“Hundreds were in a circle [in the third-class dining saloon of the Titanic] with a preacher in the middle, praying, crying, asking God and Mary to help them. They lay there and yelled, never lifting a hand to help themselves. They had lost their own will power and expected God to do all the work for them.”
Wynn Craig Wade
“The Lord is my shepherd: a shepherd's main interest is in ensuring that his sheep are regularly fleeced and making certain they safely reach the slaughterhouse.”
Anon.
“The man to whom I made my last, self-censored confession left the priesthood soon afterwards. If I remember rightly, he took a job in the steel industry – a fact that I've always thought rather vindicated my reluctance to bare my soul to him. After all, wouldn't you feel cheated if you'd confided your worst sins to a future middle-manager of British Steel, in the mistaken belief that he'd remain a priest for life?”
“It's very important to smack down every attack on free speech and secularism when they appear, because religious fanatics are getting louder and crazier and more violent, and capitulating only energises them.”
“Behavioural studies suggest that the effects of religion in promoting pro-social behaviour are context-dependent: they often favour those of the same religious community, are more potent when reputation can be enhanced by acting selflessly and are often only noticeable when reminders of religion are salient.”
Dan Jones