Naturally, since [the Sumerians] didn't know what caused the flood anymore than we do, they blamed the gods. (That's the advantage of religion. You're never short an explanation for anything.)
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the human tendency to attribute unexplained events to divine forces, illustrating the comfort religion provides in facing life's mysteries.
Isaac Asimov highlights how ancient civilizations like the Sumerians, when confronted with natural disasters like floods, sought explanations through religion, attributing these events to the whims of the gods. This tendency persists, as religion offers narratives and interpretations for various life occurrences, thereby helping people cope with uncertainties and find meaning in the inexplicable aspects of existence.
In practice
In a lecture on the influence of mythology in ancient cultures.
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.
Not just in commerce but in the world of ideas too our age is putting on a veritable clearance sale. Everything can be had so dirt cheap that one begins to wonder whether in the end anyone will want to make a bid.
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
You are in a pitiable condition if you have to conceal what you wish to tell.
I think that hell essentially is separation from God forever. And that is the worst hell that I can think of. But I think people have a hard time believing God is going to allow people to burn in literal fire forever. I think the fire that is mentioned in the Bible is a burning thirst for God that can never be quenched.
It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience, but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.
Traveler, there is no path, the path must be_x000D_ forged as you walk.
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