"He that rebels against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a better title to Defender of the Faith, th...

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst; every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in; but this attempts to stride beyond the grave, and seeks to pursue us into eternity.
~ Thomas Paine ~












Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst; every other species of t...
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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.
"My own mind is my own church.
"But with respect to religion itself, without regard to names, and as directing itself from the universal family of mankind to the divine object of ado...
"if every one is left to judge of his own religion, there is no such thing as a religion that is wrong; but if they are to judge of each other’s religi...
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more t...
"What are the present governments of Europe, but a scene of iniquity and oppression? What is that of England? Do not its own inhabitants say, It is a m...
"I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to anoth...
"One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.
"Is it more probable that nature should go out of her course or that a man should tell a lie? We have never seen, in our time, nature go out of her cou...
"All the tales of miracles, with which the Old and New Testament are filled, are fit only for impostors to preach and fools to believe.
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more...
"Persecution is not an original feature in any religion but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law.
"The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this...