No orthodox church ever had power that it did not endeavor to make people think its way by force and flame.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Religious institutions historically used coercion and violence to enforce conformity.
- In plain terms
- Churches have often forced people to think like them using threats.
- What can you take from it?
- Force undermines genuine belief.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is force ever justified in spreading belief?
- How do institutions maintain control?
Another view
It generalizes all orthodox churches without distinguishing between different groups.
More from Robert G. Ingersoll
For thousands of years people have been trying to force other people to think their way. Did they succeed? No. Will they succeed? No. Why? Because brute force …
Permalink to quote #69 It seems to me that if there is some infinite being who wants us to think alike he would have made us alike.
Permalink to quote #71 The dead do not suffer. And if they live again, their lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all children of the same mother, and the sa…
Permalink to quote #68
Related quotes
Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that Almighty God h…
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson quote #10 Give any orthodox church the power, and to-day they would punish heresy with whip, and chain, and fire. As long as a church deems a certain belief essential to…
Robert G. IngersollRobert G. Ingersoll quote #26 The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other
Alexis de TocquevilleAlexis de Tocqueville quote #73