Paul Cliteur > Quotes

“In the time of Luther, Spinoza, Galileo, or Voltaire people did not complain because they were “offended” or “insulted” by the ideas these men put forward.123 New ideas were suppressed, to be sure, and even more brutally than nowadays, but not because people said they felt “offended.” The Inquisition was not “insulted” by the heretics, atheists, and secularists they brought to the stake. Where does this contemporary preoccupation with being “offended” and “insulted” come from? Why do people feel victimized if contradicted? What is the origin of those frequent calls for “respect” and “dialogue,” as if there were people who advocated “disrespect” or would favor stopping the dialogue?”
― Paul Cliteur, The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism

“Religiekritiek is niet belangrijk omdat het zo fijn is om te vertrappen wat anderen heilig is. Niet omdat critici zoveel genoegen beleven aan het sarren en treiteren van kwetsbare religieuze minderheden. Niet omdat we zulke ongelooflijke lol beleven aan religieuze satire. Maar omdat elke sociale verandering in een wereld waarin het theoterrorisme om zich heen grijpt, begint bij religiekritiek.”
― Paul Cliteur, Waarom haten ze ons eigenlijk

“What the “moderates” fail to see is that what makes “extremists” extreme is not their theory of interpretation but something else. It is the so-called “moderate” who is theoretically extreme. The claim that scripture can constantly send completely different messages to different times and cultures (the theory of interpretation championed by Armstrong and countless others) is theoretically extreme and misconceived.”
― Paul Cliteur, The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism