Mahatma Gandhi Quotes
It is impossible to wait and weigh, in golden scales, the sentiments of prejudice and superstition that have gathered round the priests who are considered to be the custodians of Hinduism.
Gandhi, Mahatma. Young India, Navajivan Publishing House, 20 Oct. 1927.
Spinoza was one of the most feared intellectuals in human history—feared, that is, by the established power structures. Spinoza’s ideas were considered so radical and dangerous that he was the only man in history who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims. This quotation is an example of why the religions were so fearful of his ideas. Essentially, he stated that Priests, Pastors, Rabbis, Imams and all clerics have no monopoly on understanding, knowledge, or wisdom. Each man was to think for himself and clerics should have to prove their claims and convince people, not ask them to have faith in their ideas and instructions. Spinoza himself was a religious Jew and produced all his work to try and persuade others. He challenged all clerics of all religions to do the same. When people started to listen to Spinoza, the clerics wanted to get rid of his influence. Therefore they banned all from talking to him and above all banned his books and other writings.
The monetary corruption of the Church and many of its priests did not go unchallenged by Catholics of the day.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, and in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"), first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world.
