A Brief History of Disbelief

Philosophy Forums Religion and Spirituality
1

Here are some excellent quotes from Jonathan Miller’s A Brief History of Disbelief.
I’d highly recommend the series to everyone.
Below are links to the video series.
In this thread, I would appreciate any responses to the series and/or the quotes below.

1 of 3: Shadows of Doubt
2 of 3: Noughts and Crosses
3 of 3: The Final Hour

“Civilization will not attain perfection until the last stone, from the last church, falls on the last priest.” - Emile Zola

“So far as I can remember, there’s not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence” – Bertrand Russell.

“Generally speaking, errors in religion are dangerous… Those in philosophy are only ridiculous” - David Hume

“God’s power is infinite. Whatever he wills is executed. But neither man, nor any other animal is happy. Therefore he does not will their happiness. Epicures’ old questions are yet unanswered. Is he both able and willing to prevent evil. Then whence cometh evil?” – David Hume

“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.” - Baron D’Holbach

“It is only by dispelling the clouds and phantoms of religion that we shall discover truth, reason, and morality.” – Baron D’Holbach.

“All churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim appear to me no other than human inventions setup to terrify and enslave mankind. And to monopolize power and profit.” - Thomas Paine. (a founding father of USA)

“It is from the bible that mankind has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder. For the belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man, and the bible is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.” - Thomas Paine

“The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries that have affected the human race have had their origin in this thing called religion.” - Thomas Paine

“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping the common people quiet.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

“If he is infinitely good, what reason should we have to fear him? If he is infinitely wise, what doubts should we have concerning our future? If he knows all, why warn him of our needs and fatigue him with our prayers? If he is everywhere, why erect temples to him?” – Percy Shelley

“All thinking men are Atheists” Ernest Hemingway.

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature. It is the opium of the people. The demand to give up the illusion is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.” Carl Marx

2

Bane, you read all the wrong stuff.

As usual, Earl Russell is wrong. Logic is integral to the Christian religion.
“Be ye wise as serpents and as guileless as doves.”

Communism needs some pretty big illusions itself, and cannot keep man from his sighing.

3

Nietzsche said “God is dead.” I say He’s just outdated…

4

God says Nietzsche is dead. Who ya gonna believe?

5

After all these years since the age of science so many people are still so ignorant of the people that have founded the civilsed societies they live in today, like Thomas Paine, and of the greatest philosophers like David Hume and Jean-Paul Sartre. The fanatic delusion of organised religion is an insult to their memory. As for communism, nazism, they are secular religions in themselves so religion can’t hark back to them.

6

Good point. Really, what is religion? Is religion limited to a fanatic affiliation of spiritual identity, or plain fanaticism to whatever cause?

7

Nietzsche didn’t mean that there was a god somewhere who died. I think it was a comment about the state of religious people.

8

Shhhh, don’t ruin a perfectly good soundbite by bringing it into context . . .

9

Yes, I know. But I wonder what the average person thinks when they hear “God is dead”?

‘What? Did God have a heart attack or something?’

10

Very good quotes, and all true if my biased ass might add.

11

Fitting, the quoted authors only used half their asses to write them.

12

I wasn’t sure if you were joking or not, but I assumed you were. Now I’m starting to think you’re not. Logic integral to the Christian religion? I disagree.

13

“In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and God was the logos.” – John 1

14

I doubt that the average person thinks much at all. They just absorb and regurgitate mostly.

15

When did God say that? I haven’t heard him say anything. In fact, the truth is that NO ONE has ever heard him say anything! :sunglasses:

16

Essentially he was saying religion was dead… The God found in religion never existed in the first place. :sunglasses:

17

I agree. Back to the subject; Do you agree with Marx’s particular quote above?

18

The videos linked to above have a section about how so many of these great figures, Paine and D’Holbach for example, were conveniently forgotten or died virtually ignored. Very sad. Americans and the French have no idea of Tom Paine’s impact on our nations. The memory of D’Holbach has been nearly been erased from French history!

19

:laughing:

20

Is that equal to one butt cheek? :laughing: