{"quotes":[{"text":"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.","author":"Richard Dawkins","tags":["bible","christianity","god","organized-religion","religion","yahweh"],"id":16860,"author_id":"Richard+Dawkins"},{"text":"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.","author":"Carl Sagan","tags":["awe","cosmology","epistemology","god","organized-religion","religion","science"],"id":21404,"author_id":"Carl+Sagan"},{"text":"Since then your sere Majesty and your Lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.', April 18, 1521).","author":"Martin Luther","tags":["belief","christian","conscience","freedom-of-religion","freedom-of-thought","organized-religion","reformation","religion","steadfastness","truth"],"id":29134,"author_id":"Martin+Luther"},{"text":"The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests.","author":"Jawaharlal Nehru","tags":["atheism","bigotry","blind-belief","condemn","dogma","horror","india","organized-religion","spectacle","superstition"],"id":42079,"author_id":"Jawaharlal+Nehru"},{"text":"The Vatican won't prosecute pedophile priests but I decide I'm not ready for motherhood and it's condemnation for me? These are the same people that won't support national condom distribution that PREVENTS teenage pregnancy.","author":"Sonya Renee Taylor","tags":["abortion","catholic","feminism","feminist","motherhood","organized-religion","pregnancy","vatican","women"],"id":50532,"author_id":"Sonya+Renee+Taylor"},{"text":"Religion. It's given people hope in a world torn apart by religion.","author":"Jon Stewart","tags":["absurd","organized-religion","paradox","religion"],"id":70896,"author_id":"Jon+Stewart"},{"text":"Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh. ...And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion.","author":"Dan Brown","tags":["cults","organized-religion","religion"],"id":73331,"author_id":"Dan+Brown"},{"text":"I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. ... These two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.","author":"George Carlin","tags":["organized-religion","politics","religion"],"id":80532,"author_id":"George+Carlin"},{"text":"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.","author":"Isaac Asimov","tags":["atheism","bible","organized-religion","religion"],"id":98796,"author_id":"Isaac+Asimov"},{"text":"Religion is still useful among the herd - that it helps their orderly conduct as nothing else could. The crude human animal is in-eradicably superstitious, and there is every biological reason why they should be. Take away his Christian god and saints, and he will worship something else...","author":"H.P. Lovecraft","tags":["god","mankind","organized-religion","religion"],"id":101028,"author_id":"H.P.+Lovecraft"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":45,"pages":5,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}