This is Part 2 in a three part series. Part 1 is Morality 1: Good Without Gods and Part 3 is Morality 3: Of Objectivity & Oughtness.
via QualiaSoup.
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday Morning Hate ~ Rick Perry Supporters
Here’s a nice little compilation of SMH all-stars who happen to support Gov. Perry’s Aug 6th rally of prayer and fasting. The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s lawsuit arguing that Perry’s involvement in the rally was a violation of the 1st Amendment’s establishment clause was dismissed by a Houston judge. Perry is “considering” a run for president.
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Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday Link Dump 7/29/11
Obviously the subject of the past week was the horrific attacks in Oslo, Norway. First and foremost, we would like to extend our sincere and deepest condolences to the family, friends and fellow citizens of the victims. Sadly, many people around the planet can sympathize with your pain in one way or another. We are sorry for your loss.
As I am sitting here putting this FLD together—like I have dozens of times before—it dawns on me that there is really no good way for me to segue into the rest of the link dump so I am just going to jump in. Sorry if it is jarring.
Oslo Attacks & Religion: Wait For the Evidence: My first attempt at addressing the travesty. I was mad.
So What Is He, Christian Or Not: Full disclosure: Kriss has been giving us a lot of love lately and we are mentioned in this article. Honestly, the reason I wanted to post this was because it embodies the debate going on right now. Is he or isn’t he a Christian? It is not easy to sort through. To that end, Jack and I wrote our two cents in a kind of opposing viewpoints. They are immediately below.
Glenn Beck: Young Norway victims like 'Hitler Youth': If I too wanted to invoke Godwin's Law I could point out that Beck runs a "heritage-based education for youth" camp, but I wouldn't do that.
Humanist statement on terror attacks in Norway and World Humanist Congress on Peace to be held at site of Oslo bombing
Christian Terrorism and Islamophobia: Sam Harris’ take.
Pat Buchanan Praises Breivik’s Cultural Analysis: Of course he does. BTW, Pat Buchanan is just one of the reasons I refuse to watch MSNBC. Again, I put forth the proposition that the liberal media myth is exactly that...a myth.
OK...non-Oslo links below.
A ‘Modest Proposal’ For Dealing with Heretics: Just a reminder what many Christians want to do us. This one happens to be written by a preacher.
Author of ‘Anti-Christian’ DHS Report on Right-Wing Extremism is a Conservative, Anti-Choice Gun Owner: “Those leebruls er ulways tryin’ ta denuhgrate goood Chreestian folk! Huh? Tha arthur wuz a whut? Oh...”
Atheist group wants to stop World Trade Center cross: Adam sent this link to me and said “Silverman is such a cock. Even when he's right.” Hehe...yeeaaah.
Mid-Week Rant: Jamie DeWolf: I thought this was fantastic. Such a powerful and damning performance.
Dear Angry Lunatic: A Response to Chris Hedges: a great piece by Sam Harris countering false claims against him by a hack “journalist.”
Morality 1: Good Without Gods
The Invisible Big Kahuna: Yeah you need to read this. It includes: Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Victor Stenger, Polly Toynbee, Richard Wisemen, Jerry Coyne, Michael Shermer, Daniel C. Dennet, and PZ Myers.
50 Renowned Academics & Scientists Talk About God
Huge voter suppression plot exposed in Wisconsin: This needs to be known.
Poorest place in the United States and Western Hemisphere: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation: This is criminal.
Christian Jihad? Why We Should Worry About Right-Wing Terror Attacks Like Norway's in the US: I’ve been saying this for awhile now...
Rick Warren is such an asshole. To some Christians credit, they find him just as objectionable as we do:The Purpose-Driven Lie
As I am sitting here putting this FLD together—like I have dozens of times before—it dawns on me that there is really no good way for me to segue into the rest of the link dump so I am just going to jump in. Sorry if it is jarring.
Oslo Attacks & Religion: Wait For the Evidence: My first attempt at addressing the travesty. I was mad.
So What Is He, Christian Or Not: Full disclosure: Kriss has been giving us a lot of love lately and we are mentioned in this article. Honestly, the reason I wanted to post this was because it embodies the debate going on right now. Is he or isn’t he a Christian? It is not easy to sort through. To that end, Jack and I wrote our two cents in a kind of opposing viewpoints. They are immediately below.
