Sayings Concerning Religion
By The Great And Not-So-Great
(Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes)
By Alex
After reading through quite a few books and periodicals by various authors past and present, I would like to share with you some of their remarks and quotes. I think you will find them thought provoking, especially those among the Herbie diehards who do not suffer from a tunnel mentality. First, I'll touch on the famous Scopes trial that occurred about 75 years ago. In 1925 during the Scopes monkey trial in Dayton, Tenn. that state was still under a law that forbade teaching "any theory that denies the story of the Divine creation of man." As a result, Scopes was put on trial in 1925 and achieved instant immortality in the history of American church-state relations.
Tennessee's pro-creationist law was a product of concerns from many directions. Many state legislators no doubt had been hard put to make sense of rapid scientific and social changes challenging the small town rural values they cherished. Others, such as Georgia state legislator Hal Wimberly, acted out of smug know-nothingism for which fundamentalists were rapidly becoming notorious. Arguing that same year against a bill to allow counties, school districts, and municipalities in Georgia to maintain public libraries either through taxes or donations, Wimberly said,---(Shades of Armstrong!)
"Read the Bible. It teaches you how to act. Read the hymnbook, it contains the finest poetry ever written. Read the almanac. It shows you how to figure out what the weather will be. There isn't any other book that is necessary for anyone to read and therefore I am opposed to all libraries."
The public library bill in Georgia failed that year. From "TELEVANGELISM" by Hadden and Shipe
I copied a transcript of the Scopes trial off the internet. Here is a brief exchange between Bryan and Darrow when Darrow was questioning Bryan:
Q--Mr Bryan, do you believe the first woman was Eve?"
A--Yes.
Q--Do you believe she was literally made out of Adam's rib?
A--I do.
Q--Did you ever discover where Cain got his wife?
A--No, sir. I leave the agnostics to hunt for her.
Q--You have never tried to find out?
A--No.
Q--The Bible says he got one, doesn't it? Were there other people on earth at that time?
A--I cannot say.
Q--You cannot say. Did that ever enter your consideration?
A-Never bothered me.
Q--There were no others recorded, but Cain got a wife.
A--That is what the Bible says.
Later in the transcript-
Q--I will read it to you from the Bible: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Do you think that is why the serpent is compelled to crawl upon its belly?
A.--I believe that.
Q--Have you any idea how the snake went before that time?
A--No, sir. Q--Do you know whether he walked on his tail or not?
A--No, sir. I have no way to know. (Laughter in the audience).
It was Darrow's examination of Bryan that provided the most dramatic high point of the Scopes trial. According to one writer, "As a man and a legend, Bryan was destroyed by his testimony that day." The press saw him as a "pitiable punch drunk warrior" who was clearly no intellectual match for Darrow. Five days later after that trial Bryan died in his sleep.
And now the quotes:
"There is real confusion and anxiety among Christians today about the future of religion. Among intellectuals in the church there is a growing concern that men do not need religion anymore. Now that man has 'come of age' he seems to get along very adequately with only his reason, his sense experience, and the science which he thinks comes solely from them. He no longer seems to need the myths and symbols of the Christian faith. And so Christian thinkers have suggested that these are outmoded, primitive ways of thinking which are no longer useful now that man has become mature in the ways of the secular world." ---Myth, History & Faith by Morton Kelsey
"Are we bigots? Are we trying to force everyone into our narrow molds? Or are we, as Christians, merely trying to act in self defense?" --Vern McLellan, Christians in the political arena
"The overall media ministry of Christ in America has not been as open and accountable as we should be. We are getting our hands smacked and we deserve it. We have a little sense of arrogance out there in the church that is none of your business or anybody else's what we do or how we do it.. but that sense of arrogance is over. We are coming to the painful conclusion that if we are public figures leading Christian ministries, using public monies, contributions, then we are publicly responsible." ------Jerry Falwell, Press Conference 4/28/87
"When the missionaries first came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray'. We closed our eyes. When we opened them, the tables had been turned: We had the Bible and they had the land." ------Desmond Tutu--speech in New York City
"Herbert Armstrong said, 'Give me your minds and your money and I'll make you kings and priests'. We gave him our minds and our money.... He warped our minds and made us poor." --------The disgusted 40,000 plus
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