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Bertrand Russell

 Criticism of Religion — Bertrand Russell


“I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out. I regard it as a disease, as belonging to the infancy of human reason, and to a stage of development which we are now outgrowing.”

— Bertrand Russell, Free Thought and Official Propaganda (1934)


“RELIGION: A set of beliefs held as dogmas, dominating the conduct of life, going beyond or of contrary to evidence, and inculcated by methods which are emotional or authoritarian, not by methods intellectual."

— Bertrand Russell, Uncertain Paths to Freedom: Russia and China 1919-22, p. 197


“Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us from teaching the ethic of scientific co-operation in place of the old fierce doctrines of sin and punishment. It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.”

— Bertrand Russell, Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization? (1929)


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Background: Russell’s’ criticism of religion 


For most of his adult life, Russell maintained religion to be little more than superstition and, despite any positive effects, largely harmful to people. He believed that religion and the religious outlook serve to impede knowledge and foster fear and dependency, and to be responsible for much of our world’s wars, oppression, and misery. Russell concluded religion was historically a source of  immoral acts or customs, and ultimately a political and dogmatic tool for social control by the rich and powerful.


”Of course the successful capitalists remain religious, partly because they have every reason to thank God for their blessings, and partly because religion is a conservative force, tending to repress the rebelliousness of wage-earners.”

— Bertrand Russell, The Prospects of Industrial Civilization (1923), Ch. II: Inherent Tendencies of Industrialism, p. 56

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