James A. Haught > Quotes

“A grim pattern is visible in history: When religion is the ruling force in a society, it produces horror. The stronger the supernatural beliefs, the worse the inhumanity. A culture dominated by intense faith invariably is cruel to people who don't share the faith--and sometimes to many who do.”
― James A. Haught, Holy Horrors: An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and Madness

“As editor of the largest newspaper in West Virginia, I scan hundreds of reports daily . . . and I am amazed by the frequency with which religion causes people to kill each other. It is a nearly universal pattern, undercutting the common assumption that religion makes people kind and tolerant.”
― James Haught

“A historic transition is occurring, barely noticed. Slowly, quietly, imperceptibly, religion is shriveling in America, as it has done in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and other advanced societies. Supernatural faith increasingly belongs to the Third World. The First World is entering the long-predicted Secular Age, when science and knowledge dominate. The change promises to be another shift of civilization, like past departures of the era of kings, the time of slavery, the Agricultural Age, the epoch of colonialism, and the like. Such cultural transformations are partly invisible to contemporary people, but become obvious in retrospect.”
― James A. Haught

“Ayer may be considered a practical atheist: one who sees no reason to worship an invisible deity.”
― James A. Haught, 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt

“The memory of my own suffering has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with the superstitions of the Christian religion.”
― James A. Haught, 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt

“-treaty with Tripoli, passed unanimously by the”
― James A. Haught, 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt