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“...atheism is not a conscious act of turning away from all gods. It is simply the final destination for those who think. ...you will be pleased to discover that the sky does not fall down on your head. ... if you still want to pray, you can (the success rate of your prayers is unlikely to change).”
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“Why do many believers insist on repeatedly pointing to the crimes of 20th century dictators who led officially atheistic societies as some sort of evidence of their god's existence? It makes no sense.
If the rivers of blood on Stalin's hands and Mao's hands, for example, are supposed to prove there is a god, then what do the oceans of blood on the hands of several thousand years' worth of religious kings, queens, presidents, popes, priests, generals, Crusadersm jihadists and tribal chiefs prove? It's not, of course, but if bodycount is somehow the measure of a god's likelihood of existence, then believers lose.
It is clear that humans are quite capable of killing with or without images of gods bouncing around in their heads. If anything, however, history suggests that the concept of gods makes the idea of massacring your fellow man (and women and children, too, of course) a lot easier to act upon.”
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If the rivers of blood on Stalin's hands and Mao's hands, for example, are supposed to prove there is a god, then what do the oceans of blood on the hands of several thousand years' worth of religious kings, queens, presidents, popes, priests, generals, Crusadersm jihadists and tribal chiefs prove? It's not, of course, but if bodycount is somehow the measure of a god's likelihood of existence, then believers lose.
It is clear that humans are quite capable of killing with or without images of gods bouncing around in their heads. If anything, however, history suggests that the concept of gods makes the idea of massacring your fellow man (and women and children, too, of course) a lot easier to act upon.”
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“If a beautiful sunflower is somehow supposed to be evidence of the Christian god, then what is a parasitic worm that eats children’s eyeballs evidence of?”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“The key point some Christians miss is that scientific ignorance about the beginning of life, or any of life's processes, is not evidence of a god.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“It fascinates me that believers have made faith in a god's existence into an admired and respected concept. Some people brag endlessly about their great faith in a god, never once considering that giving up on their mind's ability to weigh evidence and analyze arguments may not be such a good thing. I cannot imagine how it can ever be right to default to faith when considering an unusual claim.”
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
“If something happens that is highly unusual,
and no explanation is readily available,
isn’t “I don’t know” the only appropriate response?
How can we justify leaping to the extraordinary
conclusion that an unexplained event
is the work of a god?
Unknown means unknown.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
and no explanation is readily available,
isn’t “I don’t know” the only appropriate response?
How can we justify leaping to the extraordinary
conclusion that an unexplained event
is the work of a god?
Unknown means unknown.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“Changing your mind is okay. It shows wisdom and maturity. Never wavering from a belief no matter what is a mistake. What matters is trying to be as closely aligned with truth and reality as you can be at all times. And that requires many navigational adjustments over a lifetime.”
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
“A 2012 CNBC report ranked the fifty states by overall quality of life, and Vermont placed third. New Hampshire, the second-least-religious state, was first in quality of life, and Maine, the third-least-religious state, was fourth in quality of life. At the other end of the list were Alabama (third-most-religious state) ranked forty-seventh for quality of life, and Louisiana (fourth-most-religious state) ranked fiftieth for quality of life.8 A 2012 ranking of the most and least peaceful states in America showed the same pattern. States with the lowest violent crime are 1. Maine, 2. Vermont, and 3. New Hampshire, the three least-religious states in America. The most dangerous state in America, with the highest murder and incarceration rates, is also the fourth-most-religious state, Louisiana.9 Statistics and rankings do not prove that Christianity caused or exacerbates the challenges faced by the most religious states in America, of course. What is clear, however, is that Christianity has not solved its most serious problems, despite repeated assurances from Christians that it can and does.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“Setting aside its failure to win over most people, the Bible can’t even communicate clearly to the people who already cherish it deeply and believe in it with all their heart.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“Why is it that skeptics are always being accused of arrogance? For the record, we're the guys who DON'T claim to have absolute knowledge about the origin of the universe, the origin of life, what happens when we die, what will happen in the future, etc.”
