From his book,
Steve Allen, on the Bible Religion & Morality
"One social evil for which the New Testament is
clearly in part responsible is anti-Semitism."
"There is not the slightest question but that the God
of the Old Testament is a jealous, vengeful God, inflicting not only on the
sinful pagans but even on his Chosen People fire, lighting, hideous plagues
and diseases, brimstone, and other curses."
"There are hundreds of millions who believe the
Messiah has come. If he did, then it is unfortunately the case that his
heroic sacrifice and death have had no effect whatsoever on the very problem
his coming might have been expected to address, for history demonstrates,
beyond question, that we Christians have been just as dangerous, singly and
en masse, as non-Christians."
"The Bible has been interpreted to justify such evil
practices as, for example, slavery, the slaughter of prisoners of war, the
sadistic murders of women believed to be witches, capital punishment for
hundreds of offenses, polygamy, and cruelty to animals. It has been used to
encourage belief in the grossest superstition and to discourage the free
teaching
of scientific truths. We must never forget that both good and evil
flow from the Bible. It is therefore not above criticism."
"To those who wish to punish others--or at least to
see them punished, if the avengers are too cowardly to take matters in to
their own hands-- the belief in a fiery, hideous hell appears to be a great
source of comfort."
From his book,
More Steve Allen, on the Bible Religion &
Morality
"Ideas have consequences, and totally erroneous ideas
are likely to have destructive consequences."
"No actual tyrant known to history has ever been guilty of one-hundredth of
the crimes, massacres, and other atrocities
attributed to the Deity in the Bible."
"God is by definition the holder of all possible knowledge, it would be
impossible for him to have faith in anything. Faith,
then, is built upon ignorance and hope."
As Quoted in
"2000 Years of Disbelief, Famous People
with the Courage to Doubt" by James A. Haught
"It is not hardness of heart or evil passions that drive certain individuals
to atheism, but rather a scrupulous intellectual honesty."
"If you pray for rain long enough, it eventually does fall. If you pray for
floodwaters to abate, they eventually do. The same happens in the absence of
prayers."
