Paine on national churches 5 Apr 2010 All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. [Thomas Paine; Writings of Thomas Paine, volume 4, Age of Reason, chapter 1] This is sometimes misquoted as “All churches are human inventions…” Politics Quotes Religion Quotes
Epistemology Atheism, agnosticism and theism 3: Knowledge claims about gods 20 Jul 201122 Jun 2018 Previous posts in this series: One and Two . In an influential book, W. V. O. Quine, one of the leading philosophers of the twentieth century, wrote with his student: It is important to distinguish between disbelief and nonbelief – between believing a sentence false and merely not believing it true…. Read More
Humor Adopt an atheist auction 10 Dec 201110 Dec 2011 Greg Laden is reporting that the Catholic League of America is calling for Catholics to adopt an atheist. I think this is an excellent idea! In fact, I think it should be expanded. Every religion should compete to adopt atheists. I think that I will allow whichever believer offers me… Read More
Humor Boobquake results 28 Apr 2010 The results are in: Boobquake actually decreased the number of quakes expected. So, folks, get out there and continue to dress immodestly. Jen, well done. A mention on Colbert is the height of blog fame… Read More
I think the key word in this passage is “institutions”. Note Paine leaves out the word religion entirely in this context.