Tennessee Claflin Quotes
While we honour religion and believe it to be a powerful factor in elevating our race, we discriminate, as we hope our readers will also do, between it and dogmatism. Dogmatism has been the bane of civilization and a curse to mankind. It has degraded our sex, stifled intelligent inquiry, and persecuted every independent reformer and every noble cause.
Cook, Tennessee Claflin. Essays on Social Topics. The Roxburghe Press, 1898.
The loyalty and sometimes hypocrisy that is often called for by political parties tends to be offensive to people of serious thought and intellect. However, America has developed two major political parties which while from time to time tend to lock-step obedience, over time tolerate wide diversity and there are few areas in which there can be a party loyalty test. In nations where there are many parties each can be very well-defined and narrow, while if essentially only two, they must have broad tents in order to win. Thinkers are more comfortable in that kind of party.
Spinoza was one of the most feared intellectuals in human history—feared that is by the established power structures. He is the only known person who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims—all were forbidden to read his works. He was the enemy of authority and advocated personal reason as the guide for men.
Islam is not alone. Even fundamentalist Christians and Jews are told by God in the Bible to kill blasphemers and idolaters. See {637504} for another concern with this clash.
Ingersoll was considered to be the greatest orator and political thinker of his day, but his overt atheistic views curtailed his elected political career.
Lady Tennessee Celeste Claflin, Viscountess of Montserrat, also known as Tennie C., was an American suffragist best known as the first woman, along with her sister Victoria Woodhull, to open a Wall Street brokerage firm, which occurred in 1870.