Glenn Beck: Young Norway victims like 'Hitler Youth': If I too wanted to invoke Godwin's Law I could point out that Beck runs a "heritage-based education for youth" camp, but I wouldn't do that.
Humanist statement on terror attacks in Norway and World Humanist Congress on Peace to be held at site of Oslo bombing
Christian Terrorism and Islamophobia: Sam Harris’ take.
Pat Buchanan Praises Breivik’s Cultural Analysis: Of course he does. BTW, Pat Buchanan is just one of the reasons I refuse to watch MSNBC. Again, I put forth the proposition that the liberal media myth is exactly that...a myth.
OK...non-Oslo links below.
New blog alert! Practical Doubt: Rejecting What Is Sacred & Calls to Violence and Suppression of Minorities Intact
A ‘Modest Proposal’ For Dealing with Heretics: Just a reminder what many Christians want to do us. This one happens to be written by a preacher.
Author of ‘Anti-Christian’ DHS Report on Right-Wing Extremism is a Conservative, Anti-Choice Gun Owner: “Those leebruls er ulways tryin’ ta denuhgrate goood Chreestian folk! Huh? Tha arthur wuz a whut? Oh...”
Atheist group wants to stop World Trade Center cross: Adam sent this link to me and said “Silverman is such a cock. Even when he's right.” Hehe...yeeaaah.
Grandparents were key to prehistoric man's survival: I read the article this link is based on in Scientific American and it was great. It made me think that so much of human culture is simply based on longevity and the multi-generational information and consistency that goes with it.
Mid-Week Rant: Jamie DeWolf: I thought this was fantastic. Such a powerful and damning performance.
Dear Angry Lunatic: A Response to Chris Hedges: a great piece by Sam Harris countering false claims against him by a hack “journalist.”
Morality 1: Good Without Gods
The Invisible Big Kahuna: Yeah you need to read this. It includes: Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Victor Stenger, Polly Toynbee, Richard Wisemen, Jerry Coyne, Michael Shermer, Daniel C. Dennet, and PZ Myers.
50 Renowned Academics & Scientists Talk About God
Huge voter suppression plot exposed in Wisconsin: This needs to be known.
Poorest place in the United States and Western Hemisphere: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation: This is criminal.
Christian Jihad? Why We Should Worry About Right-Wing Terror Attacks Like Norway's in the US: I’ve been saying this for awhile now...
Rick Warren is such an asshole. To some Christians credit, they find him just as objectionable as we do:The Purpose-Driven Lie
Here is a petition for MSNBC to fire Buchanan. It won’t make me watch that channel, but I signed it just to hopefully screw him.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Mad Norwegian
I suppose, in a sense, Anders Behring Breivik is a singular example of what atheists have been saying about the flawed nature of religious worldviews. How they can be used to justify anything no matter how heinous. I’ve spent a good deal of time looking through his manifesto over the last couple days though, I will say this: I think it's incorrect to put the blame squarely on Christianity for his actions, however Christianity was definitely an ideology from which he drew a great amount of inspiration. He wanted to kill and found association with a convenient ideology that in his mind justified the actions he already wanted to carry out. The ideology itself, in this case, is secondary. I don't think he's a killer because he's a religious zealot, I think he's a religious zealot because that allows him to be the killer he is without too much cognitive dissonance.
The most disturbing thing is that here we have a man who is so full of hate and disdain that he is capable of dedicating the better part of a decade to planning a single attack on innocent people in the name of God—and no one noticed.
No one noticed because he hid in plain sight. At church, in the Freemasons, he would go out with friends from time to time, appearing (at least by his accounts) to be sociable and jovial. He self-describes as "not an excessively religious man" and "laid back and quite tolerant on most issues", and there’s been little to suggest that anyone had the slightest idea that there was something terribly wrong with him, which means he must have been quite convincing. But given the depth of his obsession, it’s a bit hard to get your head around the fact that no-one noticed any red flags.
