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Quote Of The Day
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A place to post favorite quotes about atheism and other significant topics
Website: https://
Members: 14
Latest Activity: 8 hours ago
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!
Discussion Forum
New Rule: The Slow-Moving Coup – Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Mrs.B Oct 9. 1 Reply 1 Like
If Trump’s coup attempt goes unpunished, it will be considered a training exercise. --…Continue
Tags: insurrection, sedition, coup, Donald Trump, Real Time
Brandi Carlile almost dies -- 7/30/21 (Delanceyplace.com)
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Stephen Brodie Aug 8. 7 Replies 3 Likes
To be honest, I have NO idea who Brandi Carlile is (though I suppose I could Google her), but the following brief story of her illness, coma, and recovery are pretty striking. As my friends from…Continue
Tags: Jesus, coma, Baptist, Catholic, meningitis
Culture and Cooperation in Human Evolution
Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Davy Jun 20. 1 Reply 2 Likes
The Australian Western Desert and the High Arctic could hardly be less alike, and both differ sharply from the rainforests of the Congo basin. Even so, in crucial ways, their social lives are…Continue
Christopher Hitchens – "The Only Conversation Worth Having"
Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Mrs.B Jun 8. 3 Replies 5 Likes
There may be no one whose words in favor of freedom of thought and in opposition to the mind-binding effect of religious belief were quite so powerful as those of Christopher Hitchens. His repeated…Continue
Tags: debate, the only conversation worth having, poisoned chalice, William Dembski, Christopher Hitchens
Comment Wall
Nice Comment
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Comment was by Loren Miller 8 hours ago
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I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion [...]. If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?
— Ruth Hurmence Green, The Born Again Skeptic's Guide To The Bible
Considering the abusive, absentee-landlord god portrayed by the bible, that Yahweh would indeed torture his own son really should be no surprise at all. It just follows a continuing pattern!
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Comment was by Grinning Cat 12 hours ago
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There’s a gap in my education; I haven’t yet seen Religulous (except for the closing message below).
It’s not fair or honest to assume that all or most of the (at least) thousands of religions on this earth aspire to the sorts of deadly end-times fantasies Maher points out in Christianity or Islam, or even that they all posit afterlives that devalue this one real life. But any theistic religion “makes a virtue out of not thinking”, of accepting GodSaidSo or at least the pronouncements of the purported invisible overlord’s / overlords’ duly appointed representatives in their duly appointed silly hats, or of some super-special ancient (or not) collection of writings that believers Just Know has more authority than other super-special ancient (or not) collections of writings, or of certain thoughts or voices in your head.
Still nowhere near as good a “toolkit” for humanity surviving and thriving as good old “god-given” absolutely natural reason and empathy.
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Fantastic quote.
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I'll tell you what you did with Atheists for about 1500 years. You outlawed them from the universities or any teaching careers, besmirched their reputations, banned or burned their books or their writings of any kind, drove them into exile, humiliated them, seized their properties, arrested them for blasphemy. You dehumanised them with beatings and exquisite torture, gouged out their eyes, slit their tongues, stretched, crushed, or broke their limbs, tore off their breasts if they were women, crushed their scrotums if they were men, imprisoned them, stabbed them, disembowelled them, hanged them, burnt them alive.
And you have nerve enough to complain to me that I laugh at you.
-- Madalyn Murray O'Hair
In short, they dished it out ... but they couldn't take it worth a good damn, and Ms. O'Hair spares their feelings not in the slightest with this well-crafted piece of invective.
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I own that movie.
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Thanks a LOT, Terry! And now that I have your book to draw on, my reservoir of quotes is that much deeper!
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Loren, I have been admiring your daily quotations immensely. They are always so good. You are doing a highly commendable job. Terry
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Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are our intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction. Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord. I'll do whatever You want me to do." Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people, with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How could I be so sure? Because I don't know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not.
-- Bill Maher, from the film, Religulous closing narration
The above is only a part of Maher's final statement in that film, and perhaps the best part of that piece of celluloid, for its scathing indictment of religion. If you would like to hear his complete closing statement (with side comments drawn from the movie), see the following:
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I am with you 100%, Ms. McQueen!
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Grim huh?
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