--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the modern secular state's capacity for…" description: "\"“the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds any of the evils for which Christendom might justly be indicted, not”\" — David Bentley Hart" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png" --- # the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds… ![“the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds any of the evils for which Christendom might justly be indicted, not” quote by David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png) > ““the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds any of the evils for which Christendom might justly be indicted, not”” [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern secular states can commit atrocities surpassing historical religious wrongs. **In simple terms:** Secular states can be more barbaric than religious ones. Key Takeaway Recognize and guard against state cruelty. Themes politics morality history secularism Mood cautious critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - government policy - human rights advocacy - historical analysis Key Concepts power violence ethics institutional critique Questions to Reflect On - How do we hold secular governments accountable? - What safeguards prevent state barbarism? A Different Perspective State power can be unchecked without moral frameworks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) ## Related quotes > [“the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds any of the evils for which Christendom might justly be indicted, not solely by virtue of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for-barbarism-exceeds-any-of-the-2/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“The conception of secular state is derived from the liberal democratic tradition of west. No institution which is maintained wholly out of state funds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar-2/the-conception-of-secular-state-is-derived-from-the-liberal/) [B.R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar-2/) > [The secular state is the guarantee of religious pluralism. 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We have therefore adopted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evo-morales/with-our-goddess-the-pachamama-and-it-is-not-possible-to-continue/) [Evo Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evo-morales/) > [“The Catholic Church built and ran hospitals, schools, and centres for the poor and unemployed generations before the secular state became involved, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-coren/the-catholic-church-built-and-ran-hospitals-schools-and-centres-for/) [Michael Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-coren/) > [“In a democratic society, presumably, the public business is carried on in conversation with the actual values of people who are the society. 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The state is Christian, and those who are against it can leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jair-bolsonaro/this-history-of-a-secular-state-doesn-t-exist-no-the-state-is/) [Jair Bolsonaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jair-bolsonaro/) > [“It is always easier to believe if you are opposed to something, or actually suffering for your beliefs. Without perceived or real oppression rebellion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-grey/it-is-always-easier-to-believe-if-you-are-opposed-to-something-or/) [Peter Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-grey/) ## More by David Bentley Hart > [“What makes today’s popular atheism so depressing is neither its conceptual boorishness nor its self-righteousness but simply its cultural inevitability. It is the final,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/what-makes-today-s-popular-atheism-so-depressing-is-neither-its/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“The claim that there cannot be an infinite regress of contingent ontological causes raises a truly difficult challenge to pure materialism; but to imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-claim-that-there-cannot-be-an-infinite-regress-of-contingent/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“The very notion of nature as a closed system entirely sufficient to itself is plainly one that cannot be verified, deductively or empirically, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-very-notion-of-nature-as-a-closed-system-entirely-sufficient-to/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“naturalism, alone among all considered philosophical attempts to describe the shape of reality, is radically insufficient in its explanatory range.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/naturalism-alone-among-all-considered-philosophical-attempts-to/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [Christianity has from its beginning portrayed itself as a gospel of peace, a way of reconciliation (with God, with other creatures), and a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/christianity-has-from-its-beginning-portrayed-itself-as-a-gospel-of/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“clarity is a precious thing, to the degree it can be achieved, if only because it can spare us the effort of needless boring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/clarity-is-a-precious-thing-to-the-degree-it-can-be-achieved-if-only/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [Empiricism in the sciences is a method; naturalism in philosophy is a metaphysics; and the latter neither follows from nor underlies the former.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/empiricism-in-the-sciences-is-a-method-naturalism-in-philosophy-is-a/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“We trust, that is to say, that there is no substantial criterion by which to judge our choices that stands higher than the unquestioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/we-trust-that-is-to-say-that-there-is-no-substantial-criterion-by/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [For, after all, if it is from Christ that we are to learn how God relates himself to sin, suffering, evil, and death, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/for-after-all-if-it-is-from-christ-that-we-are-to-learn-how-god/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“All things are subject to time, moreover: they possess no complete identity in themselves, but are always in the process of becoming something else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/all-things-are-subject-to-time-moreover-they-possess-no-complete/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [true philosophical atheism must be regarded as a superstition, often nurtured by an infantile wish to live in a world proportionate to one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/true-philosophical-atheism-must-be-regarded-as-a-superstition-often/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“It goes without saying that one generally should not try to dissolve disparate creeds into one another, much less into some vague, syncretistic, doctrinally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/it-goes-without-saying-that-one-generally-should-not-try-to-dissolve/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [God's pleasure--the beauty creation possesses in his regard--underlies the distinct being of creation, and so beauty is the first and truest word concerning all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/god-s-pleasure-the-beauty-creation-possesses-in-his-regard-underlies/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“The general argument from the contingent to the absolute, or from the conditioned to the unconditioned, is a powerful and cogent one. No attempt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-general-argument-from-the-contingent-to-the-absolute-or-from-the/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“Simply said, one is contingent through and through, partaking of being rather than generating it out of some source within oneself; and the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/simply-said-one-is-contingent-through-and-through-partaking-of-being/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) [Explore all 107 David Bentley Hart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) ## More Barbarism quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/liberty-is-the-condition-of-progress-without-liberty-there-remains/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Christianity has carried civilization along with it, whithersoever it has gone; and, as if to show that the latter does not depend on physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/christianity-has-carried-civilization-along-with-it-whithersoever-it/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [ \[Much\] as war attracts me and fascinates my mind with its tremendous situations, I feel more deeply every year . . . what vile… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/much-as-war-attracts-me-and-fascinates-my-mind-with-its-tremendous/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buchan/you-think-that-a-wall-as-solid-as-the-earth-separates-civilization/) [John Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buchan/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“The language of sword is less powerful than the language of word, but most of the people understand the language of sword with greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/the-language-of-sword-is-less-powerful-than-the-language-of-word-but/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [There is so much that must be done in a civilized barbarism like war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-earhart/there-is-so-much-that-must-be-done-in-a-civilized-barbarism-like-war/) [Amelia Earhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-earhart/) > [There is a barbarism in the American soul, and we must protect some of it by law. To root it out is to endanger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/there-is-a-barbarism-in-the-american-soul-and-we-must-protect-some-of/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [In discussing Barbarism and Christianity I have actually been discussing the Fall of Rome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-discussing-barbarism-and-christianity-i-have-actually-been/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of egoism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/what-we-now-want-is-closer-contact-and-better-understanding-between/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [“Magic begins in superstition, and ends in science. ... At every step the history of civilization teaches us how slight and superficial a structure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/magic-begins-in-superstition-and-ends-in-science-at-every-step-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) [Browse all 238 Barbarism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds any of the evils for which Christendom might justly be indicted, not”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Bentley Hart" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for-barbarism-exceeds-any-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barbarism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for-barbarism-exceeds-any-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/david-bentley-hart-4691_barbarism_the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for_2119265.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the modern secular state's capacity for barbarism exceeds any of the evils for which Christendom might…” — David Bentley Hart", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Bentley Hart", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“the modern secular state's capacity for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for-barbarism-exceeds-any-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-modern-secular-state-s-capacity-for-barbarism-exceeds-any-of-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```