His writing is dispassionate. To hear him tell it, he doesn't hate Muslims. He ‘merely’ wants to create a nationalist-theocracy, which would ‘kindly’ help them to be displaced back to their ancestral lands, and kill them if they refused. He goes on at rather great length about his grand segregationist plan in such detail that it makes Hitler look like an under-achiever. He makes little mention of outright attacks on Muslims. Instead his targets are political as part of a culture war between Islam and Christianity as a binary. He seems to feel you are either on one side or the other. He accuses secular-humanist governments, and blames them for changes in his culture by allowing Muslim migration in the first place. By all indications he sincerely believes the only way to rectify this is to dispatch with those leaders so they can be replaced by members of the church to "ensure that a sustainable and traditional version of Christendom is propagated". His is a world divided that will never be whole.
Perhaps this black and white thinking is the most ominous and confusing part. He says on several occasions that he has no personal relationship with Jesus, but instead that he believes "in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform", and that is why he calls himself a Christian. Clearly, however, his belief extends far beyond that invoking rhetoric not unlike that of Islamic suicide bombers: "How blessed to die a martyr! Rejoice, brave athlete, if you live and conquer in the Lord; but glory and exult even more if you die and join your Lord."
Now, many Christian commentators have already chimed in on this subject, and denounced him as a madman and ‘not a real Christian.’ All I can say about that is, much like I said about Obama, denouncing someone for their self-identification is just pointless. And further, it demonstrates a big inconsistency in current Christian dogma. If he is not a ‘real christian’ then why do they not accept that Islamic terrorists aren’t ‘real muslims’? To say that his beliefs are not in line with contemporary Christian ideology is ultimately meaningless because there are almost 40,000 different Christian denominations worldwide, and each and every one of them thinks they are the only one that’s absolutely correct. Yet, there’s absolutely no proof that any of them are correct about anything, much less that one of them is completely correct. So let’s put this ‘true christian’ nonsense aside. Christianity has been a justification for violence on many occasions in history (in fact, these are times which Breivik attempts to glorify), this is just one more time.
It's like that saying by Steven Weinburg: "With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes religion."
Anders Behring Breivik is a bad person, and no amount of secular culture would have changed that. He was, after all, born and raised in Norway by secular parents and taught in state schools. He found religion. It wasn't thrust upon him. It is clear that his beliefs most definitely added courage to his conviction. Religion inspired him. Religion allowed him to feel that what he was doing was right and moral. One wonders if such a religious infrastructure didn't exist if he'd have the drive, the rationale, and the single-minded sense of purpose that lead him to kill so many in cold-blood.
Yet it seems inappropriate to say that religion is at fault. If it wasn't religion it almost certainly would have been something else. But it was religion, which is far more ominous. If Anders Behring Breivik had written about orders from his dog, or that his victims were aliens in disguise we would all hasten to agree that he was a lone man plagued by delusions. Instead we are left with an horrible act which the stated justification is, at least partially, rooted in beliefs that many people share. Focus on the Family’s own Bryan Fischer went so far as to say that Breivik’s “analysis of cultural trends in Europe and the danger created by Islamic immigration and infiltration is accurate”. Which is to say he disagrees with Brevik’s methods and actions, but not necessarily with his conclusions. This might be the most frightening part of all. Breivik is delusional, yes. He is megalomaniacal. He is dangerous and his beliefs make him even more dangerous. Worst of all, with today’s over-amplified rhetoric, vitriolic commentary, and the ever more divisive cultures that surround the Abrahamic religions there is no way of knowing who will decide to share in the most wicked parts of his delusion with him.
See Steve's No True Christian? for a counter-point.
.
The most disturbing thing is that here we have a man who is so full of hate and disdain that he is capable of dedicating the better part of a decade to planning a single attack on innocent people in the name of God—and no one noticed.
No one noticed because he hid in plain sight. At church, in the Freemasons, he would go out with friends from time to time, appearing (at least by his accounts) to be sociable and jovial. He self-describes as "not an excessively religious man" and "laid back and quite tolerant on most issues", and there’s been little to suggest that anyone had the slightest idea that there was something terribly wrong with him, which means he must have been quite convincing. But given the depth of his obsession, it’s a bit hard to get your head around the fact that no-one noticed any red flags.
