Hmm …

I recently came upon a peculiar quote: "Most people do not understand the word god is not the name of anything other than a concept, an idea in people’s minds." The quote was attributed to one Thomas Vernon, described as a professor emeritus of philosophy, as quoted by someone called Newton Joseph, Ph.D, in something called “It Is the Way You Think” (March 8, 2002). 

What is peculiar about it is that it seems to imply that a concept has no bearing on reality, which I doubt the professor really believes. Even something as abstract as justice corresponds to some actual  state of being. And the notion of bird does indeed correspond to a good many creatures so classified.