S. T. Joshi famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

The atheist, agnostic, or secularist ... should guard against the encroachment of religion in areas where it has no place, and in particular the control of education by religious authority. The attempts to ban the teaching of evolution or other scientific theories -- a feeble echo of medieval church tyranny and hostility to learning, but an echo nonetheless are serious threats to freedom of inquiry and should be vigorously combated.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Religious #Atheist #Teaching
Richard Gavin is one of the bright new stars in contemporary weird fiction. His richly textured style, deft character portrayal, and powerful horrific conceptions make every one of his tales a pleasure to read.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Stars #Powerful #Character
God's existence needs to be established independently before he can be brought into account for causation; it cannot be assumed at the start.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Needs #Existence #Causation
The prose of Joe Pulver can take its place with that of the masters of our genre â€“ E.A. Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligotti â€“ while his imaginative reach is something uniquely his own.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Lovecraft #Masters #Genre
The decline of witch-belief was . . . entirely the product of religious skepticism. . . . The Catholic Church did not reform itself on this matter; it was forced by outside pressure to reform. To be sure, the Protestant churches were no better in this regard; it is simply that they had less time - only two or three centuries - to engage in the torching of witches. After all, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, stated quite correctly that disbelief in witches meant a disbelief in the Bible.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Religious #Two #Catholic
When I read passages like this, I want to look for the nearest wall to bang my head against.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Wall #Looks #Want
I myself am not comfortable with the notion of secularists congregating in groups, except perhaps for defensive purposes: the last thing a secularist should wish to do is to act like a religion, with its rigid hierarchies, its suppression of divergent opinion, and, above all, its ruthless attempts (now mercifully inhibited by laws) to outlaw "heresy" by brute force. Opinions must be changed, one at a time if necessary, but if there are those who wish to persist in religious belief, they should certainly be allowed to do so.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Religious #Law #Wish
The atheist, agnostic, or secularist ... should insist on the need to engage in a meaningful debate on the entire issue of the truth or falsity (or probability or improbability) of religious tenets, without being subject to accusations of impiety, immorality, impoliteness, or any of the other smokescreens used by the pious to deflect attention from the central issues at hand.
-- S. T. Joshi

#Meaningful #Religious #Atheist

Good religious poetry... is likely to be most justly appreciated and most discriminately relished by the undevout.
The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a devout person.
Certainly there is no contending against the Will of God; but still there is some difficulty in ascertaining, and applying it, to particular cases.
I am not agnostic. I am atheist. I donâ€™t think there is no God; I know thereâ€™s no God. I know thereâ€™s no God the same way I know many other laws in our universe. I know thereâ€™s no God and I know most of the world knows that as well. They just wonâ€™t admit it because thereâ€™s another thing they know. They know theyâ€™re going to die and it freaks them out. So most people donâ€™t have the courage to admit thereâ€™s no God and they know it. They feel it. They try to suppress it. And if you bring it up they get angry because it freaks them out.
Screw guilt -- I could have sex with 10 men and it wouldn't bother me. I'm an atheist!
We are all given a gift of existence and of being sentient beings, and I think true happiness lies in love and compassion.
Writing essays and teaching composition have helped me immensely in writing poetry, because they've forced me to focus on the structure of ideas.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
It just seemed like Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism - because that's mainly what I've been exposed to - was a real solid organization of teachings to point someone in the right direction. Some real well thought out stuff. But I don't know, like, every last detail about Buddhism.
It is good to remember that the goal of Buddhism is to create Buddhas, not Buddhists, as the goal of Christianity is to create Christs, not Christians. In the same vein, my teachings are not meant to acquire followers or imitators, but to awaken beings to eternal truth and thus to awakened life and living.

S. T. Joshi famous quotes

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