His writing is dispassionate. To hear him tell it, he doesn't hate Muslims. He ‘merely’ wants to create a nationalist-theocracy, which would ‘kindly’ help them to be displaced back to their ancestral lands, and kill them if they refused. He goes on at rather great length about his grand segregationist plan in such detail that it makes Hitler look like an under-achiever. He makes little mention of outright attacks on Muslims. Instead his targets are political as part of a culture war between Islam and Christianity as a binary. He seems to feel you are either on one side or the other. He accuses secular-humanist governments, and blames them for changes in his culture by allowing Muslim migration in the first place. By all indications he sincerely believes the only way to rectify this is to dispatch with those leaders so they can be replaced by members of the church to "ensure that a sustainable and traditional version of Christendom is propagated". His is a world divided that will never be whole.
Perhaps this black and white thinking is the most ominous and confusing part. He says on several occasions that he has no personal relationship with Jesus, but instead that he believes "in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform", and that is why he calls himself a Christian. Clearly, however, his belief extends far beyond that invoking rhetoric not unlike that of Islamic suicide bombers: "How blessed to die a martyr! Rejoice, brave athlete, if you live and conquer in the Lord; but glory and exult even more if you die and join your Lord."
Now, many Christian commentators have already chimed in on this subject, and denounced him as a madman and ‘not a real Christian.’ All I can say about that is, much like I said about Obama, denouncing someone for their self-identification is just pointless. And further, it demonstrates a big inconsistency in current Christian dogma. If he is not a ‘real christian’ then why do they not accept that Islamic terrorists aren’t ‘real muslims’? To say that his beliefs are not in line with contemporary Christian ideology is ultimately meaningless because there are almost 40,000 different Christian denominations worldwide, and each and every one of them thinks they are the only one that’s absolutely correct. Yet, there’s absolutely no proof that any of them are correct about anything, much less that one of them is completely correct. So let’s put this ‘true christian’ nonsense aside. Christianity has been a justification for violence on many occasions in history (in fact, these are times which Breivik attempts to glorify), this is just one more time.
It's like that saying by Steven Weinburg: "With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes religion."
Anders Behring Breivik is a bad person, and no amount of secular culture would have changed that. He was, after all, born and raised in Norway by secular parents and taught in state schools. He found religion. It wasn't thrust upon him. It is clear that his beliefs most definitely added courage to his conviction. Religion inspired him. Religion allowed him to feel that what he was doing was right and moral. One wonders if such a religious infrastructure didn't exist if he'd have the drive, the rationale, and the single-minded sense of purpose that lead him to kill so many in cold-blood.
Yet it seems inappropriate to say that religion is at fault. If it wasn't religion it almost certainly would have been something else. But it was religion, which is far more ominous. If Anders Behring Breivik had written about orders from his dog, or that his victims were aliens in disguise we would all hasten to agree that he was a lone man plagued by delusions. Instead we are left with an horrible act which the stated justification is, at least partially, rooted in beliefs that many people share. Focus on the Family’s own Bryan Fischer went so far as to say that Breivik’s “analysis of cultural trends in Europe and the danger created by Islamic immigration and infiltration is accurate”. Which is to say he disagrees with Brevik’s methods and actions, but not necessarily with his conclusions. This might be the most frightening part of all. Breivik is delusional, yes. He is megalomaniacal. He is dangerous and his beliefs make him even more dangerous. Worst of all, with today’s over-amplified rhetoric, vitriolic commentary, and the ever more divisive cultures that surround the Abrahamic religions there is no way of knowing who will decide to share in the most wicked parts of his delusion with him.
See Steve's No True Christian? for a counter-point.
.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday Morning Quotes: Voltaire
“Si Dieu nous a faits à son image, nous le lui avons bien rendu.”
“All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God.”
“Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror.”
“All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
“As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.”
May we not return to those scoundrels of old, the illustrious founders of superstition and fanaticism, who first took the knife from the altar to make victims of those who refused to be their disciples?”
“Common sense is not so common.”
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.“
“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”
Regarding Christianity: “Ours [religion] is without a doubt the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and the most bloody to ever infect the world.”
“It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.”
“If God has made us in his image, we have returned him
the favor.”
“All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God.”
“Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror.”
“All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
“As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.”
May we not return to those scoundrels of old, the illustrious founders of superstition and fanaticism, who first took the knife from the altar to make victims of those who refused to be their disciples?”
