“Argue not concerning God,…re-examine all that you have been told at church or school or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your soul…”

— Walt Whitman

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Walt Whitman 181

American poet, essayist and journalist 1819–1892

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“Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.”

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist

“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.... The poet shall not spend his time in unneeded work. He shall know that the ground is always ready ploughed and manured.... others may not know it but he shall. He shall go directly to the creation. His trust shall master the trust of everything he touches.... and shall master all attachment.”

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist

From the Preface to the 1855 edition of <i>Leaves of Grass</i>

“God reveals himself in creation; but scrutinize creation as minutely as you wish, you will not find God, any more than you will find the soul through careful examination of your body.”

Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian writer

Awakening : Conversations with the Masters (2003), p. 24
Context: The genius of a composer is found in the notes of his music; but analyzing the notes will not reveal his genius. The poet's greatness is contained in his words; yet the study of his words will not disclose his inspiration. God reveals himself in creation; but scrutinize creation as minutely as you wish, you will not find God, any more than you will find the soul through careful examination of your body.

“I say, if your knees aren’t green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

“For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.”

Gerald Ford (1913–2006) American politician, 38th President of the United States (in office from 1974 to 1977)

Speech to the International Eucharistic Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as quoted in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner (13 August 1976)
1970s

“Whatever your religious belief was, I know that you have been a good Confederate. May God forgive your sins!”

Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) leader of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, and founder of the Swiss Reformed Churches

Hans Schonbrunner, upon seeing his corpse October 12th, ibid, p.357-358
About

“He had, in fact, got everything from the church and Sunday School, except, perhaps, any longing whatever for decency and kindness and reason.”

Sinclair Lewis book Elmer Gantry

Elmer Gantry (1927)

“Offending and insulting, is different from expressing an opinion that can be analyzed, argued on, and can eventually be accepted or rejected [therefore offending others is not acceptable] … But in addition to the west, we ourselves also have problems in this regard. Instead of logical criticism or debate, we only keep saying offensive things about liberalism, democracy and modernism. I had told some of our elders before, that the religion of the today's world is 'liberalism' and we have no right to make insults about it. We should not keep using phrases such as "the corrupt culture of the west" etc. in our words. As it's also said in the Holy Koran, "Do not insult the gods of others, otherwise you are indirectly insulting your God."”

Mohammad Khatami (1943) Iranian prominent reformist politician, scholar and shiite faqih.

February 15th, 2006, during a press interview in Tehran's airport upon his return from a cultural conference in Malaysia.
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-667116&Lang=P; http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2006/02/060215_jb_khatami_cartoon.shtml.
Blasphemy

“Holy books are an insult to a God with good intentions.”

Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman

“Insult I,” p. 104
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “Is It Possible to Write a Poem”

“Say that a thing is so, according to the Pope or the Bible, and it will be dismissed as a superstition without examination. But preface your remark merely with "they say" or "don't you know that?"”

G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English mystery novelist and Christian apologist

or try (and fail) to remember the name of some professor mentioned in some newspaper; and the keen rationalism of the modern mind will accept every word you say.
The Superstition of Divorce (1920)

“Argue not concerning God,…re-examine all that you have been told at church or school or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your soul…”

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Walt Whitman 181

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