I do understand what love is, and that is one of the reasons I can never again be a Christian. Love is not self denial. Love is not blood and suffering. Love is not murdering your son to appease your own vanity. Love is not hatred or wrath, consigning billions of people to eternal torture because they have offended your ego or disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity, or submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment, or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being.
~ Dan Barker
Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Amerikaanse atheïste en activiste, oprichtster van American Atheists, en bekend door het proces Murray vs. Curlett, dat resulteerde in de uitspraak van het Supreme Court, waarmee een eind kwam aan de praktijk van het verplichte dagelijks gebed in Amerikaanse openbare scholen.