“Common sense is not so common.”
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.“
“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”
Regarding Christianity: “Ours [religion] is without a doubt the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and the most bloody to ever infect the world.”
“It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.”
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday Morning Hate: John Hagee
America right now has its fist in the face of God and in the name of pluralism we are honoring paganism coast to coast in this nation.…You want to know what drives environmentalism in America? Paganism, paganism, this is exactly what Paul spoke about in Romans. And Paul said, when a generation does this I will give them over to a reprobate mind, they will believe a lie and they as a generation will be damned. Let me say this to you very clearly and those of you watching over the internet: There is one God in this book, it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Allah is not God, Buddha is not God, Mary is not God, Mary Baker Eddy is not God, birds, animals and bugs are not God, Jehovah God is the God of all Gods. He is a jealous God, and He demands that He be the Lord of all or not at all!…We have allowed the worship of Satanism in the U.S. military, most Americans are not aware of that, and we wonder why it takes us ten years to defeat our weak enemies as Moses said in Deuteronomy 28. How is it that in World War II we whipped the world in four years and now we’re bogged down in one lingering war after another that does nothing but rape our economy and kill our young men? Why? Maybe the God of Heaven is not with us. He says when you accept another God, I leave. I’m either the only Lord, or you’re on your own. That means stop voting for pagans and putting them in public office
via RightWingWatch
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Morality 1: Good Without Gods
This is Part 1 in a three part series. Part 2 is Morality: No-So-Good Books and Part 3 is
Morality 3: Of Objectivity & Oughtness.
Morality 3: Of Objectivity & Oughtness.
via QualiaSoup.
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Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday Link Dump 7/22/11
 |
| It's been that kind of week for me. |
Tell Christian Sheriff to Stop Persecuting Atheist: ← Please sign it.
And if you can, please donate to the Atheists of Florida Legal Defense Fund and support EllenBeth.
If good, when die, go to meatland!
Pentagon looks to social media as new battlefield: “Under the proposal, researchers would be expected to unearth and classify the ‘formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes)’ in social media.” Know your enemy.
Random Quotes of Franken!
Why Focus On The Family’s ‘Fatherless’ Studies Are Irrelevant To DOMA: This is what Franken is talking about in the above video.
Crazy Wingnut Screed of the Day
Political showdown creates conflict in Roseburg park: This honestly made me shake with anger. That is not hyperbole.
And if you can, please donate to the Atheists of Florida Legal Defense Fund and support EllenBeth.
If good, when die, go to meatland!
Pentagon looks to social media as new battlefield: “Under the proposal, researchers would be expected to unearth and classify the ‘formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes)’ in social media.” Know your enemy.
Random Quotes of Franken!
Why Focus On The Family’s ‘Fatherless’ Studies Are Irrelevant To DOMA: This is what Franken is talking about in the above video.
Crazy Wingnut Screed of the Day
Political showdown creates conflict in Roseburg park: This honestly made me shake with anger. That is not hyperbole.
‘Republicanity’—The GOP Transformation is Nearly Complete: The Republican Party has been effectively usurped by the Dominionists.
Mid Week Rant ~ Dara O'Brian
Scopes Trial photographs released on Web by Smithsonian Archives
Mid Week Rant ~ Dara O'Brian
Scopes Trial photographs released on Web by Smithsonian Archives
"Death Dance" Stars Found—May Help Prove Einstein Right
Potentially habitable Tatooine spotted only 40 light years away: pfft. Star Wars nerds and their references.
*waits for trip to Risa.*
Monday Morning Quotes: Gene Roddenberry
Why Autism Strikes More Boys Than Girls
Are Atheists Too Aggressive?: This post was a prime example of people not actually watching or reading something on Twitter and just popping off based on the title. There were some funny replies too, but mostly it was Christians and atheists clearly not paying attention. Then there was the atheist that commented on the blog...ugh.
Drugs and the Meaning of Life
Actually, that's not in the Bible
A Perfect Circle playing John Lennon's "Imagine" at Festival Pier in Philadelphia. Video thanks to fellow atheist and metalhead themorbidslayer.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Random Quotes of Franken!
