Bob Cooley

“If one had sufficient evidence to warrant belief in a particular claim, then one wouldn't believe the claim on the basis of faith. 'Faith' is the word one uses when one does not have enough evidence to justify holding a belief, but when one just goes ahead and believes anyway.”
― Peter Boghossian, A Manual for Creating Atheists

“While believing strongly, without evidence, is considered a mark of madness or stupidity in any other area of our lives, faith in God still holds immense prestige in our society. Religion is the one area of our discourse where it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about. It is telling that this aura of nobility extends only to those faiths that still have many subscribers. Anyone caught worshipping Poseidon, even at sea, will be thought insane.”
― Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation

“An educated theologian: someone who's better at rationalizing what they're pretending to know.”
― Peter Boghossian

“The problem with religion, because it's been sheltered from criticism, is that it allows people to believe en masse what only idiots or lunatics could believe in isolation.”
― Sam Harris