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“Complementary or alternative medicine is really just unproven medicine. That’s not an unfair criticism; that’s just what it is. When an alternative medicine is openly put to the test and confirmed as useful by the scientific process, then it becomes just plain medicine.”
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
“Shouldn't it be atheists, believing they are not being watched, who commit virtually all the crimes and fill up all the prisons, while people who believe in an omnipresent god lead spotless lives out of either respect or fear? But this is far from the world we see.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“Let’s not dwell on the charge that we are all members of a corrupt and “fallen” species by birth. Rather, we should ask why it is we need saving in the first place. What is it we need saving from? The answer is God. He and his rules are the threat that we imperfect humans are up against. Therefore, God, in the form of Jesus, has offered to save us from himself.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“Life *is* complex, and, in many ways, life *is* beyond our comprehension today...Sometimes important questions have maddeningly complex or inconvenient answers that neither satisfy nor soothe.”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“Trust me, your brain will fool you more than enough all by itself. You don’t need anyone else helping you to make mistakes.”
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
“I suggest we embrace the phrase, "I don't know." It seems to get a bad rap, but "I don't know" is a respectable answer when one "doesn't know”
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“How does the Christian who claims a weeping statue of Mary is a miracle explain the milk-drinking statues of the Hindu god Ganesha?
How does the Christian who says a healing miracle proves the existence of Jesus feel about millions of claims of divine healings by Muslims and Hindus?”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
How does the Christian who says a healing miracle proves the existence of Jesus feel about millions of claims of divine healings by Muslims and Hindus?”
― 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
“When weird ideas come along, we owe it to ourselves to pause and think before accepting them as real or true. Bad things can happen when people embrace beliefs for reasons no better than trust in authority or tradition, or because it “feels true.” Countless”
― 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
― 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
“You are a human being with an immensely powerful brain. Don't underestimate its ability to separate you from much of the nonsense and danger out there. Your life is yours, live it wisely.”
― 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
― 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
“Evolution is the long blur, a constant and living flow of branching relationships. One thing is always connected to another and another. Having no regard for our love of labels and organization, life rolls on as a continual stream of organic matter. The important thing about the origin of the human brain is not pinpointing some specific time, event, or fossil to declare a beginning in order to satisfy our desire for order. What matters is that we understand the process from which it emerged and how deeply rooted the modern human brain is to its past.”
― Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser
― Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser
“I promise that if you invest the time to read this book and apply what you learn, you will have a huge advantage over the majority of people in the world. You can be a leader rather than a follower.”
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
“Suppose we've chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to church we're just making him madder and madder. -Homer Simpson”
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
“Suppose we've chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to church we're just making him madder and madder.
-Homer Simpson”
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
-Homer Simpson”
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
“We have magnificent brains—and use them to believe nonsense and behave as fools. . . . We are enslaved to delusions and too often the servants of subconscious biases. . . . Our great challenge is to use our brains to overcome our brains.”
― At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life
― At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life
“Museums are my cathedrals. Artifacts in glass cases are my sacred relics. I truly believe I have felt something close to religious fervor inside some of these buildings. I even feel that I have experienced the occasional transcendent moment inside a museum.”
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
“Critical thinking is the indispensable skill for smart living in modern society, and skepticism is the essential posture for the fully awake twenty-first-century human being.”
― Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser
― Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser
“Appreciate the magnificent brain you possess. Protect and nurture it. Strive to be a good skeptic and critical thinker so that fewer hours of your precious life will be squandered on dead-end beliefs. Always try to think like a scientist so that you might better know truth from fiction.”
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
― Think: Why You Should Question Everything
“You are not the sum of your Google searches, Amazon purchases, and Facebook likes. Your online activities should not define you as a person. But, increasingly, they do.”
― Think Before You Like: Social Media's Effect on the Brain and the Tools You Need to Navigate Your Newsfeed
― Think Before You Like: Social Media's Effect on the Brain and the Tools You Need to Navigate Your Newsfeed
“Bad thinking leads people to believe first and ask questions later—if ever.”
― Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser
― Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser
“you are special because, as a thinking and creative lifeform, you are one of the most fortunate collections of atoms in all the universe.”
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
― 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
