#eh

We generally describe the most repulsive examples of man's cruelty as brutal or bestial, implying that such behavior is characteristic of less highly developed animals than ourselves. In fact, however, the extremes of brutal behavior are confined to us: there exists no parallel in nature to our savage treatment of each other. The unmistakable truth is that man is the most vicious and cruel species that ever walked the earth. ↗

— Hans Askenasy

#humanity #nature

The nature of man is such that people consider themselves put under an obligation as much by the benefits they confer as by those they receive. ↗

— Niccolò Machiavelli

#nature

It's as if there is infinity between our lips and we will never actually touch. Like math, where dividing by half can last for eternity. ↗

— Carrie Ryan

#math

It is not about doing what we feel like. It is about doing what God says. ↗

— Joyce Meyer

#religion #religion

Christians are hard to tolerate; I don’t know how Jesus does it ↗

— Bono

#religion #religion

Isaac Asimov's remark about the infantilism of pseudoscience is just as applicable to religion: 'Inspect every piece of pseudoscience and you will find a security blanket, a thumb to suck, a skirt to hold.' It is astonishing, moreover, how many people are unable to understand that 'X is comforting' does not imply 'X is true'. ↗

— Richard Dawkins

#religion

Every organized religion holds that certain behaviors, rituals, personalities, places, and/or books are sacred. These organized teachings are proper in their own place, but they are mere options for the one infused with devotion. To such a one, God is direct and spontaneous, providing him with an immediate source of guidance and direction. His relationship with God is not mediated through anyone or anything. (104) ↗

— Prem Prakash

#devotion #god #personality #religion #rituals

This is a book about getting naked—not physically, but spiritually. It’s about stripping away the symbols and status of public religion—the Sunday-dress version people often call “organized religion.” And it’s about attending to the well-being of the soul clothed only in naked human skin. ↗

— Brian D. McLaren

#religion

Does religious conviction provide a powerful reason for killing? Undeniably it often does. It also often provides the sole compelling reason for refusing to kill, or for being merciful, or for seeking peace; only the profoundest ignorance of history could prevent one from recognizing this. For the truth is that religion and irreligion are cultural variables, but killing is a human constant. ↗

— David Bentley Hart

#reason #religion

I just wish this social institution [religion] wasn't based on what appears to me to be a monumental hoax built on an accumulation of customs and myths directed toward proving something that isn't true. ↗

— Andy Rooney

#customs #falsehood #falsehoods #hoax #institutions