People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. Wouldn't it be better to depend on blind matter... than a god who puts out traps for people, invites them to sin, and allows them to sin and commit crimes he could prevent. Only to finally get the barbarian pleasure to punish them in an excessive way, of no use for himself, without them changing their ways and without their example preventing others from committing crimes.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the concept of eternal punishment by questioning its morality and the nature of a punishing deity.
Baron D'Holbach's quote argues against the traditional view of a God who offers eternal punishment, suggesting that the moral implications are troubling. He believes that it is more rational to rely on the physical world rather than a divine being who sets traps for humanity while allowing sin and crime, only to punish individuals without any constructive outcome. This perspective challenges the idea of a just God and encourages a reevaluation of beliefs surrounding morality and punishment.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about religious beliefs and morality.
Suns are extinguished or become corrupted, planets perish and scatter across the wastes of the sky; other suns are kindled, new planets formed to make their revolutions or describe new orbits, and man, an infinitely minute part of a globe which itself is only an imperceptible point in the immense whole, believes that the universe is made for himself.
Tolerance and freedom of thought are the veritable antidotes to religious fanaticism.
If we go back to the beginnings of things, we shall always find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that imagination, rapture and deception embellished them; that weakness worships them; that custom spares them; and that tyranny favors them in order to profit from the blindness of men.
To discover the true principles of Morality, men have no need of theology, of revelation, or of gods: They have need only of common sense.
One must not cheat anyone, not even the world of its victory.
All over Harlem, Negro boys and girls are growing into stunted maturity, trying desperately to find a place to stand; and the wonder is not that so many are ruined but that so many survive.
No man understands the Scriptures, unless he be acquainted with the Cross.
Religion is a feature of cultural evolution that, among other things, addresses anxieties created by cultural evolution; it helps keep social change safe from itself.
Believe nothing,_x000D_ _x000D_ No matter where you read it,_x000D_ _x000D_ Or who has said it,_x000D_ _x000D_ Not even if I have said it,_x000D_ _x000D_ Unless it agrees with your own reason_x000D_ _x000D_ And your own common sense.
She likes to try everything, out of curiosity, but she'll be sorry if she isn't guided by her heart.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.