This is so short and sweet I don't have to transcribe it. Al Franken* is the man.
via ThinkProgressVideo
via ThinkProgressVideo
*random note: I cannot believe it has been 15 years since "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations" was released. It might be dated, but I would still recommend it.
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Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday Morning Quotes: Gene Roddenberry
“We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.“
"They said God was on high and he controlled the world and therefore we must pray against Satan. Well, if God controls the world, he controls Satan. For me, religion was full of misstatements and reaches of logic that I just couldn't agree with."
"It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward."
"A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away."
"Reality is incredibly larger, infinitely more exciting, than the flesh and blood vehicle we travel in here. If you read science fiction, the more you read it the more you realize that you and the universe are part of the same thing. Science knows still practically nothing about the real nature of matter, energy, dimension, or time; and even less about those remarkable things called life and thought. But whatever the meaning and purpose of this universe, you are a legitimate part of it. And since you are part of the all that is, part of its purpose, there is more to you than just this brief speck of existence. You are just a visitor here in this time and this place, a traveler through it."
"It speaks to some basic human needs, that there is a tomorrow - it's not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids - human beings built them because they're clever and they work hard. And 'Star Trek' is about those things."
"I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We're still just a child creature, we're still being nasty to each other. And all children go through those phases. We're growing up, we're moving into adolescence now. When we grow up - man, we're going to be something!"
"It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning."
"The way Paramount interested me in ["Star Trek: The Next Generation"] is they said, 'It's impossible to do again,' at which point my ears perked up."
"There is a tomorrow - we humans are going to make it - we're something. To any young-minded person, that's a very important statement."
"I have nothing but admiration for this silly race of ours. Even with the Hitlers in it and so on. Sometimes it goes into ugliness, but, in all though, it is a beauty. It's like a rose, which also has thorns. We're something."
"I have always been reasonably leery of religion because there are so many edicts in religion, 'thou shalt not,' or 'thou shalt.' I wanted my world of the future to be clear of that."
"You can't take this speck of dust in this midst of all this incredible panorama of birth and complexifying and say...this is the only place that [life] happens. It's like turning your back on the whole idea of growth and evolution."
On thinking about the future: "If I'm dead, I'll stop thinking about those things, but as long as I am alive, I intend to have fun with ideas as long as possible."
"They said God was on high and he controlled the world and therefore we must pray against Satan. Well, if God controls the world, he controls Satan. For me, religion was full of misstatements and reaches of logic that I just couldn't agree with."
"It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward."
"A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away."
"Reality is incredibly larger, infinitely more exciting, than the flesh and blood vehicle we travel in here. If you read science fiction, the more you read it the more you realize that you and the universe are part of the same thing. Science knows still practically nothing about the real nature of matter, energy, dimension, or time; and even less about those remarkable things called life and thought. But whatever the meaning and purpose of this universe, you are a legitimate part of it. And since you are part of the all that is, part of its purpose, there is more to you than just this brief speck of existence. You are just a visitor here in this time and this place, a traveler through it."
"It speaks to some basic human needs, that there is a tomorrow - it's not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids - human beings built them because they're clever and they work hard. And 'Star Trek' is about those things."
"I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We're still just a child creature, we're still being nasty to each other. And all children go through those phases. We're growing up, we're moving into adolescence now. When we grow up - man, we're going to be something!"
"It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning."
"The way Paramount interested me in ["Star Trek: The Next Generation"] is they said, 'It's impossible to do again,' at which point my ears perked up."
"There is a tomorrow - we humans are going to make it - we're something. To any young-minded person, that's a very important statement."
"I have nothing but admiration for this silly race of ours. Even with the Hitlers in it and so on. Sometimes it goes into ugliness, but, in all though, it is a beauty. It's like a rose, which also has thorns. We're something."
"I have always been reasonably leery of religion because there are so many edicts in religion, 'thou shalt not,' or 'thou shalt.' I wanted my world of the future to be clear of that."
"You can't take this speck of dust in this midst of all this incredible panorama of birth and complexifying and say...this is the only place that [life] happens. It's like turning your back on the whole idea of growth and evolution."
On thinking about the future: "If I'm dead, I'll stop thinking about those things, but as long as I am alive, I intend to have fun with ideas as long as possible."
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