“Now, with the general decay of religious faith, it is the scientists who must speak ex cathedra, whether they wish to or not.”
“Ultimate Terms in Contemporary Rhetoric,” p. 93.
Language is Sermonic (1970)
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Richard M. Weaver 110
American scholar 1910–1963Related quotes

Sam Harris, "The Politics of Ignorance" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/the-politics-of-ignorance_b_5053.html (2 August 2005)
2000s

Why I Am An Agnostic (1929)
Context: An agnostic is a doubter. The word is generally applied to those who doubt the verity of accepted religious creeds of faiths. Everyone is an agnostic as to the beliefs or creeds they do not accept. Catholics are agnostic to the Protestant creeds, and the Protestants are agnostic to the Catholic creed. Any one who thinks is an agnostic about something, otherwise he must believe that he is possessed of all knowledge. And the proper place for such a person is in the madhouse or the home for the feeble-minded. In a popular way, in the western world, an agnostic is one who doubts or disbelieves the main tenets of the Christian faith.

Source: Basic Verities, Prose and Poetry (1943), p. 51

“Where can I find a man who's both religious at heart and scientist in mind?”

“A general flavor of mild decay.”
The Deacon's Masterpiece; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Source: 1950s, Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954), p. 215