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WT Sharpe · 10-04-2010, 05:05 AM

.....The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle skeptic who cares not whether there is a God or not. The atheist is a religious person. He believes in atheism as though it were a new religion. He is an atheist with devoutness and unction. According to Renan, "The day after that on which the world should no longer believe in God, atheists would be the wretchedest of all men."
..........— Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983), American writer, philosopher, and longshoreman. The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements (1951). Hoffer's quotation of Renan comes from History of the people of Israel, Volume 5 (1895) By Ernest Renan.

10-04-2010, 05:05 AM	#733
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	.....The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle skeptic who cares not whether there is a God or not. The atheist is a religious person. He believes in atheism as though it were a new religion. He is an atheist with devoutness and unction. According to Renan, "The day after that on which the world should no longer believe in God, atheists would be the wretchedest of all men." ..........— Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983), American writer, philosopher, and longshoreman. The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements (1951). Hoffer's quotation of Renan comes from History of the people of Israel, Volume 5 (1895) By Ernest Renan.