religion

"CONCERNED BUT NOT CONSUMED!"

"The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God. . . Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold: if we just do the right things, someone will appreciate us and take care of us. . . Nontheism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves."

"How dismal it is to see present day Americans yearning for the very orthodoxy that their country was founded to escape."

"We can either emphasize those aspects of our traditions, religious or secular, that speak of hatred, exclusion, and suspicion or work with those that stress the interdependence and equality of all human beings. The choice is yours. (22)"

"A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism."

"The rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate."

"Don't follow a defeated foe. Follow Christ. It is costly. You will be an exile in this age. But you will be free."

"What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts."

"Who are your favorite heroines in real life? The women of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran who risk their lives and their beauty to defy the foulness of theocracy. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Azar Nafisi as their ideal feminine model."

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

"للعبد رب هو ملاقيه ،وبيت هو ساكنه ،فينبغى له أن يسترضى ربه قبل لقائه ،ويعمر بيته قبل انتقاله إليه."

"Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand."

"I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self security. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not."

"Saying someone is religious is heard in most of America as a compliment, a reassuring affirmation that someone will be moral, ethical, and after a few glasses of wine, a freak in the bedroom."

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"

"If you have to say or do something controversial, aim so that people will hate that they love it and not love that they hate it."

"Your religious beliefs are your business. They are not and should not be the basis for law. If you use them as justification to discriminate against others, don’t be upset when others decide you’re an asshole."[Blog post of July 26, 2011]"

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us."

"With a truly tragic delusion,” Carl Jung noted, “these theologians fail to see that it is not a matter of proving the existence of the light, but of blind people who do not know that their eyes could see. It is high time we realized that it is pointless to praise the light and preach it if nobody can see it. It is much more needful to teach people the art of seeing."

"Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you."