Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that religion transforms uncertain beliefs into accepted truths through the influence of institutions and the enduring nature of tradition.
Richard Dawkins points out that religion relies on the establishment of institutions to solidify beliefs that can often be untested or uncertain. Over time, these beliefs can become deeply ingrained in culture and society, reinforcing their status as 'truth' despite a lack of empirical evidence. The passage of time plays a crucial role in this process, as repeated affirmation and institutional support can create a distorted perception of reality where faith-based beliefs are treated as undeniable truths.
In practice
In a lecture on the influence of belief systems in society.
No educated person believes the Adam and Eve myth nowadays, but it's surprising how many parents think that it's somehow fun to pass on this falsehood to their children...I would want to argue that the truth of evolution is more interesting and more poetic
If the history-deniers who doubt the fact of evolution are ignorant of biology, those who think the world began less than ten thousand years ago are worst than ignorant, they are the deluded to the point of perversity.
The population of the U.S. is nearly 300 million, including many of the best educated, most talented, most resourceful, humane people on earth. By almost any measure of civilised attainment, from Nobel prize-counts on down, the U.S. leads the world by miles.
When you make machines that are capable of obeying instructions slavishly, and among those instructions are 'duplicate me' instructions, then of course the system is wide open to exploitation by parasites.
Even if not a single fossil has ever been found, the evidence from surviving animals would still overwhelmingly force the conclusion that Darwin was right.
The bitter hatreds that now poison Middle Eastern politics are rooted in the real or perceived wrong of the setting up of a Jewish State in an Islamic region. In view of all that the Jews had been through, it must have seemed a fair and humane solution. Probably deep familiarity with the Old Testament had given the European and American decision-makers some sort of idea that this really was the historic homeland of the Jews.
We must be aware of consumerism! That's our tendency. It's the capitalistic curse that we were poisoned with. We should spend only what is necessary. How do you call the big cars, the latest ones? Hummer! Not a single dollar to import Hummers! What is that? What is that? What kind of revolution is this? One of Hummers? No way!
There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.
It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don't want victories anymore.
The fates have given mankind a patient soul.
He, then, that would really, thoroughly, and acceptably mortify any disquieting lust, let him take care to be equally diligent in all parts of obedience, and know that every lust, every omission of duty, is burdensome to God, though but one is so to him.
Once you've ruled out the impossible then whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth. The problem lay in working out what was impossible, of course. That was the trick, all right. There was also the curious incident of the orangutan in the night-time.
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