“The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!”

“I'm a fundamentalist in the true sense. That is to say, I follow the fundamentals of religion... But for over 1,400 years people have been interpreting and re-interpreting the religion to suit their own purpose! ... These [extremist and terrorist acts] are not Islamic fundamentals any more than the Christians who burned people at the stake are fundamentalist. They are actually deviating from the teachings of the religion!”

“For the human race is, more than any other species, at once social by nature and quarrelsome by perversion.”

“Religion is a by-product of fear. For much of human history it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn’t killing people in the name of god a pretty good definition of insanity?”

“The flush toilet, more than any single invention, has 'civilized' us in a way that religion and law could never accomplish.”

“The pioneers and missionaries of religion have been the real cause of more trouble and war than all other classes of mankind.”