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Atheism Quotes (view source)

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[[File:Jacques Berlinerblau.jpg|thumbnail|220px|right|Atheist [[Jacques Berlinerblau]] wrote: "The Golden Age of [[Secularism]] has passed."<ref>Berlinerblau, Jacques (February 4, 2011). [http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/obama-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast-raging-christ-fest-secular-wake/31816 "Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast"]. The Chronicle of Higher Education/Brainstorm blog. Retrieved on May 29, 2015.</ref> See also: [[Desecularization]]]]

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[[File:Jacques Berlinerblau.jpg|thumbnail|220px|right|Atheist [[Jacques Berlinerblau]] wrote: "The Golden Age of [[Secularism]] has passed."<ref name="chronicle.com">Berlinerblau, Jacques (February 4, 2011). [http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/obama-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast-raging-christ-fest-secular-wake/31816 "Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast"]. The Chronicle of Higher Education/Brainstorm blog. Retrieved on May 29, 2015.</ref> See also: [[Desecularization]]]]

Below are some '''atheism quotes''' from notable scientists, theologians, scholars, public figures, [[Atheism|atheists]] and others.

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== Additional atheism quotes==

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* The [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] declared: "Christianity may actually be our best defence against aberrant forms of religion that threaten the world". <ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/01/12/professional-atheist-dawkins-says-christianity-bulwark-against-something-worse/ Professional Atheist Dawkins Says Christianity ‘Bulwark Against Something Worse’], by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D, ''Breitbart News Network'', Jan 12, 2016

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* The [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] declared: "Christianity may actually be our best defence against aberrant forms of religion that threaten the world".<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/01/12/professional-atheist-dawkins-says-christianity-bulwark-against-something-worse/ Professional Atheist Dawkins Says Christianity ‘Bulwark Against Something Worse’], by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D, ''Breitbart News Network'', Jan 12, 2016

*[http://www.christiantoday.com/article/richard.dawkins.says.christianity.is.worlds.best.defence.against.radical.islam/76416.htm Richard Dawkins says Christianity is world's best defence against radical Islam], Christianity Today, January 2016</ref>

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* "The freethinkers have yet to produce any objections that have not long been refuted most thoroughly. But since they are not motivated by the love of truth, and since they have an entirely different point of view, we should not be surprised that the best refutations count for nothing and that the weakest and most ridiculous reasoning, which has so often been shown to be baseless, is continuously repeated. If these people maintained the slightest rigor, the slightest taste for the truth, it would be quite easy to steer them away from their errors; but their tendency towards stubbornness makes this completely impossible." - [[Leonhard Euler]]<ref>Euler, Leonhard (1747). ''Rettung der göttlichen Offenbahrung gegen die einwürfe der Freygeister'' [''Defense of the Divine Revelation against the Objections of the Freethinkers''] (Berlin, Germany: Haude). Reprinted in ''Opera Omnia'' III.12 [E92], pp. 1-265.</ref>

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*"The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Communism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.” - "Investigating atheism: Marxism". University of Cambridge (2008)<ref name="Marxism-Leninism">{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20130728215151/http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title="Investigating atheism: Marxism"|publisher = University of Cambridge|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate=July 17, 2014|}} See [[University of Cambridge]].</ref>

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*"The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Communism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.” - "Investigating atheism: Marxism". University of Cambridge (2008)<ref name="Marxism-Leninism">{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20130728215151/http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title=Investigating atheism: Marxism|publisher = University of Cambridge|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate=July 17, 2014}} See [[University of Cambridge]].</ref>

* "'[N]o one can be an unbeliever nowadays. The [[Christian apologetics|Christian Apologists]] have left one nothing to disbelieve.'" - Hector Hugh Munro (better known by the pen name Saki)<ref>Saki (1913). [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/555/555-h/555-h.htm ''The Unbearable Bassington''] (London: John Lane), 6th ed., ch. 13.</ref>

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* "Atheists put on false courage and alacrity in the midst of their darkness and apprehensions, like children who, when they fear to go in the dark, will sing for fear." - [[Alexander Pope]]<ref>Pope, Alexander (1727). [http://books.google.com/books?id=cs4eAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA383&lpg=PA383&dq=atheists+and+%22alexander+pope%22+and+%22false+courage%22&source=web&ots=Fx7SL7Z7UB&sig=mYdRm6hkdBkmsF_uJW9mPv3JRhE "Thoughts on various subjects"]. ''The Works of Alexander Pope'' (London: Richard Priestly, 1822), vol. 6, p. 383. Retrieved from GoogleBooks on May 26, 2015</ref>

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* "An atheist’s most embarrassing moment is when he feels profoundly thankful for something, but can’t think of anybody to thank for it" - [[Mary Anne Vincent]] <ref>in ''Central Concepts'' (poss. Cincinnati, OH: poss. Central Optical Company, 1958 or bef.) quoted by [http://books.google.com/books?id=04YXAQAAMAAJ&dq=editions%3AFQRgwHCDRpsC&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=central+concepts ''Philosophical Research Society Journal''], vol. 18-19, p. 80. </ref>

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* "An atheist’s most embarrassing moment is when he feels profoundly thankful for something, but can’t think of anybody to thank for it" - [[Mary Anne Vincent]] <ref>in ''Central Concepts'' (poss. Cincinnati, OH: poss. Central Optical Company, 1958 or bef.) quoted by [http://books.google.com/books?id=04YXAQAAMAAJ&dq=editions%3AFQRgwHCDRpsC&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=central+concepts ''Philosophical Research Society Journal''], vol. 18-19, p. 80.</ref>

* If there were no God there would be no atheists. - [[G. K. Chesterton]] (1874 - 1936) <ref>Chesterton, G. K. (1922). [http://catholicpamphlets.net/pamphlets/WHERE%20ALL%20ROADS%20LEAD.pdf "Where all roads lead"]. ''Blackfriar's Magazine''. Retrieved from CatholicPamphlets.net on May 26, 2015.</ref>

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*"I gave in, and admitted that God was God." - [[Ex-atheists|ex-atheist]] [[C.S. Lewis]], On relinquishing atheism at age 31 in 1929<ref>Lewis, C. S. (1955). ''Surprised by Joy: The Shape of my Early Life'' (New York: Harcourt, Brace). Retrieved from GoogleBooks on May 26, 2015.</ref>

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*"I was at this time of living, like so many Atheists or Anti-theists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world." - C.S. Lewis<ref>[http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php Favorite quotes]</ref>

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*"I was at this time of living, like so many Atheists or Anti-theists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world." - C.S. Lewis<ref name="Favorite quotes">[http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php Favorite quotes]</ref>

*"In his book ''Modern Times'', the historian Paul Johnson referred to [[Adolph Hitler|Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], and [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] as the three devils of the twentieth century. Interestingly, [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzschean]] dogma influenced each of them." - [[Ravi Zacharias]]<ref>Zacharias, Ravi (2004). ''The Real Face of Atheism'' (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books), p. 25. See [[Ravi Zacharias]]</ref>

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* "[S]upposing all the great points of atheism, as the casual or eternal formation of the world, the materiality of a thinking substance, the mortality of the soul, the fortuitous organization of the body, the motions and gravitation of matter, with the like particulars, were laid together and formed into a kind of creed, according to the opinions of the most celebrated atheists; I say, supposing such a creed as this were formed and imposed upon any one people in the world, whether it would not require an infinitely greater measure of faith, than any set of articles [of faith] which they so violently oppose?" - [[Joseph Addison]], ''The Spectator'', October 2, 1711.<ref>Addison, Joseph (October 2, 1711). [http://archive.org/stream/harrisonsbritish04harruoft#page/360/mode/2up "No. 185. Tuesday, October 2"]. ''The Spectator'', vol. 3, no. 185. Reprinted in ''Harrison's British Classics'' (London: Harrison, 1786), vol. IV, pp. 359-60. [Volume IV spans March 1, 1710-March 8, 1711, vol. 1-4, nos. 1-321. For the early part of the 18th century, the year changed on April 1 not January 1]</ref>

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* "It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. Without the sustaining influence of faith in a divine power we could have little faith in ourselves. We need to feel that behind us is intelligence and love. Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create. Faith is the great motive power, and no man realizes his full possibilities unless he has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and that his work, well done, is a part of an unending plan." - [[Calvin Coolidge]], speech, Jul. 25, 1924 <ref> [[Calvin Coolidge]], (July 25, 1924). [http://archive.org/stream/foundationsofrep00unit#page/66/mode/2up "What it means to be a Boy Scout"]. ''Foundations of the Republic'' (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press), p. 68. Retrieved on May 27, 2015 from Internet Archive. Quote found by www.notable-quotes.com</ref>

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* "It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. Without the sustaining influence of faith in a divine power we could have little faith in ourselves. We need to feel that behind us is intelligence and love. Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create. Faith is the great motive power, and no man realizes his full possibilities unless he has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and that his work, well done, is a part of an unending plan." - [[Calvin Coolidge]], speech, Jul. 25, 1924 <ref>[[Calvin Coolidge]], (July 25, 1924). [http://archive.org/stream/foundationsofrep00unit#page/66/mode/2up "What it means to be a Boy Scout"]. ''Foundations of the Republic'' (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press), p. 68. Retrieved on May 27, 2015 from Internet Archive. Quote found by www.notable-quotes.com</ref>

* "Now, nothing can be brought from potentiality to actual existence except through something actually existing...." <ref>Aquinas, St. Thomas (1274). [http://books.google.com/books?id=lBDvN1hVDY0C&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&dq=%22potentiality+to+actual+existence%22&source=bl&ots=X-LC0nPgds&sig=sSY0lcKnFt9LTLuGOERsi-WmMAM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8c5mVaikDcfgoAS1rIO4Cg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22potentiality%20to%20actual%20existence%22&f=false "Treatise on God, Q. 2: The existence of God, Art. 3: Whether God Exists?, Ans."]. ''Summa Theologica'' (Italy). Reprinted in Thatcher, Oliver J., ed. (1907). ''The Library of Original Sources'' (Milwaukee, WI: University Research Extension Co.), Vol IV., p. 361, translator unknown. Retrieved from GoogleBooks archive on May 28, 2015.</ref> - [[St. Thomas Aquinas]]

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* "Still, even the most admirable of atheists is nothing more than a moral [[parasite]], living his life based on borrowed ethics. This is why, when pressed, the atheist will often attempt to hide his lack of conviction in his own beliefs behind some poorly formulated utilitarianism, or argue that he acts out of altruistic self-interest. But this is only post-facto rationalization, not reason or rational behavior." - [[Vox Day]]<ref>Day, Vox (November 17, 2003). [http://www.wnd.com/2003/11/21820/ "The irrational atheist"]. WorldNetDaily website. Retrieved on May 28, 2015.</ref>

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*"These days, barely a week passes without the emergence of yet more evidence that atheists are the most irritating people on Earth." - the atheist Brendan O'Neill, ''The Telegraph'', "How Atheists Became the Most Colossally Smug and Annoying People on the Planet", August ~~14th~~, 2013 <ref>O'Neill, Brendan (August 14, 2013). [http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100230985/how-atheists-became-the-most-colossally-smug-and-annoying-people-on-the-planet/ "How atheists became the most colossally smug and annoying people on the planet"]. The Telegraph website/Brendan O'Neill [blog]. Retrieved on October 3, 2014. [atheist author]</ref>

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*"These days, barely a week passes without the emergence of yet more evidence that atheists are the most irritating people on Earth." - the atheist Brendan O'Neill, ''The Telegraph'', "How Atheists Became the Most Colossally Smug and Annoying People on the Planet", August 14, 2013 <ref>O'Neill, Brendan (August 14, 2013). [http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100230985/how-atheists-became-the-most-colossally-smug-and-annoying-people-on-the-planet/ "How atheists became the most colossally smug and annoying people on the planet"]. The Telegraph website/Brendan O'Neill [blog]. Retrieved on October 3, 2014. [atheist author]</ref>

*"As a black atheist, I encounter just as much racism amongst other atheists as anywhere else." - Ijeoma Oluo, ''The Guardian'', October 24, 2015<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/24/atheism-does-not-make-me-superior-to-believers-its-a-leap-of-faith-too My atheism does not make me superior to believers. It's a leap of faith too] by Ijeoma Oluo, ''The Guardian'', October 24, 2015</ref> See also: [[Western atheism and race]]

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{{cquote|One might wager a decent sum of money that it has never occurred to Dawkins that to many people he appears as a comic figure. His default mode is one of rational indignation—a stance of withering patrician disdain for the untutored mind of a kind one might expect in a schoolmaster in a minor public school sometime in the 1930s. He seems to have no suspicion that any of those he despises could find his stilted pose of indignant rationality merely laughable. “I am not a good observer,” he writes modestly. He is referring to his observations of animals and plants, but his weakness applies more obviously in the case of humans. Transfixed in wonderment at the workings of his own mind, Dawkins misses much that is of importance in human beings—himself and others.<ref>Gray, John (October 2, 2014). [http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119596/appetite-wonder-review-closed-mind-richard-dawkins "The closed mind of Richard Dawkins"]. Review of ''An Appetite for Wonder: The Makings of a Scientist'' by Richard Dawkins. ''New Republic'' website. Retrieved on May 28, 2015.</ref>}}

