(Just) A few of history’s worst quotes from believers
Compiled by Jim Walker…the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…
-The author of Exodus describing the actions of the killer God in Ex. 12:29
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
-Author of 1 Samuel describing God’s instructions (I Sam.15:2-3)
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
-Psalm 137:9 (KJV)
For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
-Paul [I Corinthians 11:8-9]
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
-Paul [I Corinthians 14:34-35]
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
-Paul (I Tim 2:12)
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
-The alleged Jesus in Matthew 10:34
But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
-The alleged Jesus in Luke 19:27
And I will kill her children with death…
-The alleged Jesus in Rev. 2:23 KJV
It is not permitted for a woman to speak in the church, nor is it permitted for her to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer [the eucharist], nor to claim for herself a share in any masculine function— not to mention any priestly office.
-Tertullian, (160?-220? C.E.), Adversus Valentinianos
The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives on even in our times and so it is necessary that the guilt should live on, also. You are the one who opened the door to the Devil, you are the one who first plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, you are the first who deserted the divine law; you are the one who persuaded him whom the Devil was not strong enough to attack. All too easily you destroyed the image of God, man. Because of your desert, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die.
-Tertullian, (160?-220? C.E.), The Apparel of Women
Bow your heads to your husbands—and that will be ornament enough for you. Keep your hands busy with spinning and stay at home—and you will be more pleasing than if you were adorned in gold. Dress yourselves in the silk of probity, the fine linen of holiness, and the purple of chastity. Decked out in this manner, you will have God Himself for your lover.
-Tertullian, (160?-220? C.E.), The Apparel of Women
For the preservation of chastity, an empty and rumbling stomach and fevered lungs are indispensable.
-St. Jerome (340?-420 C.E.)
Nothing is so much to be shunned as sex relations.
-St. Augustine (354 C.E.- 430 C.E.)
There is another form of temptation, even more fraught with danger. This is the disease of curiosity. It is this which drives us to ttry and discover the secrets of nature, those secrets which are beyond our understanding, which can avail us nothing and which man should not wish to learn.
-St. Augustine (354 C.E.- 430 C.E.)
And they who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, such are rightful owners of hell.
-Allah’s alleged words in the Quran, 5:10
The only reward of those, who wage war against ALLAH and HIS Messenger and strive to create disorder in the land, is that they be slain or crucified or their hands and feet be cut off on account of their enmity, or they be expelled from the land. That shall be a disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment.
-Allah’s alleged words in the Quran, 5:33
In front of such a one is Hell, and he is given, for drink, boiling fetid water.
-Allah’s alleged words in the Quran 14:16
Kill them all, God will recognize his own.
-Arnald-Amalric, 1208 (when asked by the Crusaders what to do with the citizens of Beziers who were a mixture of Catholics and Cathars)
We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides.
-St. Ignatius Loyola (1500)
We come to conquer this land by his [King of Spain] command, that all may come to a knowledge of God and of His Holy Catholic Faith; and by reason of our good mission, God, the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things in them, permits this, in order that you may know Him and come out from the bestial and diabolical life that you lead…. Our Lord permitted that your pride should be brought low and that no Indian should be able to offend a Christian.
-Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro to the Inca emperor Atahuallpa at Peru in 1532 (quoted from Jared Diamod’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel”)
If a man is in open rebellion, everyone is both his judge and his executioner… Therefore, let everyone who can, smite, slay, and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel. It is just as when one must kill a mad dog.
-Martin Luther (Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, 1525)
Whoever wishes to be a Christian, let him pluck out the eyes of his reason.
-Martin Luther (First Psalm Lectures, Luther’s Works, Vol. 11, p.285)
Christ wants to slay reason and subdue the arrogance of the Jews…
-Martin Luther (Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Luther’s Works, V.22, p.320)
Whoever wants to be a Christian must be intent on silencing the voice of reason.
-Martin Luther (Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Luther’s Works, V.23, p. 99)
A woman has no control over herself.
-Martin Luther (Letter to Several Nuns, 6 Aug. 1524)
We are at fault in not slaying them [the Jews].
