1723 "I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God." [Thomas Alva Edison, "Columbian Magazine"]

395 "Formal religion was organized for slaves: it offered them consolation which earth did not provide." -- Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

3590 "The memory of my own suffering has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with the superstitions of the Christian religion." -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

3077 "Anti-abortionists believe that life begins at the moment you agree with them." [Saturday Night Live]

1621 "Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told--and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion." Michael Crichton in The Lost World. Contributed by Larry Reyka.

397 "Fierce invectives against women form a conspicuous and grotesque portion of the writings of the Church fathers." -- William E. H. Lecky (1838-1903), Irish historian

2590 "If any person shall Blaspheme the name of God, the Father, Sonne or Holie Ghost, with direct, expresse, Presumptious or high handed blasphemie, or shall curse God in the like manner, he shall be put to death. Lev. 24:15,16" [Massachusetts' "Body of Liberties" of 1641, Section 94]

665 "There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness." -George Washington (1790)

3344 "Whatever tends to prolong the existence of ignorance or to prevent the recognition of knowledge is dangerous to the well-being of the human race." [Lemuel K. Washburn, _Is The Bible Worth Reading And Other Essays_]

1747 "How can a preacher talk with a straight face about political graft? He is, himself, profiting by one of the most notorious political grafts in this country." [E. Haldeman-Julius, "The Church Is a Burden, Not a Benefit, In Social Life"]

2892 "To make sure that my blasphemy is thoroughly expressed, I hereby state my opinion that the notion of a god is a basic superstition, that there is no evidence for the existence of any god(s), that devils, demons, angels and saints are myths, that there is no life after death, heaven nor hell, that the Pope is a dangerous, bigoted, medieval dinosaur, and that the Holy Ghost is a comic-book character worthy of laughter and derision. I accuse the Christian god of murder by allowing the Holocaust to take place -- not to mention the "ethnic cleansing" presently being performed by Christians in our world -- and I condemn and vilify this mythical deity for encouraging racial prejudice and commanding the degradation of women." [James Randi, challenging blasphemy laws in several US states]

3167 "They amuse themselves by playing an irrelevant ecclesiastical game called "Let's Pretend." Let's pretend that we possess the objective truth of God in our inerrant Scriptures or in our infallible pronouncements or in our unbroken apostolic traditions." [Bishop John Shelby Spong, Episcopal (Anglican) Bishop of Newark, NY, in Resurrection: Myth or Reality? pg. 100]

3062 "The true contrast between science and myth is more nearly touched when we say that science alone is capable of verification." [George Santayana (1863-1952), "The Life of Reason" (1905-1906)]

1154 "Should it turn out that I am the worst man in the whole world, the story of the flood will remain just as improbable as before, and the contradictions of the Pentateuch will still demand an explanation." -- Robert G. Ingersoll

3563 "Indeed, Mr. Jefferson, what could be invented to debase the ancient Christianism, which Greeks, Romans, Hebrews and Christian factions, above all the Catholics, have not fraudulently imposed upon the public? Miracles after miracles have rolled down in torrents, wave succeeding wave in the Catholic church, from the Council of Nicea, and long before, to this day." [John Adams, to Jefferson, 3 December 1813]

1407 "If any spirit created the universe, it is malevolent, not benevolent." Quentin Smith, "The Anthropic Coincidences, Evil and the Disconfirmation of Theism"

2904 "I believe to this day what I believed when I was eight -- science." [Rick Reynolds]

3252 "Whatever a man prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer reduces itself to this: 'Great God, grant that twice two be not four.'" [Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) Russian novelist, writer]

850 "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."

1754 "Martyrs have been sincere. And so have tyrants. Wise men have been sincere. And so have fools." [E. Haldeman-Julius, "The Church Is a Burden, Not a Benefit, In Social Life"]