--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Religion is too important a matter to its…" description: "\"Religion is too important a matter to its devotees to be a subject of ridicule. If they indulge in absurdities, they are to be pitied rather than ridic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/immanuel-kant-532_absurdity_religion-is-too-important-a-matter-to-it_2600333.jpg" --- # Religion is too important a matter to its devotees to be a… ![“Religion is too important a matter to its devotees to be a subject of ridicule. If they indulge in absurdities, they are to be pitied rather than ridiculed.” quote by Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/immanuel-kant-532_absurdity_religion-is-too-important-a-matter-to-it_2600333.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/immanuel-kant-532_absurdity_religion-is-too-important-a-matter-to-it_2600333.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/immanuel-kant-532_absurdity_religion-is-too-important-a-matter-to-it_2600333.jpg) > “Religion is too important a matter to its devotees to be a subject of ridicule. If they indulge in absurdities, they are to be pitied rather than ridiculed.” [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ridiculing devout believers is disrespectful; pity is more appropriate. **In simple terms:** Don’t mock faith. Key Takeaway Show empathy, not scorn. Themes religion respect empathy criticism humanity Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - interfaith dialogue - public discourse - education - media commentary Key Concepts ethics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - When is critique justified? - How can we balance respect and truth? A Different Perspective Pity may not address harmful practices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurdities Pitied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdities-pitied-1938160/) [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Devotee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotee/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Indulge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulge/) [Indulge in](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulge-in/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Pitied Ridiculed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pitied-ridiculed-1734655/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-important-356819/) [Ridicule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridicule/) [Subject Ridicule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-ridicule-1938159/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) ## Related quotes > [Honest error is to be pitied not ridiculed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/honest-error-is-to-be-pitied-not-ridiculed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cheerless poverty has no harder trial than this, that it makes men the subject of ridicule. \[Lat., Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/cheerless-poverty-has-no-harder-trial-than-this-that-it-makes-men-the/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [People who were gay were pitied and ridiculed by my parents - they had no modern sense of people being allowed to be who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-margolyes/people-who-were-gay-were-pitied-and-ridiculed-by-my-parents-they-had/) [Miriam Margolyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-margolyes/) > [I have been the subject of ridicule. People talk about me and they don't know me and this is an opportunity to tell my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-been-the-subject-of-ridicule-people-talk-about-me-and-they-don/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“the only thing you'll remember your dad saying about religion at all is that it's more important to walk the walk he'll be tying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-beverly/the-only-thing-you-ll-remember-your-dad-saying-about-religion-at-all/) [H.G. Beverly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-beverly/) > [Religion is an important institution. A nation without religion cannot survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/religion-is-an-important-institution-a-nation-without-religion-cannot/) [Mustafa Kemal Ataturk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/) > [Music is one field where your caste and religion is not important. People accept you so long as you can move them. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajiv-menon/music-is-one-field-where-your-caste-and-religion-is-not-important/) [Rajiv Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajiv-menon/) > [“the moral and spiritual imperatives of religion are important for humanity and should not be relegated unthinkingly to the scrap heap of history in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/the-moral-and-spiritual-imperatives-of-religion-are-important-for/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“Organized religion was not important to him, he said. It was more important how people behaved in their daily lives than what they did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-chamberlain/organized-religion-was-not-important-to-him-he-said-it-was-more/) [Diane Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-chamberlain/) > [Religion has been an important part of my understanding, my inquiry into what it means to be human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayad-akhtar/religion-has-been-an-important-part-of-my-understanding-my-inquiry/) [Ayad Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayad-akhtar/) > [“Religious toleration, to a certain extent, has been won, because people have ceased to consider religion so important as it was once thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/religious-toleration-to-a-certain-extent-has-been-won-because-people/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [If I had the money I'd pay people to have them read accurate books or posts about our own religion. It is very important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/varg-vikernes/if-i-had-the-money-i-d-pay-people-to-have-them-read-accurate-books-or/) [Varg Vikernes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/varg-vikernes/) > [I was raised religious. I was raised Christian. And there’s a lot of edgy topics and things that go on with religion, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hoechlin/i-was-raised-religious-i-was-raised-christian-and-there-s-a-lot-of/) [Tyler Hoechlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hoechlin/) > [Far from being hostile to religion is capable of rendering religion important services.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-norris-russell/far-from-being-hostile-to-religion-is-capable-of-rendering-religion/) [Henry Norris Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-norris-russell/) > [Religion is such an important part of so many people's lives, and I don't understand it at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-anner/religion-is-such-an-important-part-of-so-many-people-s-lives-and-i/) [Zach Anner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-anner/) ## More by Immanuel Kant > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [How then is perfection to be sought? Wherein lies our hope? In education, and in nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/how-then-is-perfection-to-be-sought-wherein-lies-our-hope-in/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Heaven has given human beings three things to balance the odds of life: hope, sleep, and laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/heaven-has-given-human-beings-three-things-to-balance-the-odds-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Beauty presents an indeterminate concept of Understanding, the sublime an indeterminate concept of Reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/beauty-presents-an-indeterminate-concept-of-understanding-the-sublime/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Philosophical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from concepts ; mathematical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from the construction of concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/philosophical-knowledge-is-the-knowledge-gained-by-reason-from/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-categorical-imperative-would-be-one-which-represented-an-action-as/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [When I could have used a wife, I could not support one; and when I could support one, I no longer needed any](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/when-i-could-have-used-a-wife-i-could-not-support-one-and-when-i/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Enlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority... Supere aude! Dare to use your own understanding!is thus the motto of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enlightenment-is-the-liberation-of-man-from-his-self-caused-state-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-ideal-of-the-supreme-being-is-nothing-but-a-regulative-principle/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“Jeg skal alltid handle slik at den regelen jeg handler etter kunne gjelde som allmenn lov.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/jeg-skal-alltid-handle-slik-at-den-regelen-jeg-handler-etter-kunne/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Deaths, births, and marriages, considering how much they are separately dependent on the freedom of the human will, should seem to be subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/deaths-births-and-marriages-considering-how-much-they-are-separately/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [It is precisely in knowing its limits that philosophy consists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/it-is-precisely-in-knowing-its-limits-that-philosophy-consists/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else’s life is simply immoral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-society-that-is-not-willing-to-demand-a-life-of-somebody-who-has/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [. . . as to moral feeling, this supposed special sense, the appeal to it is indeed superficial when those who cannot think believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/as-to-moral-feeling-this-supposed-special-sense-the-appeal-to-it-is/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Explore all 476 Immanuel Kant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## More Absurdity quotes > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Desire is this absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility. Ever optimistic, ever resourceful, desire tells us what it sees as it speeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-farley/desire-is-this-absurdity-that-holds-open-the-infinity-of-possibility/) [Wendy Farley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-farley/) > [I've always felt that comedy doesn't just come from misery. It comes from an absurdity around that misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/i-ve-always-felt-that-comedy-doesn-t-just-come-from-misery-it-comes/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/unaware-of-the-absurdity-of-it-we-introduce-our-own-petty-household/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [“Christianity would be helpless without the idea of free will and the idea of free will would be helpless without incongruity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/christianity-would-be-helpless-without-the-idea-of-free-will-and-the/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. 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