# Quote — Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation

> It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. You are, of course, free to interpret the Bible differently—though isn't it amazing that you have succeeded in discerning the true teachings of Christianity, while the most influential thinkers in the history of your faith failed?

- Author: [Sam Harris](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sam-harris.md)
- Book: [Letter to a Christian Nation](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sam-harris/letter-to-a-christian-nation.md)
- Page: 11
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sam_Harris#Letter_to_a_Christian_Nation_(2006)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/sam-harris/letter-to-a-christian-nation/it-was-even

## More from this book

> One of the enduring pathologies of human culture is the tendency to raise children to fear and demonize other human beings on the basis of religious faith.

p. 80 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sam-harris/letter-to-a-christian-nation/one-of-the.md)

> Atheism is not a philosophy - it is not even a view of the world. It is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.

p. 51 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sam-harris/letter-to-a-christian-nation/atheism-is-not.md)

> Mahavira, the Jain patriarch, surpassed the morality of the Bible with a single sentence: "Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being." Imagine how different our world might be if the Bible contained this as its central precept.

p. 23 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sam-harris/letter-to-a-christian-nation/mahavira-the-jain.md)