--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we are too friendly to nice, decent…" description: "\"If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there's something virtuous about believing things becau..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/richard-dawkins-115_bishops_if-we-are-too-friendly-to-nice-decent-bi_3044863.jpg" --- # If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the… ![“If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there's something virtuous about believing things because of faith rather than because of evidence. We run the risk of betraying scientific enlightenment.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/richard-dawkins-115_bishops_if-we-are-too-friendly-to-nice-decent-bi_3044863.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/richard-dawkins-115_bishops_if-we-are-too-friendly-to-nice-decent-bi_3044863.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/richard-dawkins-115_bishops_if-we-are-too-friendly-to-nice-decent-bi_3044863.jpg) > “If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there's something virtuous about believing things because of faith rather than because of evidence. We run the risk of betraying scientific enlightenment.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Blind faith without evidence undermines scientific progress; critical thinking should guide belief. **In simple terms:** Evidence over blind faith. Key Takeaway Prioritize evidence. Themes science faith critical thinking Mood analytical skeptical inquisitive Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - education - public policy - media literacy - debate Key Concepts skepticism rationalism Questions to Reflect On - How do you evaluate claims you encounter? - What role should faith play in society? A Different Perspective Faith can provide comfort; balance needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believing Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believing-things-365397/) [Bishops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishops/) [Buying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buying/) [Decent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent/) [Decent Bishops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent-bishops-5036587/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-virtuous-5036588/) [Friendly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendly/) [Nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous/) [Virtuous Believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous-believing-5036586/) ## Related quotes > [If the emperor had capriciously decreed the death of the most eminent and virtuous citizen of the republic, the cruel order would have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/if-the-emperor-had-capriciously-decreed-the-death-of-the-most-eminent/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Bishops sit in the House of Lords automatically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/bishops-sit-in-the-house-of-lords-automatically/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [If we want to postulate a deity capable of engineering all the organized complexity in the world, either instantaneously or by guiding evolution, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/if-we-want-to-postulate-a-deity-capable-of-engineering-all-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Bishop goes on to the human eye, asking rhetorically, and with the implication that there is no answer, 'How could an organ so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-bishop-goes-on-to-the-human-eye-asking-rhetorically-and-with-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The fantasist in whom the reality barrier has broken down is unreliable, believing things when he should not, and telling things as true when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-blackburn/the-fantasist-in-whom-the-reality-barrier-has-broken-down-is/) [Simon Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-blackburn/) > [“When it comes to religion, we have a funny habit of believing things that make us feel better about ourselves." "What do you mean?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-wilde/when-it-comes-to-religion-we-have-a-funny-habit-of-believing-things/) [Jerome Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-wilde/) > [“I am quite sure I shall understand it, and as for believing things, I can believe anything provided that it is quite incredible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-am-quite-sure-i-shall-understand-it-and-as-for-believing-things-i/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that people gain a selective advantage from believing in things they can't prove.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randolph-m-nesse/i-can-t-prove-it-but-i-m-pretty-sure-that-people-gain-a-selective/) [Randolph M. Nesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randolph-m-nesse/) > [Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-seaton/faith-is-believing-in-things-when-common-sense-tells-you-not-to/) [George Seaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-seaton/) > [Not that believing such things has anything to do with whether they are true. You see that, don't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/not-that-believing-such-things-has-anything-to-do-with-whether-they/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“The point is that we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue; and then, when we are finally proved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-point-is-that-we-are-all-capable-of-believing-things-which-we/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I found out I'd spent my whole life believing things that weren't necessarily accurate. My sisters' memories of certain events are entirely different from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-buchwald/i-found-out-i-d-spent-my-whole-life-believing-things-that-weren-t/) [Art Buchwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-buchwald/) > [“...to have true faith means believing in things you cannot see just as true love sometimes means making choices you never thought you'd have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-watts/to-have-true-faith-means-believing-in-things-you-cannot-see-just-as/) [J.D. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-watts/) > [We're lying ourselves into believing things are untrue, like organic food will solve all our problems, or vitamins will make us healthy, or we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/we-re-lying-ourselves-into-believing-things-are-untrue-like-organic/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [Things aren't always as they appear. I've been believing things to be a certain way because I want them to be that way. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-dennen/things-aren-t-always-as-they-appear-i-ve-been-believing-things-to-be/) [Brett Dennen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-dennen/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Bishops quotes > [The good Bishop of Assisi expressed a sort of horror at the hard life which the Little Brothers lived at the Portiuncula, without comforts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-good-bishop-of-assisi-expressed-a-sort-of-horror-at-the-hard-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My last two characters have been Denethor and Walter Bishop. Both will be hard acts to follow. That sits in the hands of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-noble/my-last-two-characters-have-been-denethor-and-walter-bishop-both-will/) [John Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-noble/) > [The one thing that the Catholic Church desires, and that I seek as Bishop of Rome, “the Church which presides in charity”, is communion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-one-thing-that-the-catholic-church-desires-and-that-i-seek-as/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. The primary reason the old idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/i-don-t-see-jesus-as-rescuing-the-fallen-i-see-jesus-as-expanding-the/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/it-was-a-blonde-a-blonde-to-make-a-bishop-kick-a-hole-in-a-stained/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [We want to create, never mind the leaders or the bishops or chief rabbis or imams, or Popes. We want to create a grassroots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-want-to-create-never-mind-the-leaders-or-the-bishops-or-chief/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Only a good bishop can be sacrificed, a bad bishop can only be lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuri-razuvaev/only-a-good-bishop-can-be-sacrificed-a-bad-bishop-can-only-be-lost/) [Yuri Razuvaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuri-razuvaev/) > [Archbishop Milingo is a good Bishop and his contention that there are satanists in Rome is completely correct. Anybody who is acquainted with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malachi-martin/archbishop-milingo-is-a-good-bishop-and-his-contention-that-there-are/) [Malachi Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malachi-martin/) > [The future belongs to he who has the bishops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegbert-tarrasch/the-future-belongs-to-he-who-has-the-bishops/) [Siegbert Tarrasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegbert-tarrasch/) > [Inherent in the ordination to be bishop is both the right and the obligation to be directed by inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/inherent-in-the-ordination-to-be-bishop-is-both-the-right-and-the/) [Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/) > [Our bishops storehouses are not intended to stock enough commodities to care for all the members of the Church. Storehouses are only established to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/our-bishops-storehouses-are-not-intended-to-stock-enough-commodities/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [The kids kept walking, moving through the Henley's halls like a tide, but when Kat turned to leave, she walked in the opposite directions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-carter/the-kids-kept-walking-moving-through-the-henley-s-halls-like-a-tide/) [Ally Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-carter/) > [The Jackdaw sat in the Cardinal's chair! Bishop and Abbot and Prior were there, Many a monk and many a friar, Many a knight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-harris-barham/the-jackdaw-sat-in-the-cardinal-s-chair-bishop-and-abbot-and-prior/) [Richard Harris Barham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-harris-barham/) > [The first proof of charity in a priest, especially a bishop, is poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-first-proof-of-charity-in-a-priest-especially-a-bishop-is-poverty/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Browse all 323 Bishops quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bishops/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there's something virtuous about believing things because of faith rather than because of evidence. 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