GodAnon

“There are always, thank heaven, skeptics who challenge orthodox ideas. They are the great thinkers of all times.” Barbara Mertz, from an interview by Ernest Dempsey with the Copperfield Review (April 28, 2012) Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

“For a man to be a true believer and to be strong and independent is impossible; religion and self-sufficiency are contradictory terms.”  Dr. Albert Ellis, “Case Against Religion: A Psychotherapist’s View and the Case Against Religiosity,” 1980. Ellis writes that religion’s “absolutistic, perfectionistic thinking is the prime creator of the two most corroding of human emotions: anxiety and hostility.”  Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

“The Bible illustrated by Dore occupied many of my hours--and I think probably gave me many nightmares.” Eleanor Roosevelt, This Is My Story (1937) "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief. . ." (Art. 18). The declaration was adopted by the United Nations in 1948.  Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

“I started out life as a member of the One Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, and I am coming to the end of it without organized religion or mystical thinking. I am an atheist, thank God, with no fear of hell and no hope of heaven.” "Death Need Not Be Fatal" (Center Street, May 16, 2017)  Malachy Gerard McCourt He was the 2006 Green Party candidate for New York governor Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

“There are a score of great religions in the world. . . and each is a mighty fortress of graft.” —Upton Sinclair's Magazine, April 1918 Over his lifetime, he wrote 90 books, many of them political novels. He won the Pulitzer in 1942 for  Dragon's Teeth,   about the rise of Nazism.   D. 1968. Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

“I wondered a little why God was such a useless thing. It seemed a waste of time to have him. After that he became less and less, until he was . . . nothingness.” —Frances Farmer, "God Dies," essay at 16 Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

"After a lot of reading, and research, I realized, I didn't have any secret channel picking up secret messages from god or anyone else. That voice in my head was my own." Greydon Square in a 2010 interview with Martin Pribble for Martin Pribble’s blog, Attempting to Make Sense. Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

“Not only have the 'followers of Christ' made it their rule to hack to bits all those who do not accept their beliefs, they have also ferociously massacred each other, in the name of their common 'religion of love,' under banners proclaiming their faith in Him who had expressly commanded them to love one another.” Georges Clemenceau, In the Evening of My Thought (Au Soir de la pensee), chapter on "Gods and Laws."   Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

"Organized religions and their dogmas only serve to indoctrinate the participants into sheeplike common behaviors. This type of blind assimilation promotes the popularity of top-forty count down radio stations and movie sequels. Skepticism towards groups, holy or otherwise, is enriching and makes you a far more entertaining person."  —Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction by Janeane Garofalo & Ben Stiller, 1999, p. 172-173. Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering