Source: The God Delusion (2006), p. 152 of the Black Swan paperback edition of 2007
The Root of All Evil? (January 2006)
Heart Of The Matter: God Under The Microscope | BBC (1996)
Variant: [... ] one of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding.
Source: The God Delusion
“It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance.”
Ocean of Wisdom: Guidelines for Living (1989) ISBN 094066609X
Unsourced variant: In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.
“Religion teaches you to be satisfied with nonanswers. It’s a sort of crime against childhood.”
“Pain's not bad, it's good. It teaches you things. I understand that.”
What Would You Substitute for the Bible as a Moral Guide? (1900)
Context: These religions teach the slave virtues. They make inanimate things holy, and falsehoods sacred. They create artificial crimes. To eat meat on Friday, to enjoy yourself on Sunday, to eat on fast-days, to be happy in Lent, to dispute a priest, to ask for evidence, to deny a creed, to express your sincere thought, all these acts are sins, crimes against some god, To give your honest opinion about Jehovah, Mohammed or Christ, is far worse than to maliciously slander your neighbor. To question or doubt miracles. is far worse than to deny known facts. Only the obedient, the credulous, the cringers, the kneelers, the meek, the unquestioning, the true believers, are regarded as moral, as virtuous. It is not enough to be honest, generous and useful; not enough to be governed by evidence, by facts. In addition to this, you must believe. These things are the foes of morality. They subvert all natural conceptions of virtue.
“Poverty is a virtue which one can teach oneself.”
Stobaeus, iv. 32a. 19
Quoted by Stobaeus
Source: Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward (2016), p. 28, Question 1: What is Islam?
“Humanity has only one religion, state, cast, and colour, which teaches us every human is equal.”
LINK BUILDING FOR SEO: The Definitive Guide Oxford University Press, (May 16, 2019), ISBN-10: 1099305861, ISBN-13: 978-1099305863
“The end of Religion is not to teach us how to die, but how to live….”
Source: Agnes Grey
