James A. Michener Quotes

Although many things can be said in criticism of religious faith, there is no discounting its power. Millions among us, even now, are quite willing to die for our unjustified beliefs, and millions more, it seems, are willing to kill for them.

To fill a world with religion, or religions of the Abrahamic kind, is like littering the streets with loaded guns. Do not be surprised if they are used.

It's obvious that humanity continues to be torn by religious violence.

In every religion, there are those who would drape themselves in the mantle of belief and faith only to distort it's most sacred teachings - preaching intolerance and resorting to violence.

A lot of God-loving people think that killing people who don't agree with them is OK.

That religious earnestness forever tends toward fright and hence towards brittleness and inquisition is clear enough in mythology and history.

It is usually when men are at their most religious that they behave with the least sense and the greatest cruelty.

I just think that probably when somebody calls themselves 'born again' and kind of goes out there in a pretty radically zealous way, professes their glee about that, it can creep people out.

Over the course of history many religions have fallen victim to violent interpretations.

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

There are a hundred thousand country fellows in his time ready to fight to the death against popery, without knowing whether popery was a man or a horse.

We came down on them like a flood! We went out among their cities! We tore down the idol-temples, We shat on the Buddha's head!

Religious extremism. We hear about it all the time. We see it all the time. Heck, most of us are just sick of talking about it all the time.

A lot of people have done things in the name of Christianity and religion and faith in a not-so-nice way.

Only religion can lead to such evil.

Well, it has done terrifying things. Religious ideas are inflammatory in a way that I find difficult to understand. There are very few wars over the theory of relativity. Very few heated arguments, for that matter. Whereas, in Northern Ireland, they are killing one another over religion.

In the name of religion many great and fine deeds have been performed. In the name of religion also, thousands and millions have been killed, and every possible crime has been committed.

To what excesses do men rush for the sake of religion, of whose truth they are so little persuaded, and to whose precepts they pay so little regard!

I'm amazed at the adolescent nature of some of the religious fanatics in our government. And they're full of double standards.

Religious fanaticism has clearly produced, and in all probability will continue to produce, enormous amounts of bickering, fighting, violence, bloodshed, homicide, feuds, wars, and genocide.

Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst.

I don't think the 9/11 attacks taught us anything we didn't already know about religion. It has long been obvious - even to the deeply religious - that religious fanaticism is an extremely dangerous deranger of otherwise sane and goodhearted people.

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

I am thankful that all the people in the world who absolutely, positively, know what God wants, usually kill mostly each other.

Claiming that you have got the truth wrapped up does breed violence and intolerance.