If I am right, then (religious fundamentalists) will not go to Heaven, because there is no Heaven. If they are right, then they will not go to Heaven, because they are hypocrites.
Interpretation
The quote critiques religious fundamentalism and hypocrisy within belief systems.
Isaac Asimov's quote addresses the contradictions inherent in the beliefs of religious fundamentalists. He suggests that if their beliefs about heaven are correct, their hypocrisy negates their chances of attaining it, while if his own perspective that heaven does not exist is true, then they cannot reach it in any case. This commentary highlights the complexities of faith, belief, and the moral implications of hypocrisy.
In practice
In a debate about the implications of religious beliefs on morality.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, but it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies.
Science does not promise absolute truth, nor does it consider that such a thing necessarily exists. Science does not even promise that everything in the Universe is amenable to the scientific process.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
During the century after Newton, it was still possible for a man of unusual attainments to master all fields of scientific knowledge. But by 1800, this had become entirely impracticable.
There is no better way to give comfort to an enemy than to divide the people of a nation over the issue of foreign war. There is no shorter road to defeat than by entering a war with inadequate preparation.
Dipsomaniac and the abstainer are not only both mistaken, but they both make the same mistake. They both regard wine as a drug and not as a drink.
Sweet to think on it, that when we are last weary of all this world there is the rising sun
What difference does it make, after all, what your position in life is if you dislike it yourself?
I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?
Gradually, by selective breeding, the congenital differences between rulers_x000D_ and ruled will increase until they become almost different species. A revolt_x000D_ of the plebs would become as unthinkable as an organized insurrection of_x000D_ sheep against the practice of eating mutton.
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