Agony Quote by Robert Green Ingersoll
“Who can estimate the misery that has been caused by this infamous doctrine of eternal punishment? Think of the lives it has blighted-of the tears it has caused-of the agony it has produced. Think of the millions who have been driven to insanity by this most terrible of dogmas. This doctrine renters God the basest and most cruel being in the universe. ... There is nothing more degrading than to worship such a god.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Lecture on Religion, 1885
The doctrine of eternal punishment degrades humanity and drives suffering, portraying God as cruel.
In simple terms: Eternal punishment doctrine is harmful and degrading.
Key Takeaway
Question and reject harmful doctrines.
Themes
theology
ethics
human suffering
Mood
critical
thought‑provoking
Type
philosophical
skeptical
When to use this quote
- personal belief formation
- social justice activism
- educational curricula
Key Concepts
dogma critique
philosophical inquiry
Questions to Reflect On
- What alternatives to punitive theology exist?
- How does belief in a loving deity affect morality?
A Different Perspective
Some may argue that belief in punishment maintains moral order.
![“[Nietzsche's doctrine of the eternal return] is what makes moments caught up in the immanence of return suddenly appear as ends. In every other system, don't forget, these moments are viewed as means: Every moral system proclaims that "each moment of life ought to be motivated." Return unmotivates…” quote by Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8cd/georges-bataille-3741_caught_nietzsche-s-doctrine-of-the-eternal-retu_1102748.jpg)
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
