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A place to post favorite quotes about atheism and other significant topics
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I have been a quote collector and quote monger for at least as long as I have been an atheist, and likely much longer. There is a fascination in me of those who are sufficiently skilled in language that they structure words into concepts and ideas and proposed actions which grab my attention and interest, whether it is John F. Kennedy's unabashed statement: "We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard," Robert A. Heinlein's blunt expression: "If you've got the truth, you can demonstrate it. Talking doesn't prove it. SHOW people," or Captain Kirk's subtle yet important tactical observation, having encountered and been challenged by the dauntingly huge First Federation vessel: "Not chess, Mr. Spock ... Poker!"
Certainly, atheism has had its share of skilled spokespeople, whose words have inspired and driven us, whether it was Madalyn Murray O'Hair, saying: "An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church," or Sam Harris, who noted that: "The only problem with Islamic fundamentalism are the fundamentals of Islam," or Aron Ra's far more succinct: "If you can't SHOW it, you don't KNOW it."
Consciously or unconsciously, I suspect all of us have learned and grown from such words and many others, becoming stronger and more mature, not just in our atheism but in ourselves, having heard such words as these, and that is the point of this group: not to just deal in quotes which praise and promote atheism but which advance the cause of knowledge, self-understanding and self-ownership. Each of us have likely heard someone say something and think, "Wow!" and resonated to the significance of what they heard.
That's what I want to do here: share, learn, and grow, not just from THEIR words, but our own.
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One suggestion for the main comment area of the group: Please keep your quotes to under 20 lines or 200 words. That way, one entry won't dominate a given page of the comment area. If you have a longer quote or speech which you think is significant, create a separate post in the group.
Please enjoy!
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Stephen Brodie Mar 14. 7 Replies 1 Like
Bill Maher has been, is now, and likely will continue to be a polarizing figure for a while to come. He says shit that angers people, hosts guest who have views that are sometimes WAY past Six…Continue
Tags: China, Real Time, Bill Maher
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Mrs.B Feb 3. 4 Replies 3 Likes
The following is OLD, not quite 10 years old, presuming that the video was released not long after the Notre Dame debate between Sam Harris and William Lane Craig. That doesn't change the fact that,…Continue
Tags: rebuttal, debate, christianity, William Lane Craig, Sam Harris
Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Loren Miller Jan 16. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Loren, have you seen this article? The Top 30 Worst Places to Live in…Continue
Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Onyango Makagutu Jan 6. 5 Replies 1 Like
WAR is a racket. It always has been.By Major General Smedley Butleronline at: https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html"It is…Continue
Tags: skills, interpersonal, &, personal
Nice Comment
Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.
— Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation
This also plays into Joan's and Ruth's quotes about lies. The blunt fact is that believers regularly and systematically lie to themselves to sustain their faith, to the point where that lie is perceived as reality. This has the effect of disconnecting them at least in part from what reality actually is – never a good thing.
Onyango, it ALSO sounds like a certain clique of fatuous fools who follow a certain ex-president. [smh!]
Joan, this sounds like Ivan talking to Aloysha or is it the old priest advising the young penitent. I loved that book. Should read that book again.
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love."
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Lies find fertile ground in the minds of people whose moral beliefs are indefensible.
Adam Savage's appearance at the 2012 Reason Rally was, to me, among the genuine highlights of that event, with the pinnacle being the above statement. WE – you and I – are the ones looking out for ourselves and each other, noting and correcting our own mistakes and helping others where we can. We HAVE to be ... because there is No One Else To Do It.
So they are totally unable to get a true general picture of their subject..
Some people organize their sense of themselves and the world by thorough compartmentalization. Personally I need to be integrated to feel authentic and grounded. I'm kind of a distant hands-off stepmother to a Ph.D. in astrophysics who is seriously traditionally religious.
Puzzling, for sure.
I want to put on the table, not why 85% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences reject God, I want to know why 15% of the National Academy don’t.
-- Neil deGrasse Tyson
I'm right with you, Neil. Why should someone whose life is dedicated to fact and evidence subscribe to a system of beliefs that have NEITHER?
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