Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, 'This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!' But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean Hell.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Without religion, the world would be hellish, yet the idea of a godless world feels fanatical.
- In plain terms
- Religion is seen as necessary to avoid moral collapse.
- What can you take from it?
- Religion provides a moral framework for many, though its absence can be unsettling.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can morality exist without religion?
- What makes religious belief feel essential?
Another view
It presumes religion is the sole source of moral order, ignoring secular ethics.
More from John Adams
Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.
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