If religion were true, its followers would not try to bludgeon their young into an artificial conformity; but would merely insist on their unbending quest for truth, irrespective of artificial backgrounds or practical consequences.With such an honest and inflexible openness to evidence, they could not fail to receive any any real truth which might be manifesting itself around them. The fact that religionists do not follow this honourable course, but cheat at their game by invoking juvenile quasi-hypnosis, is enough to destroy their pretensions in my eyes even if their absurdity were not manifest in every other direction.

H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) American fabulist [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
Letter to Maurice W. Moe (3 Aug 1931)
    (Source)

In Selected Letters, Vol. 3, 1929-1931, pp.390-391 [ed. Derleth and Wandrei (1971)]

 
Added on 13-Sep-12 | Last updated 13-Sep-12
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Lovecraft, H. P.

Thoughts? Comments? Corrections? Feedback?