Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Early American Religious Opinion

Pretty strong and astute stuff from some of the founders.

Religions are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies. Thomas Jefferson

Religious leaders will always avail themselves of public ignorance for their own purpose. Thomas Jefferson

This would be the best of all possible worlds if their were no religion in it. John Adams

Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise. James Madison

Faith is believing something you know ain't true. Mark Twain

A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows. Mark Twain

As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers. Robert Ingersoll

Of all the tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst. Thomas Paine

The greatest miseries that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called religion. Thomas Paine

All natural institutions of churches, appear to me human inventions, setup to terrify and enslave mankind. Thomas Paine

Lighthouses are more helpful than churches. Benjamin Franklin

The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. Benjamin Franklin

Not a founder but I throw him in anyway.

I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven or hell, or of a god. Thomas Edison

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