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* "The Golden Age of Secularism has passed." - atheist [[Jacques Berlinerblau]]<ref~~>Berlinerblau, Jacques (February 4, 2011). [http://~~chronicle.com~~/blogs/brainstorm/obama-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast-raging-christ-fest-secular-wake/31816~~ "~~Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast"]. The Chronicle of Higher Education/Brainstorm blog. Retrieved on May 29, 2015.<~~/~~ref~~>

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* "The Golden Age of Secularism has passed." - atheist [[Jacques Berlinerblau]]<ref name="chronicle.com"/>

Atheist Jacques Berlinerblau wrote:

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{{cquote|American [[atheist movement~~|atheist movements~~]], though fancying themselves a lion, are more like the gimpy little zebra crossing the river full of crocs. In terms of both political gains and popular appeal, nonbelievers in the United States have little to show. They are encircled by cunning, swarming [religious] Revivalist adversaries who know how to play the atheist card. The gimpy zebra remark was a little goofing on this over-the-top chest-thumping that emerges from Movement Atheists. They wildly overestimate their numbers. They tend to overestimate the efficacy of their activism. They underestimate how disciplined and organized their adversaries in the religious right are, too. They fail to recognize that mocking religious people in public is entirely inimical to the goals they wish to achieve." - atheist <ref>Winston, Kimberly (September 14, 2012). [http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2012-09/professor-jacques-berlinerblau-tells-atheists-stop-whining "Professor Jacques Berlinerblau tells atheists: Stop whining!"] Christian Century [website]. Retrieved on May 29, 2015.</ref>}}

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{{cquote|American [[atheist movement]]s, though fancying themselves a lion, are more like the gimpy little zebra crossing the river full of crocs. In terms of both political gains and popular appeal, nonbelievers in the United States have little to show. They are encircled by cunning, swarming [religious] Revivalist adversaries who know how to play the atheist card. The gimpy zebra remark was a little goofing on this over-the-top chest-thumping that emerges from Movement Atheists. They wildly overestimate their numbers. They tend to overestimate the efficacy of their activism. They underestimate how disciplined and organized their adversaries in the religious right are, too. They fail to recognize that mocking religious people in public is entirely inimical to the goals they wish to achieve." - atheist <ref>Winston, Kimberly (September 14, 2012). [http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2012-09/professor-jacques-berlinerblau-tells-atheists-stop-whining "Professor Jacques Berlinerblau tells atheists: Stop whining!"] Christian Century [website]. Retrieved on May 29, 2015.</ref>}}

* "Today secular faith is ebbing, and it is the apostles of unbelief who are left stranded on the beach." - atheist [[philosophy|philosopher]] [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]], ''The Guardian'', March 14, 2008 <ref>Gray, John (March 14, 2008). [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/15/society "The atheist delusion"]. ''The Guardian'' website. Retrieved on May 29, 2015. See [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]].</ref>

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Douglas Wilson declared:

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{{cquote|If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true , but rather because of a series of chemical reactions... Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else." - Douglas Wilson <ref>[http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php Favorite quotes]</ref>}}

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{{cquote|If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true , but rather because of a series of chemical reactions... Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else." - Douglas Wilson <ref name="Favorite quotes">[http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php Favorite quotes]</ref>}}

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*"The theory that thought is merely a movement in the brain is, in my opinion, nonsense; for if so, that theory itself would be merely a movement, an event among atoms, which may have speed and direction but of which it would be meaningless to use the words 'true' or 'false'." - C.S. Lewis <ref>[http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php Favorite quotes]</ref>

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*"The theory that thought is merely a movement in the brain is, in my opinion, nonsense; for if so, that theory itself would be merely a movement, an event among atoms, which may have speed and direction but of which it would be meaningless to use the words 'true' or 'false'." - C.S. Lewis <ref name="Favorite quotes">[http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/favourite-quotes.php Favorite quotes]</ref>

== 21st century global desecularization quotes ==

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== Quotes of the New Atheist Richard Dawkins ==

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See also~~: [[~~Atheism and leadership]]

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Since his [[Elevatorgate]] scandal, various embarrassing posts to Twitter and other embarrassing public statements, atheists are divided on whether the [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] is an asset or a liability to the [[atheist movement]].<ref>

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Atheism Quotes (view source)

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