Sigmund Freud Quotes

It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.

If my son were to oppose the Catholic Church, I myself would carry the faggots to burn him.

You're always going to have extremists in every religion.

Sectarianism, bigotry, and it's horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.

Religious persecution may shield itself under the guise of a mistaken and overzealous piety.

The slayers of the heretics are the worst heretics of all.

Religious hatreds tend to be merciless and absolute.

Here [in Jerusalem], no mercy is shown. One hates one's fellow man to the glory of God.

There is nothing so despicable as a secret society that is based upon religious prejudice and that will attempt to defeat a man because of his religious beliefs. Such a society is like a cockroach — it thrives in the dark. So do those who combine for such an end.

When people unfortunately use religion to facilitate their envy, arrogance and hate, communalism surfaces.

Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold- bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.

Bigotry murders religion to frighten fools with her ghost.

Everyone is tearing each other apart in the name of their personal god. And the irony is, by definition, they're probably worshiping the same god.

In my opinion, there is one singular problem with religions in general: they are exclusive. To me, this exclusivity is not right.

All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. And that's where it turns demonic. Because that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake.

Religion doesn't make people bigots. People are bigots and they use religion to justify their ideology.

People nearly always believe, and are willing to back it up with weapons and cruelty, that their religion and way of life is better than the other person's.

The often cruel behavior of Christians toward unbelievers and even toward dissenters among themselves is shocking evidence of the function of that image in relation to values and behavior.

Cruel persecutions and intolerance are not accidents, but grow out of the very essence of religion, namely, its absolute claims.

Believe no one unless he follows your religion

The evils which sapped the nation’s strength had all been wrought in the name of religion.

It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever.

To what great evils has religion been able to impel men.

Nothing can be more hateful than the uncharitableness of the Puritans, who condemn … to eternal torments, even the most inoffensive proselytes to popery.

May we not return to those scoundrels of old, the illustrious founders of superstition and fanaticism, who first took the knife from the altar to make victims of those who refused to be their disciples?