Things You Didn’t Do
Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car and I dented it?
I thought you’d kill me, but you didn’t.
And remember the time, I dragged you to the beach, and you said it would rain, and it did?
I thought you’d say, “I told you so.” But you didn’t.
Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys to make you jealous, and you were?
I thought you’d leave me, but you didn’t….
Yes, there were lots of things you didn’t do.
But you put up with me, and you loved me, and you protected me.
There were lots of things I wanted to make up to you when you returned from Viet Nam.
But you didn’t…………….Loe Buscaglia
"Darwin chased God out of his old haunts in biology, and he scurried for safety down the rabbit hole of physics. The laws and constants of the universe, we were told, are too good to be true: a setup, carefully tuned to allow the eventual evolution of life. It needed a good physicist to show us the fallacy, and Victor Stenger lucidly does so. The faithful won't change their minds, of course (that is what faith means), but Victor Stenger drives a pack of energetic ferrets down the last major bolt hole and God is running out of refuges in which to hide." Review of GOD-THE FAILED HYPOTHESIS (How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist) by Richard Dawkins.
Note: Stenger does not "prove" God doesn't exist...but he does show that, from a scientific point of view, God is neither probable nor necessary. He shows rather convincingly, that the universe is exactly the kind of Universe we could expect if there were no God.
I have something to say to the religionist who feels atheists never say anything positive: You are an intelligent human being. Your life is valuable for its own sake. You are not second-class in the universe, deriving meaning and purpose from some other mind. You are not inherently evil—you are inherently human, possessing the positive rational potential to help make this a world of morality, peace and joy. Trust yourself.–Dan Barker, from his book, Losing Faith in Faith
A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a
superstition. -Jose Bergamin, author (1895-1983)
"The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H.Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the sacharrine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not recieve this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history." Robert A. Heinlein.
..."faith" is at its most toxic and dangerous point not when it is insincere and hypocritical and corrupt but when it is genuine.
Christopher Hitchens, Free Inquiry Vol. 28 No. 1 January 2008
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Controversial Prayer evidently aimed at non-believers.
"I seek refuge in God against the accursed Satan." & "You are the pardoner, supporter and protector; give us victory over those that disbelieve." Imam Mohamad Khan Opening Day Prayer Iowa Legislature. (Des Moines Register 2-7-08)
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A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes. -James Kern
Feibleman, philosopher and psychiatrist (1904-1987) When is a belief system not only false, but so encouraging of falsity and needless suffering as to be worthy, not merely of our understanding, but of our contempt? Sam Harris
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
(1869-1948)
Of course God is infinite. God is the infinite amount of nonsense one can know about nothing. Sam Harris Forum
"It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." 19th Century British mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford
Pope Declares Catholicism The One True Christian Religion
"Boy, is James Dobson's feelings going to be hurt!"
"Wow Who knew?"
Blog response on Big Tent Blogosphere
“Insulting a restaurant might seem trivial compared to insulting God. But restauranteurs and chefs really exist, and they have feelings to be hurt , whereas blasphemy...is a victimless crime.” Richard Dawkins The God Delusion.
“I should like, for the continued vigor of this discussion, to repeat the challenge that I have several times offered the faithful in print and on the air. Can they name a moral statement or action, uttered or performed by a religious person, that could not have been uttered or performed by an unbeliever? I am still waiting, after several months, for a response to this. It carries an incidental corollary: I have also asked large and divergent audiences if they can think of a wicked action or statement that derived directly from religious faith, and you know what? There is no tongue-tied silence at THAT point. Everybody can instantly think of an example." Christopher Hitchens writing in Free Inquiry
“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, sado-masochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” A gentle and humorous opening to Chapter 2 of The God Delusion. “... in criticisms of religion even clarity ceases to be a virtue and instead sounds like aggressive hostility...but let a soberly reasoning critic of religion employ what would in other contexts sound merely direct and forthright, and it will be described as a “rant.”...even that part of secular society that loves to announce “I’m an atheist, but...” Richard Dawkins introducing the Paperback.
All religions are the same: religion is basically guilt, with different
holidays. -Cathy Ladman, comedian, writer, actress (1955- )
"Difference of opinion is helpful in religion."
— Thomas Jefferson
" Islam seemed to put me in a box, with different labels on each side for those who viewed me from varying angles. Does Unitarian Universalism put me into a box, too? The Islam I experienced did not always lift me up as a black American girl child of converts: I was sidelined by a whole host of people who felt they were inherently superior to me by virtue of being from a Muslim culture, speaking Arabic, or looking more European. Why were all of the prophets men? Why did I have to have permission from the men in authority in order to be affirmed? Why were my working-class parents not considered respectable by the white-collar families of my friends? Now I have to ask myself: Does Unitarian Universalism lift me up? Can it lift me up, a black Latina who doesn’t believe in God so much? Where are my heroes? Where are the UU traditions that celebrate my culture, my ancestors?
I have given up any hope of being “normal.” Being a UU doesn’t solve my problems, but it allows me to practice living with hope. Unitarian Universalism is a religion that can change. Its past is not the mold for the future. Its texts can be expanded. When I feel at odds with the company I keep, I can speak up. Possibility is always present; the future is open to us. That is a faith I can embrace. "
Hafidha Acuay
Summer 2006 5.15.06 (From the UUA website)
"Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God which conflicts with church dogma must be burned without pity." Pope Innocent III (1202)
"As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers."
Robert G. Ingersoll
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." Albert Einstein
"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble purpose." James Madison
For God so loved the world that he created the world in such a way that He would have to sacrifice Himself to Himself to apease Himself so if you believe this story, He will not be forced to torture you forever. John 3:16 (Utilitarian Translation)
THE ROUND SQUARE
Why is there a world at all? Guy stands up and says,
God made the world, and as for who made God, well,
That's just a mystery beyond us. Woman says,
A round square is not a mystery beyond us;
It's neither real nor imaginary; it's not a concept,
Not an object, neither nothing nor an entity.
He says, that's what I'm saying, it's incomprehensible.
No, she says, there's nothing there to comprehend.
He says, of course there is, and we both know it.
She says, you're bobbing for apples of relief, love
And immortality and along comes a word.
The word is a noun and pretty soon you're making it the subject
Of a world of verbs, and then the miracles begin. She says,
God is logic's corpse, a wound in reason, grammar's empty skin.
Jamey Hecht
"Just
when I discovered the meaning of life...it changed."
George
Carlin
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If you have a favorite quote that you would
like to see on this website, send it along.
This page of quotes is for the edification and enjoyment of UUs and others that may wander to this page.
As a church/congregation we have a wide range of opinions on matters of spirituality and whether or not there are Deities in the universe. The spectrum is generally described as follows:
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Strong Theist: "I do not believe, I know." (C.G. Jung)
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Agnostic-leans toward Theism. (God(s) are highly probable)
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Impartial Agnostic. (Existence or non-existence of god(s) are equally likely)
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Agnostic leaning toward Atheism (Impossible to prove a negative but God(s) are as improbable as fairies or unicorns.)
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Strong Atheist: I know there is no God(s) with the same conviction that Jung displays in # 1.
In general, UUs do not take an official position on these matters and assert that we believe that such beliefs are matters of individual experience and world-view. The quotes on this page that deal with these matters tend to hover between 3 and 4.8 although that should not be construed as an official UCDSM (Unitarian Church of Des Moines) dogma (of which we have none).
So we are looking for good quotes in the 1.5 to 3 range to balance out the range of quotes that might be viewed as tilting this page toward one side.
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