“Is there any religion whose followers can be pointed to as distinctly more amiable and trustworthy than those of any other? If so, this should be enough. I find the nicest and best people generally profess no religion at all, but are ready to like the best men of all religions.”

—  Samuel Butler

Religion
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part II - Elementary Morality

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Samuel Butler 232
novelist 1835–1902

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Samuel Butler photo

“I find the nicest and best people generally profess no religion at all, but are ready to like the best men of all religions.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

Religion
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part II - Elementary Morality
Context: Is there any religion whose followers can be pointed to as distinctly more amiable and trustworthy than those of any other? If so, this should be enough. I find the nicest and best people generally profess no religion at all, but are ready to like the best men of all religions.

Franz Bardon photo

“Religion ~The incipient magician will confess his faith to a universal religion. He will find out that every religion has good points as well as bad ones. He will therefore keep the best of it for himself and ignore the weak points, which does not necessarily mean that he must profess a religion, but he shall express awe to each for of worship, for each religion has its proper principle of God, whether the point in question be Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or any other kind of religion. Fundamentally he may be faithful to his own religion. But he will not be satisfied with the official doctrines of his Church, and will try to penetrate deeper into god’s workshop. And such is the purpose of our initiation. According to the universal laws, the magician will form his own point of view about the universe which henceforth will be his true religion...”

Franz Bardon book Initiation Into Hermetics

Source: Initiation Into Hermetics (1956), p. 26

“In any town there is always a central place; all the roads in the town or from out of town lead to that central place. Similarly, all religions lead to one point, and that is God Himself; and therefore following any religion you will ultimately reach God.”

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“Too mutch religion iz wuss than none at all. Yu kant sho me a kuntry that haz existed yet, whare the people, all ov them, professed one religion and persekuted all other kinds, but what the religion ruined the country.”

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist

Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873)

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“It is not the profession of religion which creates the obligation for the performance of duty; for that existed before any such profession was made. The profession of religion only recognises the obligation.”

Albert Barnes (1798–1870) American theologian

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 200.

Mirza Masroor Ahmad photo

“I believe in that one god who is the lord of all nations, all races & all religions, and so it becomes impossible that I could ever develop any hatred in my heart for any nation, any race or any religion.”

Mirza Masroor Ahmad (1950) spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

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Source: Historic Address in Southern California https://www.alislam.org/press-release/head-of-ahmadiyya-muslim-jamaat-delivers-historic-address-in-southern-california/, 11th May 2013

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“Religion is more conservative than any other aspect of human life.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

The Near East (1968), p. 14
General sources

“One can follow any religion, one can follow any practice or path, but one must be humane.”

Haidakhan Babaji teacher in northern India

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Humanity

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“In church I was told that if I so much as smoked a cigarette or tasted alcohol, I’d be damned in hell for all eternity[…]it didn’t take long for me to start thinking that sounded all wrong […]I didn’t cotton to the idea that your religion should be flaunted to other people. Your religion is for you, and is best kept close to your heart.”

Willie Nelson (1933) American country music singer-songwriter.

[The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart, 11, Nelson, Willie; Pipkin, Turk, 159240197X, 2006, Gotham]

Julia Ward Howe photo

“Any religion which sacrifices women to the brutality of men is no religion.”

Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910) American abolitionist, social activist, and poet

What is Religion? (1893)
Context: I think nothing is religion which puts one individual absolutely above others, and surely nothing is religion which puts one sex above another. Religion is primarily our relation to the Supreme, to God himself. It is for him to judge; it is for him to say where we belong, who is highest and who is not; of that we know nothing. And any religion which will sacrifice a certain set of human beings for the enjoyment or aggrandizement or advantage of another is no religion. It is a thing which may be allowed, but it is against true religion. Any religion which sacrifices women to the brutality of men is no religion.

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