Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Splash du Jour: Tuesday

Although we are taught the Copernican astronomy in our textbooks, it has not yet penetrated to our religion or our morals, and has not even succeeded in destroying belief in astrology. People still think that the Divine Plan has special reference to human beings, and that a special Providence not only looks after the good, but also punishes the wicked. I am sometimes shocked by the blasphemies of those who think themselves pious -- for instance, the nuns who never take a bath without wearing a bathrobe all the time. When asked why, since no man can see them, they reply: 'Oh, but you forget the good God.' Apparently they conceive of the Deity as a Peeping Tom, whose omnipotence enables Him to see through bathroom walls, but who is foiled by bathrobes. This view strikes me as curious.
-- Bertrand Russell --


Have a great Tuesday!
*****

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Were do you find these quotes? This is really a very good one!
C.

be said...

And isn't it strikingly curious to know the bathing habits of nuns, and to further inquire about these customs, and to discuss them, and let the whole world know about them?
And I do agree: such views are extremely non-Copernican, astronomy or not.
Rumour has it that Copernicus was a most irregular canon, pretty close to secular, and could easily do without a bathrobe I'm sure.