--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ethical teaching is weakened if it is…" description: "\"Ethical teaching is weakened if it is tied up with dogmas that will not bear examination.\" — Margaret E. Knight" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/margaret-e-knight-35085_atheism_ethical-teaching-is-weakened-if-it-is-ti_682819.jpg" --- # Ethical teaching is weakened if it is tied up with dogmas… ![“Ethical teaching is weakened if it is tied up with dogmas that will not bear examination.” quote by Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/margaret-e-knight-35085_atheism_ethical-teaching-is-weakened-if-it-is-ti_682819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/margaret-e-knight-35085_atheism_ethical-teaching-is-weakened-if-it-is-ti_682819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/margaret-e-knight-35085_atheism_ethical-teaching-is-weakened-if-it-is-ti_682819.jpg) > “Ethical teaching is weakened if it is tied up with dogmas that will not bear examination.” [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching loses integrity when bound to unquestionable doctrines that resist scrutiny. **In simple terms:** Dogmatic teaching is weak. Key Takeaway Encourage critical examination. Themes education dogma critical thinking Mood analytical inquisitive Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - classroom - policy - curriculum development Key Concepts philosophy of education skepticism Questions to Reflect On - How can tradition coexist with inquiry? - What safeguards prevent dogma? A Different Perspective Some traditions provide stability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Dogma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogma/) [Dogmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogmas/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) ## Related quotes > [“I still think that, in a way, I can't get past half my childhood dogmas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-still-think-that-in-a-way-i-can-t-get-past-half-my-childhood-dogmas/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [If by religion we are to understand sectarian dogmas, in which no two of them agree, then your exclamation on that hypothesis is just,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-by-religion-we-are-to-understand-sectarian-dogmas-in-which-no-two/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [We do not consider our principles as dogmas contained in books that are said to come from heaven. We derive our inspiration, not from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/we-do-not-consider-our-principles-as-dogmas-contained-in-books-that/) [Mustafa Kemal Ataturk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/) > [For how shall we fill people with blind faith in the correctness of a doctrine, if we ourselves spread uncertainty and doubt by constant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/for-how-shall-we-fill-people-with-blind-faith-in-the-correctness-of-a/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Dogmas of every kind put assertion in the place of reason and give rise to more contention, bitterness, and want of charity than any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/dogmas-of-every-kind-put-assertion-in-the-place-of-reason-and-give/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarreling,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/on-the-dogmas-of-religion-as-distinguished-from-moral-principles-all-2/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“Our religion, with its beliefs, rituals, and dogmas becomes another segment among all the other segments that constitute our linear and fragmented existence. 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It's taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/to-elevate-abstract-doctrines-and-dogmas-over-living-breathing/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarrelling,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/on-the-dogmas-of-religion-as-distinguished-from-moral-principles-all/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The man who has successfully solved the problem of his relations with the two worlds of data and symbols is a man who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-man-who-has-successfully-solved-the-problem-of-his-relations-with/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/many-orthodox-people-speak-as-though-it-were-the-business-of-sceptics/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Manipulation of human mind starts with dogmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marley/manipulation-of-human-mind-starts-with-dogmas/) [Peter Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marley/) ## More by Margaret E. Knight > [I want here to make three suggestions: first, that the doubts the ordinary man feels about religion are justified, and need not be stifled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/i-want-here-to-make-three-suggestions-first-that-the-doubts-the/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [It is difficult, none the less, for the ordinary man to cast off orthodox beliefs, for he is seldom allowed to hear the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/it-is-difficult-none-the-less-for-the-ordinary-man-to-cast-off/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [There is no ground whatever for the claim, so often made by religious apologists, that these ideals are specifically Christian and originated with Jesus.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/there-is-no-ground-whatever-for-the-claim-so-often-made-by-religious/) [Margaret E. 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Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [This hideous doctrine of eternal torment after death has probably caused more terror and misery, more cruelty and more violation of natural human sympathy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/this-hideous-doctrine-of-eternal-torment-after-death-has-probably/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [My chief aim was to combat the view that there can be no true morality without supernatural sanctions. So I argued at length that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/my-chief-aim-was-to-combat-the-view-that-there-can-be-no-true/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [During the ages of faith the Church argued, not illogically, that any degree of cruelty towards sinners and heretics was justified, if there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/during-the-ages-of-faith-the-church-argued-not-illogically-that-any/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [It is a mistake to try to impose Christian beliefs on children and to make them the basis of moral training. The moral education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/it-is-a-mistake-to-try-to-impose-christian-beliefs-on-children-and-to/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) [Explore all 13 Margaret E. 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