--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are so accustomed to think of religion…" description: "\"We are so accustomed to think of religion as a thing between individual men and God that we can hardly enter into the idea of a religion in which a who..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/william-robertson-smith-27443_accustomed_we-are-so-accustomed-to-think-of-religio_1442329.jpg" --- # We are so accustomed to think of religion as a thing… ![“We are so accustomed to think of religion as a thing between individual men and God that we can hardly enter into the idea of a religion in which a whole nation in its national organisation appears as the religious unit.” quote by William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/william-robertson-smith-27443_accustomed_we-are-so-accustomed-to-think-of-religio_1442329.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/william-robertson-smith-27443_accustomed_we-are-so-accustomed-to-think-of-religio_1442329.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/william-robertson-smith-27443_accustomed_we-are-so-accustomed-to-think-of-religio_1442329.jpg) > “We are so accustomed to think of religion as a thing between individual men and God that we can hardly enter into the idea of a religion in which a whole nation in its national organisation appears as the religious unit.” [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Religion is often seen only as personal belief, ignoring its role as a collective national identity. **In simple terms:** Religion can be a national institution. Key Takeaway Recognize religion's societal dimension. Themes religion nationalism identity Mood thoughtful analytical Type sociological philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - education - interfaith dialogue Key Concepts social cohesion political theology collective belief Questions to Reflect On - How does religion shape national identity? - Can religion unite diverse peoples? A Different Perspective Nationalism may suppress minority faiths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accustomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accustomed/) [Idea Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-religion-331250/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Organisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisation/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-nation-2817965/) [Religion Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-thing-377355/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Religious Unit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-unit-5165061/) [Think Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-religion/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [You think that religion is a thing that is there to help you and to see you through life, and then you wake up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/midge-ure/you-think-that-religion-is-a-thing-that-is-there-to-help-you-and-to/) [Midge Ure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/midge-ure/) > [That religion and that nation will be blotted out of the face of the earth which pins its faith on injustice, untruth or violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/that-religion-and-that-nation-will-be-blotted-out-of-the-face-of-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Let reverence for the laws . . . become the political religion of the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-reverence-for-the-laws-become-the-political-religion-of-the-nation/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“It was the US that turned this country into a killing field. Why won’t we face this? Why won’t we take responsibility? The reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-h-rockwell-jr/it-was-the-us-that-turned-this-country-into-a-killing-field-why-won-t/) [Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-h-rockwell-jr/) > [My idea of religion is we are supposed to bring people together. We are not supposed to judge other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barkley/my-idea-of-religion-is-we-are-supposed-to-bring-people-together-we/) [Charles Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barkley/) > [“There is yet another class that, having found that their own religion not only prevents free thinking but that some of its philosophies are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-ali-muhiyaddin/there-is-yet-another-class-that-having-found-that-their-own-religion/) [Mohammed Ali Muhiyaddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-ali-muhiyaddin/) > [“Why?' Said Harry. 'For the big idea, Oliver. Someone comes up with the big idea - could be religion, could be politics, could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hunt/why-said-harry-for-the-big-idea-oliver-someone-comes-up-with-the-big/) [Stephen Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hunt/) > [The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-falwell/the-idea-that-religion-and-politics-don-t-mix-was-invented-by-the/) [Jerry Falwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-falwell/) > [I find the whole idea of religion overwhelming and frightening and not for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-fern/i-find-the-whole-idea-of-religion-overwhelming-and-frightening-and/) [Cody Fern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-fern/) > [I could never take the idea of religion very seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-could-never-take-the-idea-of-religion-very-seriously/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [By getting as close to the true idea of religion, of spirituality as it is possible for us to get.. ...we would be in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/by-getting-as-close-to-the-true-idea-of-religion-of-spirituality-as/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [The patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian dispensations, are evidently but the unfolding of one general plan. In the first we see the folded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hopkins/the-patriarchal-the-jewish-and-the-christian-dispensations-are/) [Mark Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hopkins/) > [And perhaps this has to do with what I sense is a turning away from the idea of religion as being about conserving a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/and-perhaps-this-has-to-do-with-what-i-sense-is-a-turning-away-from/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [“He wished he understood where they come from: all the terrorists, religious revolutionists and hate-criminals. Did terrorizing entire communities of people help them sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thisuri-wanniarachchi/he-wished-he-understood-where-they-come-from-all-the-terrorists/) [Thisuri Wanniarachchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thisuri-wanniarachchi/) > [“Despite the fact that, the idea of religion has been filled by the human society with all sorts of garbage, and thus been made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/despite-the-fact-that-the-idea-of-religion-has-been-filled-by-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by William Robertson Smith > [The god, it would appear, was frequently thought of as the physical progenitor or first father of his people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/the-god-it-would-appear-was-frequently-thought-of-as-the-physical/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [Thus a man was born into a fixed relation to certain gods as surely as he was born into a relation to his fellow-men;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/thus-a-man-was-born-into-a-fixed-relation-to-certain-gods-as-surely/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [In all the antique religions, mythology takes the place of dogma; that is, the sacred lore of priests and people... and these stories afford…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/in-all-the-antique-religions-mythology-takes-the-place-of-dogma-that/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [It is only in times of social dissolution, as in the last age of the small Semitic states, when men and their gods were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/it-is-only-in-times-of-social-dissolution-as-in-the-last-age-of-the/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [In better times the religion of the tribe or state has nothing in common with the private and foreign superstitions or magical rites that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/in-better-times-the-religion-of-the-tribe-or-state-has-nothing-in/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [This being so, it follows that mythology ought not to take the prominent place that is too often assigned to it in the scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/this-being-so-it-follows-that-mythology-ought-not-to-take-the/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [But, strictly speaking, this mythology was no essential part of ancient religion, for it had no sacred sanction and no binding force on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/but-strictly-speaking-this-mythology-was-no-essential-part-of-ancient/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [The god can no more exist without his people than the nation without its god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/the-god-can-no-more-exist-without-his-people-than-the-nation-without/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [Even the highest forms of sacrificial worship present much that is repulsive to modern ideas, and in particular it requires an effort to reconcile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/even-the-highest-forms-of-sacrificial-worship-present-much-that-is/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [Belief in a certain series of myths was neither obligatory as a part of the true religion, nor was it supposed that, by believing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/belief-in-a-certain-series-of-myths-was-neither-obligatory-as-a-part/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [But if it not be true, the myth itself requires to be explained, and every principle of philosophy and common sense demand that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/but-if-it-not-be-true-the-myth-itself-requires-to-be-explained-and/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [This, it may be said, is no more than a hypothesis... only of that force of precedent which in all times has been so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/this-it-may-be-said-is-no-more-than-a-hypothesis-only-of-that-force/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [The myths connected with individual sanctuaries and ceremonies were merely part of the apparatus of the worship; they served to excite the fancy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/the-myths-connected-with-individual-sanctuaries-and-ceremonies-were/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [This, it may be said, is no more than a hypothesis, but it satisfies the conditions of a legitimate hypothesis, by postulating the operation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/this-it-may-be-said-is-no-more-than-a-hypothesis-but-it-satisfies-the/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) > [But we must not forget, this ritual expressed, certain ideas which lie at the very root of true religion, the fellowship of the worshippers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-robertson-smith/but-we-must-not-forget-this-ritual-expressed-certain-ideas-which-lie/) [William Robertson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) [Explore all 20 William Robertson Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-robertson-smith/) ## More Accustomed quotes > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. 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