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"Every state, says an inquisitor, has established some religion. No two, say I, have established the same. Is this a proof of the infallibility of establishments?" - ibid
"The way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them." - ibid
"No man complains of his neighbor for ill management of his affairs, for an error in sowing his land or marrying his daughter, for consuming his substance in taverns... In all these he has liberty; but if he does not frequent the church, or then conform in ceremonies, there is an immediate uproar." - ibid
(Haught is editor emeritus of West Virginia's largest newspaper, The Charleston Gazette-Mail. This is a chapter from his 1996 book, 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People With the Courage to Doubt, Prometheus Books, all rights reserved.)
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