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Richard Dawkins Quotes about Religion

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Faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.

Faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.

Richard Dawkins
Mad Cow Disease, Evil, Religion
"Is Science a Religion?". Humanist, www.skeptical-science.com. January/February 1997.

Evolution is a fact, as securely established as any in science, and he who denies it betrays woeful ignorance and lack of education, which likely extends to other fields as well.

Richard Dawkins
Ignorance, Simple, Religion
"Should Religion Impact Your Vote?" by Roy Speckhardt, www.huffingtonpost.com. September 7, 2011.

Not only is science corrosive to religion, but religion is corrosive to science. It teaches people to be satisfied with trivial non-explanations and blinds them to the wonderful real explanations that we have within our grasp.

Richard Dawkins
Real, People, Religion

Those who wish to base their morality literally on the Bible have either not read it or not understood it.

Richard Dawkins
Religion, Atheism, Wish

Religion is the root of quite a lot of evil.

Richard Dawkins
Roots, Evil, Religion

Atheism is not a religion. Abstinence is not a sex position.

Richard Dawkins
Sex, Religion, Atheism

All religious beliefs seem weird to people not brought up in them.

Richard Dawkins
Religious, People, Religion

Two religions cannot both be right, because they contradict each other, yet they can both be wrong.

Richard Dawkins
Two, Religion, Two Religions

Religion: Together we can find the cure.

Richard Dawkins
Together We Can, Religion, Together
Twitter post from Feb 26, 2013

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant.

Richard Dawkins
Ignorant, Religion, Atheism
"Creationism: God’s gift to the ignorant" by Richard Dawkins, The Times (London), May 21, 2005.

Having a debate with a modern Christian is like punching a sponge.

Richard Dawkins
Christian, Religion, Punching

In medieval times, the Church used to sell 'indulgences' for money. This amounted to paying for some number of days' remission from purgatory, and the Church literally (and with breathtaking presumption) issued signed certificates specifying the number of days off that had been purchased. . . . And of all its money-making rip-offs, the selling of indulgences must surely rank among the greatest con tricks in history. . . .

Richard Dawkins
Rip, Numbers, Religion

‎"Matter flows from place to place, and momentarily comes together to be you. Some people find that thought disturbing; I find the reality thrilling.

Richard Dawkins
Reality, People, Religion

Faith is an evil precisely because it requires no justification and brooks no argument.

Richard Dawkins
Evil, Religion, Atheism
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.347, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist, and quite good reasons for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic.

Richard Dawkins
Believe, Religion, Atheism

To an honest judge, the alleged convergence between religion and science is a shallow, empty, hollow, spin-doctored sham.

Richard Dawkins
Judging, Religion, Atheism
Richard Dawkins (2004). “A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love”, p.151, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

We who are atheists are also a-fairyists, a-teapotists, and a-unicornists, but we don't have to bother saying so.

Richard Dawkins
Atheist, Religion, Atheism

The Bishop goes on to the human eye, asking rhetorically, and with the implication that there is no answer, 'How could an organ so complex evolve?' This is not an argument, it is simply an affirmation of incredulity.

Richard Dawkins
Eye, Religion, Bishops
Richard Dawkins (2015). “The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design”, p.48, W. W. Norton & Company

A designer God cannot be used to explain organized complexity because any God capable of designing anything would have to be complex enough to demand the same kind of explanation in his own right.

Richard Dawkins
Design, Religion, Atheism
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.136, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I am very hostile to religion because it is enormously dominant, especially in American life. And I don't buy the argument that, well, it's harmless. I think it is harmful, partly because I care passionately about what's true.

Richard Dawkins
Thinking, Religion, Atheism

A delusion that encourages belief where there is no evidence is asking for trouble. Disagreements between incompatible beliefs cannot be settled by reasoned argument because reasoned argument is drummed out of those trained in religion from the cradle. Instead, disagreements are settled by other means which, in extreme cases, inevitably become violent. Scientists disagree among themselves but they never fight over their disagreements. They argue about evidence or go out and seek new evidence. Much the same is true of philosophers, historians and literary critics.

Richard Dawkins
Mean, Fighting, Religion
"The atheist". Interview with Gordy Slack, www.salon.com. May 1, 2005.

Although atheism might have been logically tenable before Darwin, Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.

Richard Dawkins
Atheist, Religion, Atheism
Richard Dawkins (2015). “The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design”, p.18, W. W. Norton & Company

Creationists eagerly seek a gap in present-day knowledge or understanding. If an apparent gap is found, it is assumed that God, by default, must fill it.

Richard Dawkins
Atheist, Understanding, Religion
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.151, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

There is an attitude in the culture that says that everybody is entitled to their opinion. You got to respect their opinion. No, you damn well haven't got to respect their opinion.

Richard Dawkins
Attitude, Religion, Culture

My point is not that religion itself is the motivation for wars, murders and terrorist attacks, but that religion is the principal label, and the most dangerous one, by which a "they" as opposed to a "we" can be identified at all.

Richard Dawkins
Motivation, War, Religion
Richard Dawkins (2004). “A Devil's Chaplain”, p.158, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt