Geek Next Door
Atheist Quote of the Day | Jul 15th 2008
Bertrand Russell (in 1907)
Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing — fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. — Bertrand Russell in ‘Why I am not a Christian‘.
18 Comments »
I understand this on many levels.
Comment by gigi28 — July 17, 2008 @ 1:52 am
I have also quoted this passage in my <a href=”post“>post. It is a very interesting text. I found this blog because an automatic WordPress link was created.
All the best,
Man of Roma
Comment by ManofRoma — August 21, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Very true. Believing in God is believing in nothing.
Comment by Gratis geld — June 15, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
I have quoted this peice of shit in my peice of shit. Please eat my shit! It has vitamins.
Comment by Dr. Palofonov — June 15, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
mmm vitamins in shit. Like the kernels of wisdom found in the bible
Comment by Michelangelo — June 19, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
Dr. Palofonov must be religious
Comment by Pedro — June 18, 2009 @ 5:21 pm
There is no god. Get over it.
Comment by Phil E. Drifter — June 18, 2009 @ 6:12 pm
Amen!
Ramen! Mmmmm…. noooooodles.
Comment by Nouanda — June 19, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
Here’s my problem, this is the “atheist” quote of the day but Bertrand Russel is simply explaining that he’s not a christian. It’s like how Christians assume that Einstein is one of them because he made a few quotes about imagination and the mysterious. I like this quote, it’s completely true, I just don’t like this whole atheist fad. Just because you don’t believe in organized religion doesn’t mean you don’t believe in a higher power or, at the very least, a conscious universe.
Comment by kip — June 19, 2009 @ 10:00 pm
just shut up
Comment by almighty — July 9, 2009 @ 9:18 pm
Any blind belief system is a bad thing, whether it be religion or atheism. The fact is no-one really knows the truth, and until someone comes up with a theory of everything that is water tight we are all in the dark. Nassim Haramein has pretty much got it i think, his unified field theory is being peer reviewed at the moment. He has an eight hour lecture on google video that’s well worth a watch.
Comment by Henry — July 14, 2009 @ 2:46 am
You got that wrong Henry! Atheism is not a belief system; it is rather the lack of belief. If someone can show in a rigorous manner that there is some higher, supernatural being, and his way passes all the relevant tests, someone denying those findings would be “a belief system”. That’s the problem of present day religions: they cling to what might have been relevant to the times they originated.
Thanks for pointing out to the Google video bit. I’ll checkout that Nassim guys work and the video, but a cursory glance suggests that the guy is a lunatic (in a Jungian sense)!
Comment by A. G. — July 14, 2009 @ 9:13 am
This is well put and I must say that we see these days in the “Islamist” movement the same cruelty and fear that Christians were wont to practice not so long ago. And Look how vilely Hindus and Buddhists treat each other in Sri Lanka.
On the other hand the Nazi movement was non religious really and they were dreadful!
Maybe we can’t blame religion for all the woes of Mankind.
Comment by Schubertlet — June 19, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
@Kip. Being an atheist specifically does mean you don’t believe in a higher power.
Atheism is certainly no “fad”, it has always and will always exist as long as some humans maintain the ability to reason. Your perception of it being a fad is no doubt based on the fact that there is quite a lot of controversy, mainly generated by the right-wing press about such things as the now famous bus ads and the legal suits against the I.D. promoting school boards etcetera.
Comment by betterthangod — June 20, 2009 @ 7:38 am
I’m not so convinced that the Nazi Movement was not religious.
Believing in one’s divine or racial superiority seems to be an underlying theme in religion.
Comment by JLo — June 20, 2009 @ 8:40 am
@betterthangod
I think the point that Kip was trying to make was that Bertrand Russell and others who profess that they “are not Christian” could possibly still be gnostic, that it’s not a black-and-white distinction.
@Kip
Bertrand Russell was an atheist/agnostic since he was a child.
Atheism is not a “fad,” just as Mormonism is not a fad. This is a legitimate (some would call it the most legitimate) belief set, and has been for hundreds of years. We live in a new world now, a world full of open doors and windows where people speak out and reveal themselves more than ever; you hear about these things more than ever.
I took some offense to this because I have personally gone through some scary, tough existential episodes in my life in relation to religion. Atheism was what made sense to me, despite the insistence (and threats) of my community. It is not a fad.
Comment by wpdjr — June 20, 2009 @ 7:03 pm
you folks might appreciate the tee shirts I have designed:
GOD IS NOT
MY DRUG OF CHOICE
and
RELIGION IS NOT
MY DRUG OF CHOICE
Comment by bob — June 23, 2009 @ 3:58 am
<<< What is up with these pathetic little icons?
I want a tee shirt….I'll take one for free and promote it for you.
Comment by What? — July 6, 2009 @ 12:39 am