Only people who die very young learn all they really need to know in kindergarten. Wendy Kaminer More Quotes by Wendy Kaminer More Quotes From Wendy Kaminer If all issues are personalized, we lose our capacity to entertain ideas, to generalize from our own or someone else's experiences, to think abstractly. We substitute sentimentality for thought. Wendy Kaminer issues ideas thinking It's easy to sell good news like this, and the authors confidently rely on classic fallacious arguments. They argue by declaration, which is what makes the books so amusing. In matter-of-fact, authoritative tones, the authors tell us how plants and human beings exchange energy - or they describe what angels look like, whether or how they're sexed, how they communicate with human beings, and how they differ from ghosts. Readers might be expected to wonder, How do they know? Wendy Kaminer atheism angel book What makes fantastic declarations believable is, in part, the vehemence with which they're proffered. Again, in the world of spirituality as well as of pop psychology, intensity of personal belief is evidence of truth. It is considered very bad form - even abuse - to challenge the veracity of any personal testimony that might be offered in a twelve-step group or on a talk show, unless the testimony itself is equivocal... Whatever sells, whatever many people believe strongly, must be true. Wendy Kaminer psychology believe people In this climate - with belief in guardian angels and creationism becoming commonplace - making fun of religion is as risky as burning a flag in an American Legion hall. Wendy Kaminer atheism angel fun Secularists are often wrongly accused of trying to purge religious ideals from public discourse. We simply want to deny them public sponsorship. Wendy Kaminer atheism religious trying I don't think of myself as having a particular role. I'm lucky enough to be able to make my living essentially by expressing my opinions. But, you know, I think the world would manage quite well if I weren't doing it. Wendy Kaminer lucky world thinking There is this fashionable progressive notion that everything is so completely political that the idea we could have some sort of neutral legal process is practically utopian - because we all know that the more money you have, the more rights you can exercise in this society. But I don't think that you deal with income inequality by limiting the First Amendment rights of affluent people. I'd rather see people screw around with the tax code to redistribute wealth a little bit than screw around with the First Amendment. Wendy Kaminer exercise people thinking I don't see a direct conflict between the rights of individuals and the rights of communities, because I don't perceive of communities as having rights in a way that individuals do. Communities certainly have interests, but they don't exactly have rights. Wendy Kaminer individual conflict community We don't cut off the hands of thieves or castrate rapists. Why must we murder murderers? Wendy Kaminer thieves cutting hands The magical thinking encouraged by any belief in the supernatural, combined with the vilification of rationality and skepticism, is more conducive to conspiracy theories than it is to productive political debate. Wendy Kaminer political belief thinking Like heterosexuality, faith in immaterial realities is popularly considered essential to individual morality. Wendy Kaminer essentials faith reality Patriotism does not oblige us to acquiesce in the destruction of liberty. Patriotism obliges us to question it, at least. Wendy Kaminer patriotism liberty doe Jargon seems to be the place where the right brain and the left brain meet. Wendy Kaminer jargon left brain For the most part, executions happen in obscurity. If people did hear about executions, if they were publicized, even televised, I fear more would enjoy them than be repelled by them. Wendy Kaminer execution obscurity people Jerry Falwell knows who caused the terrorist attack on America: the ACLU. "The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this," he declared on the 700 Club, because, he explained, the ACLU, abetted by the federal courts is responsible for "throwing God out of the public square (and) the public schools." This is a familiar charge and a false one. God is still present in the public schools, where students are free to pray, alone or in groups, so long as their prayers aren't officially sponsored and don't infringe on anyone's freedom not to pray. Wendy Kaminer squares prayer school When the inner child finds a guardian angel, publishers are in heaven. Wendy Kaminer angel heaven children Under the rubric of religious freedom, we respect the right to worship differently much more than the right to worship not at all. Wendy Kaminer atheism religious religion There are only two states of being in the world of codependency - recovery and denial. Wendy Kaminer denial recovery two The dissemination of pseudoscience, including such things as the fascination with near-death experiences and the growing belief by Americans -- 34 percent of them -- in reincarnation are dangerous. They help to break down the standards of reason. Wendy Kaminer pseudoscience fascination growing
