The danger of religious faith is that it allows otherwise normal human beings to reap the fruits of madness and consider them holy.[2]
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Faith lets ordinary people treat harmful or irrational behaviors as holy.
- In plain terms
- Faith can make harmful behavior seem holy.
- What can you take from it?
- Watch for faith glorifying harmful behavior.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does faith cause harm?
- What makes behavior holy?
Another view
Faith can also inspire positive and healing acts.
More from Sam Harris
Most religions have merely canonized a few products of ancient ignorance and derangement and passed them down to us as though they were primordial truths.[2]
Permalink to quote #8 A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything else in a person's life.[2]
Permalink to quote #10 It is difficult to imagine a set of beliefs more suggestive of mental illness than those that lie at the heart of many of our religious traditions.[2]
Permalink to quote #7
Related quotes
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does any-one have the foggiest idea what sort of power …
Annie DillardAnnie Dillard quote #10 If we love God, then it requires us to hate idolatry. If we believe there is such a thing as goodness, then we must also recognise the presence of evil. If we …
Amir ButlerAmir Butler quote #1 Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's th…
Richard DawkinsRichard Dawkins quote #2