And EncouragingHeaven On EarthDelusionalUnbelieversThe Great Pearl Of WisdomBelievingHope And DespairHonesty QuotesSpirituality Vs ReligionDoubtersHonesty IntegrityDoubtsBangambikiHope For Each DayFalse GodsIntegrity QuotesAtheistsHopeful QuotesBelief SystemAtheist QuotesHeavensAtheism QuotesParadise QuotesBeliefs QuotesHopingFear Of GodDespair HopeDoubting MindFaith ReasonHeavenly RewardsDoubtingAtheist ArgumentDespair QuotesReligion Vs ScienceDoubts QuotesFaith Vs ReasonAgnosticsHonesty Integrity RelationshipHabyarimana BangambikiParadisesDespair And AttitudeSupernaturalismUnbelieverDoubtfulnessSecular EthicsAtheism DefinedDoubtful ThoughtsFalse GodAtheist ArgumentsAtheistic PhilosophyHonesty Friendship TruthAgnostic QuotesAgnostic AtheismAgnostic QuoteAtheist PhilosophersAtheistic ReligionDespairingAgnostic PrayerAtheist ClaimsAtheist ClubHonesty Integrity WordsUnbelieve QuotesHonesty From WithinIntegrity Of A SalesmanDelusional PeopleLose HopeDelusions QuotesDelusional FeelingsDeludeDeluding Oneself
Book:Pearls Of Eternity

“There is nothing behind the curtains of religions, people put there whatever their imaginations can fathom”

“Once you believe that god is not a private property of anybody, you are on your way to becoming a new messiah. Maybe your own if not the world's”

LifeGodReligionFaithSpiritualityHopeBeliefHeavenReligiousExistenceDoubtAtheismHonestyMoralityIntegrityRespectEthicsAtheistBelieverDebateFaith QuotesFaithfulParadiseMeaning Of LifeSelf RespectExistentialismHopefulHeavenlyMaterialismHopelessSinceritySaviorAfterlifeGoddessFaith In GodSpirituality QuotesAgnosticGodsHopelessnessHope QuotesFaithfulnessReligious FaithBelief QuotesHeavenly FatherHeaven And HellThere Is No GodAgnosticismHeaven QuotesDoubtfulMessiahUnbeliefAtheisticNaturalismReligion And PhiloshophyBelief In GodReligion SpiritualityFaith In YourselfHopesHopeful And EncouragingHeaven On EarthUnbelieversThe Great Pearl Of WisdomBelievingHope And DespairHonesty QuotesSpirituality Vs ReligionDoubtersHonesty IntegrityDoubtsBangambikiHope For Each DayFalse GodsIntegrity QuotesAtheistsHopeful QuotesBelief SystemAtheist QuotesHeavensAtheism QuotesParadise QuotesBeliefs QuotesHopingFear Of GodDespair HopeDoubting MindFaith ReasonHeavenly RewardsDoubtingAtheist ArgumentDespair QuotesReligion Vs ScienceDoubts QuotesFaith Vs ReasonAgnosticsHonesty Integrity RelationshipHabyarimana BangambikiParadisesDespair And AttitudeSavior QuotesSupernaturalismUnbelieverDoubtfulnessMessiah QuotesSecular EthicsAtheism DefinedDoubtful ThoughtsFalse GodAtheist ArgumentsAtheistic PhilosophyHonesty Friendship TruthAgnostic QuotesAgnostic AtheismAgnostic QuoteAtheist PhilosophersAtheistic ReligionDespairingAgnostic PrayerAtheist ClaimsAtheist ClubHonesty Integrity WordsUnbelieve QuotesHonesty From WithinIntegrity Of A SalesmanLose Hope
Book:Pearls Of Eternity

“Why doesn't the pope convert to Calvinism? Why doesn't the Dalai Lama, convert to Christianity, why doesn't Billy Graham convert to Islam, Why doesn't the Ayatollahs convert to Buddhism, Why isn't Buddhism swept away? Religious leaders know that all religions are equal; they know that no one of them has the monopoly to the knowledge of God. They know that each religion is trying to find the hidden God and that no one religion can claim to have found him beyond doubt. That's why they remain where they are and respect each other.”

LifeGodReligionFaithSpiritualityHopeBeliefHeavenReligiousExistenceChristianityDoubtAtheismHonestyMoralityIntegrityRespectEthicsIslamAtheistBelieverDebateFaith QuotesFaithfulParadiseMeaning Of LifeSelf RespectExistentialismHopefulHeavenlyMaterialismHopelessSincerityAfterlifeGoddessFaith In GodSpirituality QuotesPopeAgnosticGodsHopelessnessHope QuotesFaithfulnessReligious FaithBelief QuotesHeavenly FatherHeaven And HellThere Is No GodAgnosticismHeaven QuotesDoubtfulUnbeliefAtheisticNaturalismReligion And PhiloshophyBelief In GodReligion SpiritualityFaith In YourselfHopesHopeful And EncouragingHeaven On EarthUnbelieversThe Great Pearl Of WisdomBelievingHope And DespairHonesty QuotesSpirituality Vs ReligionDoubtersHonesty IntegrityDoubtsBangambikiHope For Each DayFalse GodsIntegrity QuotesAtheistsHopeful QuotesBelief SystemAtheist QuotesHeavensAtheism QuotesParadise QuotesBeliefs QuotesHopingFear Of GodDespair HopeDalai LamaDoubting MindFaith ReasonHeavenly RewardsDoubtingAtheist ArgumentDespair QuotesReligion Vs ScienceDoubts QuotesFaith Vs ReasonAgnosticsHonesty Integrity RelationshipHabyarimana BangambikiParadisesDespair And AttitudeSupernaturalismUnbelieverDoubtfulnessSecular EthicsAtheism DefinedDoubtful ThoughtsFalse GodAtheist ArgumentsAtheistic PhilosophyHonesty Friendship TruthAgnostic QuotesAgnostic AtheismAgnostic QuoteAtheist PhilosophersAtheistic ReligionDespairingAgnostic PrayerAtheist ClaimsAtheist ClubHonesty Integrity WordsUnbelieve QuotesHonesty From WithinIntegrity Of A SalesmanLose HopeBudhism QuotesPope QuotesIslam Quotesmbudhism
Book:Pearls Of Eternity

“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him. Atheism is a cry of despair”

“God has not yet revealed himself to no one in no unclear terms. Religions are attempts to find him; on that level they are all equal”

Book:Pearls Of Eternity

“Don’t curse the gods; you will feel shame when you have to call on them for help”

Book:Pearls Of Eternity

“[There are, in us] possibilities that take our breath away, and show a world wider than either physics or philistine ethics can imagine. Here is a world in which all is well, in spite of certain forms of death, death of hope, death of strength, death of responsibility, of fear and wrong, death of everything that paganism, naturalism and legalism pin their trust on.”

“We are not compelled in naturalism, or even in materialism, to ignore immaterial things; the point is that any immaterial things which are recognized shall be regarded as names, aspects, functions, or concomitant products of those physical things among which action goes on.”