George H. Smith Quotes

• It is clear that 'social Darwinism' and 'survival of the fittest' were intended by Obama to evoke feelings of fear and disgust. It is highly doubtful that Obama knows anything about the history of these ideas, and it is even more doubtful that he cares. A concern for truth is not the coin of the political realm.

  George H. Smith

  Ideas, Political, Feelings

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• The belief in eternal torment, still subscribed to by fundamentalist Christian denominations, undoubtedly ranks as the most vicious and reprehensible doctrine of classical Christianity. It has resulted in an incalculable amount of psychological torture, especially among children where it is employed as a terror tactic to prompt obedience.

  George H. Smith

  Christian, Children, Religion

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• Christianity cannot erase man's need for pleasure, nor can it eradicate the various sources of pleasure. What it can do, however, and what it has been extremely effective in accomplishing, is to inculcate guilt in connection with pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure, when accompanied by guilt, becomes a means of perpetuating chronic guilt, and this serves to reinforce one's dependence on God.

  George H. Smith

  Mean, Men, Religion

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• It cannot be emphasized too strongly that Christianity has a vested interest in human misery. Christianity, perhaps more than any religion before or since, capitalized on human suffering; and it was enormously successful in insuring its own existence through the perpetuation of human suffering.

  George H. Smith

  Successful, Suffering, Religion

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.309, Prometheus Books

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• One can be committed to conformity or one can be committed to truth, but not both.

  George H. Smith

  Conformity, Committed

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• It is my firm conviction that man has nothing to gain, emotionally or otherwise, by adhering to a falsehood, regardless of how comfortable or sacred that falsehood may appear.

  George H. Smith

  Men, Atheism, May

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.10, Prometheus Books

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• When the atheist is told that God is unknowable, he may interpret this claim in one of two ways. He may suppose, first, that the theist has acquired knowledge of a being that, by his own admission, cannot possibly be known; or, second, he may assume that the theist simply does not know what he is talking about.

  George H. Smith

  Atheist, Two, Talking

  George H. Smith (2000). “Why Atheism?”, Pyr Books

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• Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can introduce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can introduce salvation.

  George H. Smith

  Religion, Atheism, Christianity

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.308, Prometheus Books

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• Christianity has nothing to offer a happy man living in a natural, intelligible universe.

  George H. Smith

  Men, Christianity, Natural

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.308, Prometheus Books

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• If acorns start growing into theologians, or if women begin turning into pillars of salt, then we may wish to hypothesize about a supernatural influence. But until such time as nature becomes hopelessly unintelligible and unpredictable, we need look no further than nature itself for explanations.

  George H. Smith

  Spring, Wish, Needs

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.262, Prometheus Books

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• Atheism is the absence of a belief in a god, nothing more. If the theist wishes to draw monumental implications from this lack of belief, he must argue for his claims.

  George H. Smith

  Wish, Atheism, Belief

  George H. Smith (2016). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.33, Prometheus Books

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• I am continually amazed by the credence given to religious claims in the intellectual community; and, as a human being, i am appaulled by the psychological damage caused by religious teachings-damage that often takes years to counteract.

  George H. Smith

  Religious, Teaching, Years

  George H. Smith (2016). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.11, Prometheus Books

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• The third major characteristic of God - "infinitude" - is the catchall, the universal modifier of Christian theology. God is not merely a being; he is infinite being. God is not merely good; he is infinite goodness. God is not merely wise; he is infinite wisdom. And so on down the list. God is exaggeration run amuck.

  George H. Smith

  Christian, Wise, Running

  George H. Smith (1974). “Atheism: The Case Against God”

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• The theist must present an intelligible description of god. Until he does so, god makes no more sense than unie; both are cognitively empty, and any attempt at proof is logically absurd.

  George H. Smith

  Religion, Atheism, Doe

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.30, Prometheus Books

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• The leap of faith is a strategic impasse that confronts every Christian in search of converts; and, as he sees the matter, there is no wrong way to become a Christian. It is the end that is importnat, not the means; it does not matter why you believe, so long as you believe. For the philosopher, in contrast, the paramount issue is the justification of belief, not the fact of belief itself.

  George H. Smith

  Christian, Believe, Mean

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• The argument from design is ultimately an appeal to miraculous causes, i.e., causes that do not, and cannot, occur in the natural course of events. This is why an explanation via design is not a legitimate alternative to scientific and other naturalistic modes of explanation. To refer to a miraculous cause is to refer to something that is inherently unknowable, and this sanctuary of ignorance explains nothing at all. However much it may soothe the imagination of the ignorant, it does nothing to satisfy the understanding of a rational person.

  George H. Smith

  Ignorance, Imagination, Design

  George H. Smith (2000). “Why Atheism?”, Pyr Books

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• As for Christianity's alleged concern with truth, Christian faith is to free inquiry what the Mafia is to free enterprise. Christianity may be represented as a competitor in the realm of ideas to be considered on the basis of its merits, but this is mere disguise. Like the Mafia, if Christianity fails to defeat its competition by legitimate means (which is a forgone conclusion), it resorts to strong-arm tactics. Have faith or be damned - this biblical doctrine alone is enough to exclude Christianity from the domain of reason.

  George H. Smith

  Christian, Strong, Mean

  George H. Smith (1974). “Atheism: The Case Against God”

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• The significant contribution of empiricism was not the eradication of certainty, but the eradication of infallibility as a criterion of certainty. And this shift from infallibilism to fallibilism has profound consequences not only for toleration, but also for the subordination of faith to reason and theology to philosophy.

  George H. Smith

  Philosophy, Profound, Atheism

  George H. Smith (2000). “Why Atheism?”, Pyr Books

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• A willingness to engage in the give and take of argument displays a commitment to cognitive egalitarianism - the proposition that all people should be treated as intellectual equals, and that no individual can legitimately claim a privileged immunity from the burden of proof.

  George H. Smith

  Commitment, Burden Of Proof, Egalitarianism

  George H. Smith (2000). “Why Atheism?”, Pyr Books

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• The negative way [of describing God] is a cardboard prop of Christianity to conceal its unknowable God. When this prop collapses, theistic agnosticism emerges, complete with its package of contradictions and non-sensical utterances.

  George H. Smith

  Negative, Utterance, Way

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• Reason is not one tool of thought among many, it is the entire toolbox. To advocate that reason be discarded in some circumstances is to advocate that thinking be discarded - which leaves one in the position of attempting to do a job after throwing away the required instrument.

  George H. Smith

  Jobs, Thinking, Religion

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.110, Prometheus Books

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• Through inculcating the notion that sacrifice is a virtue, Christianity has succeeded in convincing many people that misery incurred through sacrifice is a mark of virtue. Pain becomes the inignia of morality - and conversely, pleasure becomes the insignia of immorality. Christianity, therefore, does not say, "Go forth and be miserable." Rather, it says, "Go forth and practice the virtue of self-sacrifice." In practical terms, these commands are identical.

  George H. Smith

  Pain, Sacrifice, Practice

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• I am arguing that faith as such, faith as an alleged method of acquiring knowledge, is totally invalid and as a consequence, all propositions of faith, because they lack rational demonstration, must conflict with reason.

  George H. Smith

  Religion, Atheism, Acquiring Knowledge

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.120, Prometheus Books

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• To advocate irrationality is to advocate that which is destructive to human life.

  George H. Smith

  Human Life, Humans, Irrationality

  George H. Smith (2010). “Atheism: The Case Against God”, p.10, Prometheus Books

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