-Martin Luther (On the Jews and their lies, 1543)
For we must hold, that our mind never rises seriously to desire and aspire after the future, until it has learned to despise the present life. 2. For there is no medium between the two things: the earth must either be worthless in our estimation, or keep us enslaved by an intemperate love of it. Therefore, if we have any regard to eternity, we must carefully strive to disencumber ourselves of these fetters.
-John Calvin (Life of a Christian Man. Scriptural arguments exhorting to it)
Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of the Holy Spirit?
-John Calvin, citing Psalm 93:1 in his Commentary on Genesis
To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin.
-Cardinal Bellarmine (during the Inquisition of Galileo)
If the people will let us alone we will preach the gospel in peace. But if they come on to molest us, we will establish our religion by the sword. We will trample down our enemies and make it one gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was “the Alcoran [Koran]
or the Sword.” So shall it eventually be with us.-Joseph Smith
The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life….The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign office of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.
-Supreme Court, 1873, upholding an Illinois law which prohibited women from becoming attorneys
If the bible had said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I would believe it.
-William Jennings Bryan
You gotta save Christianity, Richard! You gotta!
-Loretta Young to King Richard (in the movie, The Crusades, 1935)
Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord..
-Hitler (Mein Kampf, Chapter 2)
A man does not die for something which he himself does not believe in.
-Hitler (Mein Kampf, Chapter 3)
I can’t understand how all this can have happened, it’s enough to make one lose one’s faith in God!
-Eva Braun (during the last days with Hitler)
Why, of course the people don’t want war… but, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship… voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.
-Hermann Goering, Nazi Commander, April 18, 1946 (Nuremberg Diary, by Gustave Gilbert)
We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.
-Harry S. Truman, in his decision to use atomic bombs on Japan, using Biblical justification (Diary, July 25, 1945)
We, the Order of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, reverentially acknowledge the majesty and supremacy of Almighty God and recognise His goodness and providence through Jesus Christ our Lord.
-Ku Klux Klan creed (from the Constitution and Laws of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan )
Mussolini: a gift from providence.
-Pope Pius XI
This stranglehold has got to be broken or this country’s going down the drain.
-Rev. Billy Graham, in a 1972 conversation with Richard Nixon expressing his disdain for what he saw as Jewish domination of the media. (Nixon tapes)
A woman cannot be a priest because our Lord was a man.
-Pope Paul VI, 1977
The Jews are returning to their land of unbelief. They are spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior.)
-Rev. Jerry Falwell (from his book Listen, America!)
The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.
-Rev. Jerry Falwell
I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!
-Rev. Jerry Falwell (1979)
The Bible tells us that the unbelievers will go into endless punishment.
-D. James Kennedy (Why I Believe, World Publishing, 1980)
Christ, who came meek and mild to save us from pain and suffering, was the One who talked more about hell than any other person in Scripture.
-D. James Kennedy (Why I Believe, World Publishing, 1980)
Christianity teaches that the human race is depraved, fallen, and sinful.
-D. James Kennedy (Why I Believe, World Publishing, 1980)
I believe this notion of the separation of church and state was the figment of some infidel’s imagination.
-Rev. W. A. Criswell (Dallas, 1984)
I don’t know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
-President George H. W. Bush (the First), during an August 27, 1987 interview by Rob Sherman
God has revealed to me that those doing battle for Allah and our country and meet death will immediately go to Heaven.
-The Ayatollah Khomeini (1984)
Evolution is a bankrupt speculative philosophy, not a scientific fact. Only a spiritually bankrupt society could ever believe it. … Only atheists could accept this Satanic theory.
-Jimmy Swaggart (former pop preacher)
Sickness and disease will be a part of life of this planet until Jesus comes back.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
I know there are some Christians who believe that war and their participation in it are morally wrong. While I respect their views and must allow them to follow their consciences, I do not believe the Bible teaches pacifism.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
Whenever the civil government forbids the practice of things that God has commanded us to do, or tells us to do things He has commanded us not to do, then we are on solid ground in disobeying the government and rebelling against it.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
Those who are not Christians go to a place of suffering and torment called hell.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
Government was instituted by God to bring His laws to people and to carry out His will and purposes.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
When any civil government steps outside the mandate authorized by God Almighty, then that government does not have any further claim over its citizens.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
I believe that he [Jesus] is Lord of the government, and the church, and business and education, and, hopefully, one day, Lord of the press. I see him involved in everything. And that’s why I don’t want to stay just in the church, as such. I want the church to move into the world.”
