Faith Quote by Sam Harris
““Faith drives a wedge between ethics and suffering. Where certain actions cause no suffering at all, religious dogmatists still maintain that they are evil and worth of punishment (sodomy, marijuana use, homosexuality, the killing of blastocysts, etc). And yet, where suffering and death are found in abundance their causes are often deemed to be good (withholding funds for family planning in the third world, prosecuting nonviolent drug offenders, preventing stem cell research, etc). This inversion of priorities not only victimizes innocent people and squanders scarce resources; it completely falsifies our ethics. It is time we found a more reasonable approach to answering questions of right and wrong.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, 2010
The quote argues that religious moral judgments often invert ethical priorities, condemning harmless actions while endorsing harmful ones, leading to victimization and waste of resources.
In simple terms: Religious ethics can misplace moral focus, harming innocents and misusing resources.
Key Takeaway
Reevaluate moral judgments using reason and evidence.
Themes
ethics
religion
policy
human rights
resource allocation
Mood
critical
thought‑provoking
serious
Type
philosophical
political
ethical
When to use this quote
- policy making
- healthcare decisions
- legal reforms
- education curricula
- activism
Key Concepts
moral relativism
consequentialism
public health
bioethics
social justice
Questions to Reflect On
- How can societies balance religious freedom with evidence‑based ethics?
- What mechanisms ensure moral policies protect the vulnerable?
A Different Perspective
Religious doctrines may provide community cohesion and personal meaning despite ethical flaws.
![“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern world. [...] The first thing to observe about the moderate’s retreat from scriptural literalism is that it draws its inspiration not from scripture but from…” quote by Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b44/sam-harris-457_bible_moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to_6967.jpg)
