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Atheism: A Very Short Introduction QUOTES

Atheism: A Very Short Introduction QUOTES

1 " Rhetoric is simply the use of language to persuade, and it can be used to persuade us of falsehoods as well as truths. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

2 " Religion will recede not by atheists shouting condemnation, but by the quiet voice of reason slowly making itself heard. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

3 " Morality is more than possible without God, it is entirely independent of him. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

4 " The beliefs of atheists would have to require at least as much faith as those of religious believers. But they don’t. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

5 " Atheism is not a faith position because it is belief in nothing beyond that which is supported by evidence and argument. Religious belief is a faith position because it goes beyond what there is evidence or argument for. That is why faith requires something 'special' that ordinary belief does not have. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

6 " After all, people previously invoked God to explain all sorts of natural phenomena we later explained, and each time God had to retreat further back into the unknown. Today God is often found retreating to lighting the blue touch-paper that started the universe going or fine-tuning its fundamental forces. Such a God is fast running out of places to refuge. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

7 " Even if God were inclined to dole out post-mortem punishment it is more likely to be for the wicked than for the sceptical. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

8 " if there were no theists, there wouldn't even be any atheists. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

9 " What the rise of religions did was to give a name to a set of beliefs (atheism) that had always existed but which was considered so unexceptional that it required no special label "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

10 " Do the gods choose what is good because it is good, or is the good good because the gods choose it? If the first option is true, then the good is independent of the gods. But if the second option is true, then the very idea of what is good becomes arbitrary. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

11 " God replies that all it really proves is "that some men will follow any order no matter how asinine as long as it comes from a resonant, well-modulated voice. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

12 " If we pretend or imagine that life's purpose lies outside living itself, we will be searching the stars for what is underneath our feet all the time. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction

13 " It would be too strong to say that because
avowed atheism emerged riding on the back
of the Enlightenment it should take the credit
for its achievements. But it would be equally
foolish to see the simultaneous emergence of
modern atheism and the Enlightenment as
purely coincidental. "

― Julian Baggini , Atheism: A Very Short Introduction