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
The Bible talks about everlasting fire and eternal darkness when it describes hell… We do know that hell is real and forever.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
The heart of man is “deceitful and desperately wicked.”
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
Satan is a tool of God’s love in the sense that he forces us to see God’s loving patience.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
If you go all the way back to the days just following creation, men lived nine hundred years or more.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
He [Jesus] had the ability to walk through doors, to travel vast distances in an instant, and to ascent into heaven.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
Therefore the spiritual standard for America would be the gospel of Jesus and everything in the Old and New Testaments.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
Fornication is sex between two unmarried people.
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
My personal feeling is that oral sex is “against nature.”
-Pat Robertson (Answers to 200 of Life’s most Probing Questions, Bantom Books, 1984)
There will never be world peace until God’s house and God’s people are given their rightful place of leadership at the top of the world. How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, communists, atheists, New Age worshipers of Satan, secular humanists, oppressive dictators, greedy moneychangers, revolutionary assassins, adulterers, and homosexuals are on top?
-Pat Robertson, (The New World Order, p. 227, Word Publishing, 1991)
The strategy against the American radical left should be the same as General Douglas MacArthur employed against the Japanese in the Pacific … blast the individuals out of their power bunkers with hand-to-hand combat. The battle to regain the soul of America won’t be pleasant, but we will win it.”
-Pat Robertson (from Pat Robertson’s Perspectives, April/May 1992)
Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.
-Pat Robertson
The key in terms of mental ability is chess. There’s never been a woman Grand Master chess player. Once you get one, then I’ll buy some of the feminism…”
-Pat Robertson [According to the Chess Federation of the U.S. there were already two women Grand Masters at that time, both from Georgia. Since Robertson’s gaffe, at least three more women became Grand Masters.]
Satan … is as dangerous as we allow him to be. His primary weapon is deceit, and he uses it to prevent Christians from exercising the authority that is truly theirs in this world.”
-Pat Robertson (The Secret Kingdom)
The inability or unwillingness to hate makes a person worthless. If we do not hate detestable things, the quality of our character is suspect. The Bible commands that we hate.
-H. A. (Buster) Dobbs, Editor of Firm Foundation magazine and Church of Christ preacher, from the June 1994 issue.
You say what’s going to happen on this earth when the Rapture occurs? You’ll be riding along in an automobile; you’ll be the driver, perhaps; you’re a Christian; there’ll be several people in the automobile with you, maybe someone who is not a Christian. When the trumpet sounds, you and the other born-again Christians in that automobile will be instantly caught away, you’ll disappear, leaving behind your clothing and physical things that cannot inherit eternal life. That unsaved person or persons in the automobile will suddenly be startled to find that the car is moving along without a driver, and suddenly somewhere crashes. Those saved people in the car have disappeared.
-Rev. Jerry Falwell (broadcast excerpt on National Public Radio cassette Ronald Reagan and the Prophecy of Armageddon by Joe Cuomo.)
Is he [the Antichrist] alive and here today? Probably. Because when he appears during the Tribulation period he will be a full-grown counterfeit of Christ. Of course he’ll be Jewish. Of course he’ll pretend to be Christ. And if in fact the Lord is coming soon, and he’ll be an adult at the presentation of himself, he must be alive somewhere today.”
-Rev. Jerry Falwell at a conference in Kingsport, Tenn., 14 Jan. 1999
“Execute Murderers and Abortionists.”
-Bumper sticker on anti-abortionist John Burt’s car
I can’t help it when what I do inspires somebody to go off the deep end.
-John Burt, anti-abortionist
I talk to my only friend Jesus our “LORD”! I know “JESUS” understands my terrible desires and ect. I have tords little boys! And the main reason I murdered them little “BOYS”, is because our society is so “AGAINST” the fact of “CHILDREN-DOING-SEX” together or with anybody! I believe children should be “ABLE” to do sex! And I can “ARGUE” that all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court! “SEX” is a great “GIFT” that Jesus gave us all!!!!
