“I am like all other atheists only in that I do not believe there are any gods. Beyond that, I may differ dramatically in my values and beliefs from any other atheist. On both sides of the political spectrum, one can find the neo-conservative Objectivists and the ultra-liberal Communists, both of whom hate each other. These two factions take up nearly opposite sets of values, yet both are comprised of unabashed atheists.” BelieveMayTwoPoliticalValuesHateBeliefSidesAtheismOppositesAtheistConservativeCommunistBoth SidesSpectrumFactionsUltrasPolitical Spectrum Author:Richard Carrier
“It is probably true that almost all atheists stand for the values of reason and freethought. I will attempt to put these values in more substantial terms. There is the belief that inquiry and doubt are essential checks against deception, self deception, and error. There is the belief that logic and the scientific method is the only way the world can arrive at an agreement on the truth about anything.” WorldWaySelfReasonValuesBeliefTermDoubtAtheismEssentialsLogicMethodErrorsAtheistChecksDeceptionAgreementInquirySelf DeceptionScientific Method Author:Richard Carrier
“We in the United States are pluralistic respecting ultimate beliefs. Profound values exist apart from a devotion to a god. Indeed, those who discriminate against nonbelievers flout the principle of religious tolerance that they often profess.” StatesValuesBeliefReligiousUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesAtheismUltimateProfoundPositive AtheismToleranceDevotionReligious Tolerance Author:Norman Dorsen
“There are those who feel an imperative need to believe, for whom the values of a belief are proportionate not to its truth, but to its definiteness. Incapable of either admitting the existence of contrary judgments or of suspending their own, they supply the place of knowledge by turning other men's conjectures into dogmas.” MenNeedsFeelsBelieveValuesBeliefExistenceAtheismJudgmentPositive AtheismContraryDogmaIncapableImperativesAdmittingConjecture Author:C. E. M. Joad
“Secular humanism is avowedly non-religious. It is a eupraxsophy (good practical wisdom), which draws its basic principles and ethical values from science, ethics, and philosophy.” PhilosophyValuesReligiousPrinciplesAtheismDrawsEthicsHumanismPositive AtheismPracticalsEthicalSecularBasic PrinciplesEthical ValuesNon ReligiousSecular Humanism Author:Paul Kurtz
“In contemporary society secular humanism has been singled out by critics and proponents alike as a position sharply distinguishable from any religious formulation. Religious fundamentalists in the United States have waged a campaign against secular humanism, claiming that it is a rival "religion" and seeking to root it out from American public life. Secular humanism is avowedly non-religious. It is a eupraxsophy (good practical wisdom), which draws its basic principles and ethical values from science, ethics, and philosophy.” Has BeensStatesPhilosophyValuesReligiousUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesAtheismPositionDrawsEthicsRootsCriticsHumanismSeekingPositive AtheismCampaignsPracticalsContemporaryEthicalSecularRivalsPublic LifeBasic PrinciplesContemporary SocietyEthical ValuesNon ReligiousSecular Humanism Author:Paul Kurtz
“Humanists hold that ethical values are relative to human experience and need not be derived from theological or metaphysical foundations.” NeedsHumansValuesAtheismFoundationPositive AtheismEthicalRelativeMetaphysicalHuman ExperienceTheologicalEthical Values Author:Paul Kurtz
“Biographies by preachers are of no value. If they admire a man they always make him a saint, while if they dislike one, they always make him a demon.” IfsMenValuesAtheismSaintPositive AtheismAdmireDemonDislikePreacherBiographies Author:George C. Lorimer
“There is but one thing of real value - to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.” MenRealLyingValuesJusticeOne ThingAtheismMidstUnjustReal ValueTruth And Justice Author:Marcus Aurelius
“Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains.” MenNeedsSelfDesireValuesHateLosesBreakAtheismWallPromiseTheeCurseSelf RespectSuspectsCurtainsThyselfProfitableHypocrite Book:沉思錄:讀了一百年還要再讀一百年的不朽鉅著 Source: 沉思錄:讀了一百年還要再讀一百年的不朽鉅著
“The one function that most gods seem to have in common is to give human existence some ultimate purpose - and, while it is not possible to disprove an ultimate purpose, there does not seem to be any evidence for it. This is not to say, of course, that there is no purpose in life at all: we all make our own purposes as we go through life. And life does not lose its value simply because it it not going to last forever.” GivingHumansDoeSeemsLastsPurposeValuesCoursesLosesCommonExistenceForeverAtheismEvidenceUltimateFunctionPositive AtheismPurpose Of LifeHuman Existence Author:Barbara Smoker
“People value religion on the basis of cost, and they don't value the cheapest ones the most. Religions that ask nothing get nothing.” PeopleValuesAsksAtheismCostBasesPositive Atheism Author:Rodney Stark
“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.” IfsHumansMeanChildrenPersonsWarRealChristianValuesMoralIssuesAtheismConflictMembersSafetyThreatAbortionProductiveRelativeFlexibleReally MeanContributing Author:Morris Sullivan
“You need not value it yourself if you do not wish to; but you ought to allow it to us who do value it.” IfsNeedsValuesWishAtheismOughtPositive Atheism Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
“Given the ambiguity of religious texts and teachings, the mixed historical record, and the empirical evidence, it would be foolhardy to assert that religious faith necessarily upholds democratic values.” Would BeValuesGivenReligiousRecordsAtheismTeachingEvidenceHistoricalDemocraticPositive AtheismReligious FaithAmbiguityFoolhardyEmpirical EvidenceDemocratic ValuesReligious Texts Book:Religion and Politics in the United States Source: Religion and Politics in the United States
“The truth is that family values, as used by the American Family Association, Dan Quayle, and the southern Baptists, has nothing to do with either family or values, nor does it really have anything to do with homosexuals, abortionists, or pornographers. Those groups actually only serve as windmills to tilt at. The true agenda is power - power over the intellectually weak, emotionally immature, and ethically deficient Americans who are incapable of critical thinking and independent decision-making, and who are easily manipulated by the basest of human emotions - fear and the desire for revenge.” ThinkingHumansDoeUsedDesireValuesDecisionEmotionGroupsAtheismTruth IsWeakIndependentCriticalPositive AtheismRevengeAgendasDecision MakingSouthernAssociationIncapableHomosexualCritical ThinkingBaptistsImmatureFamily ValuesHuman EmotionsAmerican FamilyTiltWindmillsSouthern Baptist Author:Morris Sullivan
“I am at a loss to reconcile the expensive and glossy production values of this book with the breathtaking inanity of the content.” BookValuesLossAtheismProductionsPositive AtheismExpensiveReconcileBreathtaking Author:Richard Dawkins
“That there is a continuous link from humans to gorillas, with the intermediate species merely long dead, is beyond the understanding of speciesists. Tie the label Homo sapiens even to a tiny piece of insensible embryonic tissue, and its life suddenly leaps to infinite, incomputable value.... Self-styled pro-lifers, and others that indulge in footling debates about exactly when in its development a foetus becomes human, exhibit the same discontinuous mentality. Human, to the discontinuous mind, is an absolutist concept. There can be no half measures. And from this flows much evil.” MindHumansLongSelfValuesEvilUnderstandingHalfPiecesAtheismDevelopmentConceptsFlowInfiniteSpeciesPositive AtheismTinyDebateLabelsTiesLeapLinksMentalityIndulgeExhibitsHomo SapiensTissuesIndulge InGorillasInsensibleHalf Measures Author:Richard Dawkins