|
Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2024 15:32:30 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 1, 2024 22:56:34 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 2, 2024 20:13:34 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 5, 2024 14:18:28 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Mar 5, 2024 23:31:04 GMT
”Religion is based primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown, and partly, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing—fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion has gone hand-in-hand.” — Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian (1927) ━━ Background: Why I Am Not a Christian (1927) by Bertrand Russell ”I ought to call myself an agnostic; but, for all practical purposes, I am an atheist.” — Bertrand Russell, Is There a God? (1952)
Almost a century before freethinkers and atheists such Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens there was Bertrand Russell. Why I Am Not a Christian was originally a talk that Russell delivered on Sunday 6 March 1927 at Battersea Town Hall, London, United Kingdom. Russell's words were unscripted and he did not expect to give a long and detailed presentation. He was speaking ”off the cuff” and let his thoughts run. Russell's great success with the work can be partly explained that he wrote and spoke to be understood. Russell's clarity of expression reflects the clarity of his thought. Unlike many philosophers, Russell is well-known for his lucid and elegant prose style. In his philosophical works, there is little abstract jargon nor do we find many flowery expressions. Russell valued getting to the point. Bertrand Russell helped open the door to the demystification of religion, writing in plain language at a time when people had been told for centuries that serious discussions about the Abrahamic Christian God required a detailed knowledge of Latin, Church history and theology. Russell believed none of this:
”Those who say that God is beyond the human mind profess to know a great deal about God. They do not really mean God is beyond comprehension, only partly beyond comprehension. And generally they mean that He is beyond the comprehension of your mind and not beyond the comprehension of theirs.” — Bertrand Russell, The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, paper 35, volume 10
Not only was Russell was critical of the particular Christian deity, but in all religious and dogmatic belief. Russell continues: “I think all the great religions of the world—Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Communism—all untrue and harmful. It is evident as a matter of logic that, since they disagree, not more than one of them can be true. With very few exceptions, the religion which a man accepts is that of the community in which he lives, which makes it obvious that the influence of environment is what has led him to accept the religion in question.“ — Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects (1957), Preface. xxii
|
|