-Freddy Goode, serial killer, in a letter to one of his lawyers [misspellings, his].
If religious feeling is put in opposition to social change, then it does become an opium, but if it is joined to the struggle for social change then it is a wonderful medicine.
-Fidel Castro (Meeting With Evangelicals, 1990)
A man can have sex with animals such as sheep, cows, camels and so on. However he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village, however selling the meat to the next door village should be fine.
-Ayatollah Khomeini, Tahrirolvasyleh, fourth volume, Darol Elm, Gom, Iran, 1990.
I want to be invisible … I paint my face and travel at night. You don’t know it’s over until you’re in a body bag. You don’t know until election night.”
-Ralph Reed, Director of the Christian Coalition, from the Virginian Pilot and Ledger Star, 11/9/91.
I imagine every Christian would agree that we need to remove humanism from the public schools. There is only one way to accomplish this: Abolish the public schools.
-The Reverend Robert L. Thoburn
I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good … our goal is a Christian nation. We have the biblical duty, we are called on by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism…
-Randall Terry, Director of Operation Rescue, from The News Sentinel (Ft. Wayne, IN, 16 August, 1993.)
God is on our side, and Satan is on the side of the United States.
-Saddam Hussein
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners… But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me… Jesus Christ might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
-Jeffrey Dahmer, convicted serial killer, in a statement to the court, Milwaukee, WI, February 17, 1992. (Note, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners” comes from 1 Timothy 1:15)
Suppose that you, a religious person, decide to rent out an apartment over your garage. Along comes a possible renter who seems to meet all of your requirements, except that he lets slip, in casual conversation, that he is a Satanist… . If you follow the law … then you must allow on your property activities that your religion forbids. You might even fear the hellfire… . As we have seen, the Supreme Court has made such a mess of the right to exercise one’s religion freely that there is little chance the claim for an exemption would succeed. So you would, in the name of nondiscrimination, be stuck with the Satanist.
-Stephen L. Carter (The Culture of Disbelief, pp. 136-137, 1993)
My children, Michael and Alex, are with our Heavenly Father now, and I know that they will never be hurt again. As a mom, that means more than words could ever say… My children deserve to have the best, and now they will… I have put my total faith in God, and he will take care of me.
-Susan Smith, who drowned her two children, in her confession letter, Nov. 1994
“…a noble practice which does honor to women.”
-Sheik Gad Al Haq Ali Gad Al Haq (explaining Mohammed’s law for removing part or all of a girl’s clitoris to reduce her sexual appetite)
We should do unto others as we would want them to do unto us. If I were an unborn fetus I would want others to use force to protect me, therefore using force against abortionists is justifiable homicide.
-Paul Hill, killer of abortionist doctor
We need to do more than win an election or win the House or win the presidency, my friends: we need to make this beloved country of ours God’s country once again.”
-Pat Buchanan at the Christian Coalition 1995 Road to Victory Conference, as reported in the October 1995 issue of Church and State.
Our goal must be simple. We must have a Christian nation built on God’s law, on the Ten Commandments. No apologies.
-Randall Terry
Both the Magisterium of the Church… . and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action. The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994
God will not give Japan and Europe the honor of bringing down the United States. This honor God will bestow upon the Muslims.
-Louis Farrakhan, 1997
Before you call me crazy, these wheels will be seen all over America. You will look up one day and see them, and I don’t want you to be terrified. They’re your friends, black man.
-Louis Farrakhan who claims to have been brought to earth by a UFO
Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims.
-Henry Jordan, South Carolina board of education (when another board member said the displaying of the Ten Commandemtns in public schools might offend students of other religions)
“I am sorry for the people I killed and the people I hurt. The reason you don’t see any more tears is I have been forgiven by God.”
-Luke Woodham (the teenager who shot and killed two high school students and wounding seven, after his conviction on June 13th, 1998)
” I know that Jehovah will take care of all of them in the next life…”
“Please know that I love Leigh Ann, Matthew and Mychelle with all of my heart. If Jehovah is willing, I would like to see all of them again in the resurrection, to have a second chance.”
