Great Carl Sagan quote: "A celibate clergy is an especially good idea

[lindysalsagal]

"A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.”

[SoLeftIAmRight]

1. here is another another Sagan quote

"An atheist has to know a lot more than I know. An atheist is someone who knows there is no god. By some definitions atheism is very stupid."

[Arugula Latte]

2. There's zero evidence that points to the existence of a god or gods or anything supernatural,

so the logical default position is there is no god. If evidence arises, that position can be reevaluated.

[beam me up scottie]

3. Ah the "rational discourse" guy is gracing us with his presence again.

You have been told repeatedly by agnostic atheists we do not define ourselves according to your narrow intolerant view of atheism.

Everything I needed to know about you I learned from reading this post:

SoLeftIAmRight

40. atheist are unable to reason

I am able to have more reasoned discussions with scholarly Christians than with any atheist I have ever encountered.

Try agnosticism.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4911786

We've tried to reason with you, we 've repeatedly told you that your anti-atheist propaganda is offensive and you refuse to listen.

So why are you here?

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. So...you're a Tirebiter, are you?

Atheism Quote

I can't seem to find the source of "An atheist has to know a lot more than I know. An atheist is someone who knows there is no god. By some definitions atheism is very stupid. ".

I see it listed in the article linked, but I can't find an original source anywhere after searching through multiple essays and videos.

Any original source, out of curiosity?

Yes! the source is the book "Conversations with Carl Sagan", University Press of Missisipi, 2006 (ISBN 1-57806-736-7). The book as preview could be found in Google books. But if you read page 70, you'll find the quote is quite different:

"Those who raise questions about the God hypothesis and the soul hypothesis are by no means all atheist. An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do know to be sure that no such God exist ..."

Source: Google Books preview.

The real quote continues, but in any case Sagan never mentions "by some definitions atheism is very stupid". So, whoever create that quote shown above, actually misquoted Sagan on purpose or by mistake.

I am not user of wikiquote, but please, check the source by yourselves, and correct the quote of the main page. Thanks

From Here

Get your shit together, why don't ya?

[kentauros]

6. Just so you know:

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

On Sat Dec 12, 2015, 05:44 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

So...you're a Tirebiter, are you?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1230&pid=48464

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Offensive.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat Dec 12, 2015, 05:50 AM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I find it more offensive that the alerter isn't a fan of Firesign Theater!
(centaur)
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Nah.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: What?

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

I'm sure you can figure out which juror I was

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. I took the risk and I prevailed!

Too funny! Thanks

[ProfessorPlum]

10. thank you for the context of the quote

surprised that Sagan made that basic error.

[awoke_in_2003]

15. I think Abraham Lincoln summed it up

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://wesclark.com/jw/lincolnia.html&h=324&w=512&tbnid=ZoHoPPEivlLAzM:&docid=vI0G3EyqBsrxMM&ei=FwF6VpeCAYTVmwHI2reQCQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjX6YWZ8vDJAhWE6iYKHUjtDZIQMwghKAEwAQ

[progressoid]

11. Kudos for the reference to Firesign Theatre.

Can't believe it was nearly hidden!

[mr blur]

8. You're lucky you're not in some other group round here -

you'd have been banned long before now for trolling.

[ProfessorPlum]

9. I'm surprised by this quote

Sagan was smart enough to know that atheism isn't the assertion that there is no god(s). Only that there is no evidence for any.

[trotsky]

13. As understood in common parlance up until the last decade or so,

that's what "atheist" meant. So I don't blame Sagan. But as was pointed out upthread, the part about atheism being "stupid" is completely fabricated by some dishonest atheist-hater.

[lindysalsagal]

12. One thing is clear: religion brings out the worst in all of us.

And this thread proves it.

[amuse bouche]

14. I disagree

It only brings out the worst in religies. Clearly, they are scared to death they are wrong

[mountain grammy]

16. +1