We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid.
people faith religion morality selfishness ethics cruelty stupidity selfish stupid evidence imperfections atheism side
Was it not part of the secret black art of truly politics of revenge, of a farseeing, subterranean, slowly advancing, and premeditated revenge, that Israel must itself deny the real instrument of its revenge before all the world as a mortal enemy and nail it to the cross, so that 'all the world,' namely all the opponents of Israel, could unhesitatingly swallow just this bait? And could spiritual subtlety imagine any bait than this? Anything to equal the enticing, intoxicating, overwhelming, and undermining power of that symbol of the 'holy cross,' that ghastly paradox of a 'God on the cross,' that mystery of an unimaginable ultimate cruelty and self-crucifixion of God?
mystery politics revenge paradox power art christianity real world spiritual judaism secret jesus cross black imagine cruelty enemy symbol israel part ultimate god atheism
The world was a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. Only in books could you find pity, comfort, happiness - and love. Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn't ask anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly.
reading friendship happiness live security world dream comfort good dark bad cruelty find pity place return cruel love books terrible
Some pirates achieved immortality by great deeds of cruelty or derring-do. Some achieved immortality by amassing great wealth. But the captain had long ago decided that he would, on the whole, prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.
deeds wealth death immortality achieve pirates cruelty dying great
Waking up was a daily cruelty, an affront, and she avoided it by not sleeping.
death immortality sleeping cruelty waking insomnia
In her mind's eye she saw it, saw it all at last: the rolling armies and the flames of battle; the graves and pits and dying cries of a hundred million souls; the spreading darkness, like a black wing stretching over the earth; the last, bitter hours of cruelty and sorrow, and the terrible, final flights; death's great dominion over all, and, at the last, empty cities, becalmed by the silence of a hundred years. Already these things were coming to pass.
silence apocalypse death earth sorrow darkness battle black cruelty eye bitter things cities empty souls dying great terrible
There is a certain right by which we many deprive a man of life, but none by which we may deprive him of death; this is mere cruelty.
life man death cruelty suicide capital-punishment
I DON'T HOLD WITH CRUELTY TO CATS.
death cats cruelty
People often speak of hell, not wanting to go there, avoiding it. Etc. I never had that problem because hell is a state of mind. Look around you; rape, murder, wars, hatred, envy.. My friend; you're already there!
life wisdom faith peace christianity inspirational rape heaven murder injustice hell cruelty wars
Here is the paradox of the thing we call : the farther we wander from God and the more we try to break free from him, the more enchained we become. Every step we take away from Him leads us farther from the freedom of Jesus and closer to the cruelty of Cain.
paradox jesus cruelty god freedom
I have a sense that God is unfair and preferentially punishes his weak, his dumb, his fat, his lazy. I believe he takes more pleasure in his perfect creatures, and cheers them on like a brainless dad as they run roughshod over the rest of us. He gives us a need for love, and no way to get any. He gives us a desire to be liked, and personal attributes that make us utterly unlikable. Having placed his flawed and needy children in a world of exacting specifications, he deducts the difference between what we have and what we need from our hearts and our self-esteem and our mental health.
lazy pleasure cruelty dumb bias weak god fat
Just because we believe it has always been done, doesn't mean we should continue to do it. Change is necessary for betterment. If something having been the case in history should be a case for it to continue, then let rape continue, let murder continue. There was a time when we were torturous, terrible monsters to our own, a time when we treated other human beings with the darkest of disgrace. In this present day it's difficult to comprehend that we were ever so cruel. Likewise, there will be a time in the future when we reflect on having been so cruel to other creatures. For the time being we are lost somewhere, defying the truth that deep down we know. We hide, we turn a blind eye, we conceal and contain the horror, we try to justify the crimes that we commit upon beautiful, gentle and innocent creatures. Consciousness IS developing, narrow minds ARE opening, conscience IS growing, compassion IS expanding, Man IS evolving and there IS hope and drive to vanish the shame that is the slaughterhouse.