-Mark O. Barton, the Atlanta killer of 14 people (including his family), in a letter that explains his feelings for his murdered wife and children
I told all four [Congressional leaders] that there are going to be some times where we don’t agree with each other, but that’s OK. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.
-George W. Bush (the Second), in a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, from CNN news, 18 Dec. 2000
I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say “you helped this happen.”
-Jerry Falwell (13 Sep. 2001 on the Christian Broadcasting Network explaining who helped in the World Trade Center & Pentagon tragedy.)
This is America, God has sent one of the attacks by God and has attacked one of its best buildings. And this is America filled with fear from the north, south, east and west, thank God.
-Osama bin Laden, 7 Oct. 2001
It’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.
-George W. Bush, December 2001, three months after the World Trade Center attacks.
My answer is bring ‘em on.
-George W. Bush, challenging militants attacking U.S. forces in Iraq, July 3, 2003
Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.
—George W. Bush, unwittingly telling the truth (Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004)I know what I’m doing when it comes to winning this war.
—George W. Bush, on the Iraq war (11 Aug. 2004)
(via divineirony)
1. There is no evidence that Jesus exists
2. The fact that you feel you have to speak for this hypothetical Jesus, that you’ve never met, means you are simply expressing views you interpreted from a collection of primitive stories that no one knows who wrote or altered. But we do know they were created in a very different time and place, and with an agenda that is irrelevant to us today. We can demonstrate this further, by pointing out to you, hundreds of instructions and views, in that same collection of primitive stories, that you simply refuse to follow yourself
3. This, then, being your own opinion…it is obviously misguided and irrational, as you don’t even know the first thing about me
4. And I view your opinion as irrelevant, as the only thing I know about you, is that you feel you need to speak for an unproven entity, and rely on interpretations of primitive stories, to try and hurt people you know nothing about
5. You want to be respected for your demonstration of hatred and bigotry, but I see your actions as immoral, hypocritical, irrelevant and insane.
6. If you actually wanted me to seriously consider your alternative point of view, whatever that is, you’ve just destroyed your credibility, and the credibility of the group you purport to represent.
7. So your expression of free/hate speech was ill-considered and ineffective. We are concerned for you though, and encourage you to seek the professional psychiatric help you so obviously need, and hope that you get well soon.
No better tool has been invented to justify hate.
Fear of things invisible is the natural seed of that which everyone in himself calleth religion.
Warning: christian logic
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I knew a Buddhist once, and I’ve hated myself ever since.
(via fuckyeahhst)
I just heard this the other day: The Mormons, Mitt Romney’s crew, they believed black people were the devil ‘til 1978! I’m not making this up! … Seventy-eight! That means Jackson Five? Devil. Temptations? The devil. What changed ‘em, Bootsy Collins?
Teach ‘em how to think
The rise of atheism in America
The number of disbelievers is growing, but they remain America’s least trusted minority. Why?
The National Atheist Organization’s “Reason Rally” in March: 19 percent of the American public spurns organized religion in favor of skepticism about faith.
How many atheists are there?
It depends on your definition of the term. Only between 1.5 and 4 percent of Americans admit to so-called “hard atheism,” the conviction that no higher power exists. But a much larger share of the American public (19 percent) spurns organized religion in favor of a nondefined skepticism about faith. This group, sometimes collectively labeled the “Nones,” is growing faster than any religious faith in the U.S. About two thirds of Nones say they are former believers; 24 percent are lapsed Catholics and 29 percent once identified with other Christian denominations. David Silverman, president of American Atheists, claims these Nones as members of his tribe. “If you don’t have a belief in God, you’re an atheist,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you call yourself.”
Why are so many people leaving religion?
It’s primarily a backlash against the religious Right, say political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In their book, American Grace, they argue that the religious Right’s politicization of faith in the 1990s turned younger, socially liberal Christians away from churches, even as conservatives became more zealous. The dropouts were turned off by churches’ Old Testament condemnation of homosexuals, premarital sex, contraception, and abortion. The Catholic Church’s sex scandals also prompted millions to equate religion with moralistic hypocrisy. “While the Republican base has become ever more committed to mixing religion and politics,” Putnam and Campbell write, “the rest of the country has been moving in the opposite direction.” As society becomes more secular, researchers say, doubters are more confident about identifying themselves as nonbelievers. “The collapse of institutional religion in the first 10 years of this century [has] freed so many people to say they don’t really care,” said author Diana Butler Bass.
How are nonbelievers perceived?
Most polls suggest that atheists are among the most disliked groups in the U.S. One study last year asked participants whether a fictional hit-and-run driver was more likely to be an atheist or a rapist. A majority chose atheist. In 2006, another study found that Americans rated atheists as less likely to agree with their vision of America than Muslims, Hispanics, or homosexuals. “Wherever there are religious majorities, atheists are among the least trusted people,” said University of British Columbia sociologist Will M. Gervais. As a result, avowed atheists are rare in nearly all areas of public life. Of the 535 legislators in Congress, for example, only one — Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) — calls himself an atheist. Few sports stars or Hollywood celebrities own up to having no religious faith.
Why so much distrust?
Many Americans raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition are convinced that atheists can have no moral compass. Azim Shariff, a University of Oregon psychologist who studies religious thinking, sums up how believers view nonbelievers: “They don’t fear God, so we should distrust them. They do not have the same moral obligations as others.” The antipathy may have actually grown with the recent emergence of “New Atheist” writers such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens, who have launched impassioned attacks on organized religion. Dawkins has encouraged his followers to “ridicule” anyone who could believe in “an unforgiving control freak” and “a capriciously malevolent bully” like the God portrayed in the Old Testament. Dawkins’s harsh approach, said Barbara J. King, an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary, has confirmed “some of the negative stereotypes associated with the nonreligious — intolerance of the faithful, first and foremost.”
How have atheists responded to this negative image?
A coalition of nonbelievers is out to make atheism more acceptable, starting with last month’s “Reason Rally” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where thousands stood up for their right to not believe. Silverman of American Atheists, who helped organize the rally, said it was intended to give heart to young, “closet atheists” who fear the social stigma of being “outed,” in much the same way closeted gays do. “We will never be closeted again,” he said. Some within the movement advocate taking a more conciliatory approach to believers, too. Alain de Botton, the Anglo-Swiss writer of the new book Religion for Atheists, assails Dawkins as being “very narrow-minded,” and praises religions as “the most successful educational and intellectual movements the planet has ever witnessed.”
Will atheism ever be accepted?
If growth continues at the current rate, one in four Americans will profess no religious faith within 20 years. Silverman hopes that as nonbelief spreads, atheists can become a “legitimate political segment of the American population,” afforded the same protections as religious groups and ethnic minorities. But he’s not advocating a complete secular takeover of the U.S. — nor would he be likely to achieve one, given the abiding religious faith of most Americans. “We don’t want the obliteration of religion; we don’t want religion wiped off the face of the earth,” Silverman said. “All we demand is equality.”
Atheists in foxholes
Atheists are barely visible in politics and entertainment, but they are clamoring for recognition in another area of public life — the military. The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers estimates that 40,000 soldiers identify as nonbelievers, and counts the most famous casualty of the war in Afghanistan, former NFL star Pat Tillman, as one of its own. In attempting to secure the same rights and support enjoyed by religious soldiers, the association lobbies against the idea that “there are no atheists in foxholes,” and wants “atheist chaplains” made available for the ranks of the armed nonbelievers. Jason Torpy, the association’s president, says that nonbelievers outnumber every religious group in the military except Christians, yet receive no ethical and family counseling geared to their own nonbeliefs. “These are things that chaplains do for everybody,” he said, “except us.”
Excuse me, sir, can you please hide your penis? It’s sticking out…
I know it’s stereotyping but whenever I see a gratuitous display like this, I always think “there goes a miserable douchbag”.
If you’ve got a religious belief that withers in the face of observations of the natural world, you ought to rethink your beliefs — rethinking the world isn’t an option.
(via divineirony)
Isn’t it weird?
I think sometimes Christians forget their religion originated in the MIDDLE EAST
That can’t be true. Jesus has light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. I’ve seen pictures and stuff!
(via divineirony)
