Dan Barker Quotes about Religion

There is no evidence for a god, no coherent definition of a god, no good argument for a god, good positive arguments against a god, no agreement among believers about the nature or moral principles of a god, and no need

There is no evidence for a god, no coherent definition of a god, no good argument for a god, good positive arguments against a god, no agreement among believers about the nature or moral principles of a god, and no need for a god. We can live happy, moral, productive lives without such belief, and we can do it better.

Dan Barker

Agreement, Productive Life, Religion

If faith is a valid tool of knowledge, then anything can be true 'by faith,' and therefore nothing is true. If the only reason you can accept a claim is by faith, then you are admitting that the claim does not stand on its own merits.

Dan Barker

Religion, Atheism, Admitting

I'm proud to be an atheist - it helps me stand for so much more and fall for so much less.

Dan Barker

Atheist, Fall, Religion

I am an atheist because there is no evidence for the existence of God. That should be all that needs to be said about it: no evidence, no belief.

Dan Barker

Atheist, Doubt, Religion

Dan Barker (1992). “Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist”, Freedom from Religion Fndtn

Some theists, observing that all 'effects' need a cause, assert that God is a cause but not an effect. But no one has ever observed an uncaused cause and simply inventing one merely assumes what the argument wishes to prove.

Dan Barker

Religion, Wish, Atheism

Dan Barker (2009). “Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists”, p.108, Ulysses Press

Faith is a cop-out. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits. It is intellectual bankruptcy.

Dan Barker

Atheist, Taken, Religion

Dan Barker (1992). “Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist”, Freedom from Religion Fndtn

It is a fact of history and of current events that human beings exaggerate, misinterpret, or wrongly remember events. They have also fabricated pious fraud. Most believers in a religion understand this when examining the claims of other religions.

Dan Barker

Religion, Atheism, Current Events

Dan Barker (2009). “Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists”, p.248, Ulysses Press

The longer I have been an atheist, the more amazed I am that I ever believed Christian notions.

Dan Barker

Christian, Atheist, Religion

Dan Barker (1992). “Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist”, Freedom from Religion Fndtn

How happy can you be when you think every action and thought is being monitored by a judgmental ghost ?

Dan Barker

Thinking, Religion, Action

Dan Barker (1992). “Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist”, Freedom from Religion Fndtn

In any open question, we should argue from what we do know to what we do not know. We do know that fervent legends and stubborn myths arise easily and naturally. We do not know that dead people rise from the grave.

Dan Barker

People, Religion, Stubborn

Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins (2008). “Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists”, p.299, Ulysses Press

For my money, I'll bet on reason and humanistic kindness. Even if I am wrong I will have enjoyed my life, the existence of which is under little dispute.

Dan Barker

Kindness, Religion, Littles

Dan Barker (1992). “Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist”, Freedom from Religion Fndtn