This isn't WW2 or even military related...

This quote isn't WW2 or even military related, but just too good not to share!

"Heresy is what the minority believe; it is the name given by the powerful to the doctrines of the weak." — Robert G. Ingersoll, American lawyer and statesman (1833-1899).

 

"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know" -Ralph Waldo Emerson...Haha interesting quote could you possibly state the quote in your own words reflecting the way you understand it? I find the interpretation of quotes fascinating, I have my own on this one, but I would love to hear yours and why you like it.

 

Jagdtiger1, if one eliminates the religious connotations from the definition (between religions) it can still be applied to "conventional thought". The wooden hulled, sail driven ship-of-the-line admirals considered the concept of steam power "heresy". I think the later Battleship admirals called the idea of air-power supplanting "big gun Dreadnought" ships "heresy".

In the eyes of many religious fundamentalists of the Judeo-Christian faiths, evolution is "heresy", but so was the concept of the orbit of the earth around the sun at one time. Once not so long ago, the constant state astronomers called the "Big Bang" a "heresy".

I liked the quote since it covers so much territory other than religion’s narrow version of the word. And because it was stated before many of my examples, and held true.

 

I like quotations, however one never finds out who thought the original line good enough to use as a quotation. ( I think that makes sense.?)

 

I thought it was an interesting quote, so blame me for posting it,

His (Ingersoll's) radical views on religion, slavery, and woman’s suffrage, and other issues of the day effectively prevented him from ever pursuing or holding political offices higher than that of state attorney general. Illinois Republicans tried to pressure him into running for governor on the condition that Ingersoll conceal his agnosticism during the campaign, which he refused on the basis that concealing information from the public was immoral.

Many of Ingersoll's speeches advocated free thought and humanism, and often poked fun at religious belief (even though he was a minister's son). For this the press often attacked him, but neither his views nor the negative press could stop his rising popularity. At the height of Ingersoll's fame, audiences would pay $1 or more to hear him speak, a giant sum for his day.

Even "Wiki" has that much on the man:

Robert G. Ingersoll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I thought he had made a speech in the landmark Fergeson v. Plessy case (separate/equal, Jim Crow) in the Supreme Court, but I believe I am mistaken.

 

I agree with much of what you've just said, except this. But I'll respond with just another quote:

'If Man believes only that which his eyes can see, he's actually blind', Joseph Ratzinger.