kindness conscience change peace history compassion cruelty vegetarianism
Nevertheless, in this sea of human wretchedness and malice there bloomed at times compassion, as a pale flower blooms in a putrid marsh.
humanity cruelty hope hope-and-despair
Perhaps in nearly every joy, as certainly in every pleasure, cruelty has its place.
joy pleasure cruelty
True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys.
beauty cruelty
I've always loved strong women, which is lucky for me because once you're over about twenty-five there is no other kind. Women blow my mind. The stuff that routinely gets done to them would make most men curl up and die, but women turn to steel and keep on coming. Any man who claims he's not into strong women is fooling himself mindless; he's into strong women who know how to pout prettily and put on baby voices, and who will end up keeping his balls in her makeup bags.
women independence strength survival men beauty cruelty
[T]he infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.
conscience morality dishonesty hell cruelty double-standards
.. Perhaps great sins start as simple weakness, and the consistent placing of self before others.
morality sin selfishness cruelty
April is the cruelest month, breedinglilacs out of the dead land, mixingmemory and desire, stirringdull roots with spring rain.
poetry weather cruelty seasons
I, on the other hand, interrupt people because my thoughts fly out of my mouth. My handbag's full of rubbish. And I want to do something that matters with my life. Right now I'd like to write plays, sing in musicals, and/or rid the world of poverty, violence, cruelty, and right-wing conservative politics.
poverty politics violence thoughts conservatism cruelty plays musicals
It appears that no one is so unfortunate that he or she is exempt from spending cuts, while at the same time no one is so fortunate as to be ineligible for a tax cut
politics justice cruelty
The underlying struggle - between worlds of plenty and worlds of want; between the modern and the ancient; between those who embrace our teeming, colliding, irksome diversity, while still insisting on a set of values that binds us together, and those who would seek, under whatever flag or slogan or sacred text, a certainty and simplification that justifies cruelty toward those not like us..
politics religion respect understanding understanding-oneself-and-others civil-rights tolerance cruelty homosexuality understanding-others
Cruelty is a language that the blind can see, the deaf can hear, and the heart feels forever.
relationships unrequited-love cruelty
I think it's perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don't know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away. Actually, if he is keeping out of sight, it's because he's ashamed of his followers and all the cruelty and ignorance they're responsible for promoting in his name. If I were him, I'd want nothing to do with them.
religion cruelty
I saw exactly one picture of Marx and one of Lenin in my whole stay, but it's been a long time since ideology had anything to do with it. Not without cunning, Fat Man and Little Boy gradually mutated the whole state belief system into a debased form of Confucianism, in which traditional ancestor worship and respect for order become blended with extreme nationalism and xenophobia. Near the southernmost city of Kaesong, captured by the North in 1951, I was taken to see the beautifully preserved tombs of King and Queen Kongmin. Their significance in F.M.-L.B. Cosmology is that they reigned over a then unified Korea in the 14th century, and that they were Confucian and dynastic and left many lavish memorials to themselves. The tombs are built on one hillside, and legend has it that the king sent one of his courtiers to pick the site. Second-guessing his underling, he then climbed the opposite hill. He gave instructions that if the chosen site did not please him he would wave his white handkerchief. On this signal, the courtier was to be slain. The king actually found that the site was ideal. But it was a warm day and he forgetfully mopped his brow with the white handkerchief. On coming downhill he was confronted with the courtier's fresh cadaver and exclaimed, 'Oh dear.' And ever since, my escorts told me, the opposite peak has been known as 'Oh Dear Hill.'I thought this was a perfect illustration of the caprice and cruelty of absolute leadership, and began to phrase a little pun about Kim Jong Il being the 'Oh Dear Leader,' but it died on my lips.
religion totalitarianism cruelty nationalism xenophobia farce communism ideology caprice kim-il-sung korea north-korea
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