Robert G. Ingersoll Quotes
Our civilization is not Christian. It does not come from the skies. It is not a result of inspiration. It is the child of invention, of discovery, of applied knowledge - that is to say, of science. When man becomes great and grand enough to admit that all have equal rights; when thought is untrammeled; when worship shall consist in doing useful things; when religion means the discharge of obligations to our fellow-men, then, and not until then, will the world be civilized.
Ingersoll, Robert G. The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, vol. 6, Dresden Publishing Co., 1902, p. 89.
This was a radical speech for the time, suggesting reforms that had been unthinkable to most Turks. Although it is not prohibited by the Koran and early Islamic artists made some of the greatest paintings and depictions of people, fundamentalists gained control of Islam and interpreted any statue as an idol that could be worshipped and this generalized to Islamic art in general where people ceased to be depicted and even animal depictions were rare. Muslim art developed incredible geometric intricacy but tended not to depict anything that is real. This extended to photography and illustrations in books including textbooks. At the same time, not unlike some Christian and Jewish Fundamentalists, the Muslim fundamentalists opposed science and the teaching thereof on the grounds that all authentic knowledge was in the Koran and anything else was not only false but also heretical. So this speech was a type of “declaration of war” against the established religious order and culture.
The societies that had regularly produced the great advances in the sciences were those that allowed its citizens much liberty—liberty of thought, expression, association, etc. Where religious dogma controlled thought and expression, great scientific achievements were far less probable or less productive. Imagine, what Galileo might have achieved if the Church had not curtailed his efforts. When Islamic society was open, the sciences flourished whereas they were stifled in Christian Europe, but once Islam closed and liberty was no more, Islamic science degenerated to its low point of the 21st century.
He was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for figuring out that the earth revolved around the sun which was contrary to church teaching at the time.
Not all churches at all times have been hostile to science. Here is an example where science is urged as a source of knowledge along with history and prophesy and the word of God.
First Astronomy, then Geology, proved that the Creation that was described in the Bible was not literally correct. To religious fundamentalists who believe that every word of the Bible is the word of God or the word of those inspired by God, the only possibility of conclusion is that the science is wrong. To the extent that undermining the word of God is not acceptable to the fundamentalists, they have used every power—including the criminal law power of the state to stop the blasphemy and discredit the scientist. In 1856, there was a much larger proportion of fundamentalists in the Western World than there is today. By 2012, the vast majority of these same populations have rejected Christian Biblical Fundamentalism, and no longer attack science for its affect on religion. The minority of fundamentalists, however, are vehement in their opposition to science.
Robert Green "Bob" Ingersoll was an American lawyer, a Civil War veteran, political leader, and orator of the United States during the Golden Age of Free Thought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic". Ingersoll was considered to be the greatest orator and political thinker of his day, but his overt atheistic views curtailed his elected political career.
