Favorite Atheism Quotes?

[vorlon13]

There's never a blanket statement to be made on any issue involving humans. Catholicism preserved classical knowledge. But on the other hand only what they considered worthy of preserving. What didn't go against their dogma. I would be hard pressed to say what Catholicism actually contributed to education. They never were big on education and there even was a time when laymen were actually forbidden to read the entirety of the bible. They preserved. Some things. Some things they didn't.

It was the order of the Jesuits moving the church out of the dark ages. But even they did so at a price. The image catholicism presents always was one of fear. Fear of people questioning the dogmas they had set up. Up until the 16th and 17th century they were enemies of education. Forbidding to question the geocentric view of the world, forbidding autopsies even. If it hadn't been for people like Leonardo or Michelangelo, we would still follow the teachings of the roman surgeon Galen, who was the utmost and unquestioned authority all through the middle ages.

I never did understand the rebuttal of taking something that happened almost half a millennia ago to try to make a statement about how the Church is now. It's like making the statement "Americans support slavery" on the basis that many of us owned slaves hundreds of years ago.... despite the fact that it is illegal in the US now.

Maybe this can help flesh that out a bit:

The US Constitution contains a provision allowing for itself to be amended.  It isn't easy, certain # of states must concur, and despite that, there is the case of liquor prohibition where a subsequent amendment voided out a prior one. Egad!

However


As for Bible based faiths, granted there are Bible passages that are subject to interpretation, other passages that are ignored, and some are just flat out 'wished' hard enough to say something other than what they actually plainly state.  But, it comes down to an eternal and unchanging arbiter and author, God Almighty,  and that, as they say, is that.

So, from some perspectives, religions are both culpable for 'crimes' they may have countenanced then as well as now, and additionally, in view of the eternal and unchanging nature of God, a specific faith that deigns to re-interpreting, rewriting, revamping Holy Scripture will be, or should be, viewed as correcting God.

For folks that worship, revere, respect and love God, being asked to tolerate men leading their faith who feel they know better than God about any issue covered by His Word, would seem to me to be not only asking a lot, but in fact, asking for too much.