“It does not become America that within her borders, where every man is free to follow the dictates of his conscience, men should raise the cry of church against church. To do that is to strike at the very spirit and heart of America.” MenShouldHeartDoeStatesAmericaSpiritChurchAtheismCryConscienceRaisesStrikesEvery ManPresidentialBorders Book:The papers of Woodrow Wilson Source: The papers of Woodrow Wilson
“The lessons of religious toleration - a toleration which recognizes complete liberty of human thought, liberty of conscience - is one which, by precept and example, must be inculcated in the hearts and minds of all Americans if the institutions of our democracy are to be maintained and perpetuated. We must recognize the fundamental rights of man. There can be no true national life in our democracy unless we give unqualified recognition to freedom of religious worship and freedom of education.” IfsMenGivingMindHumansHeartStatesChurchReligiousLibertyDemocracyRightsExampleLessonsWorshipConscienceInstitutionsFundamentalsRecognitionPresidentialHeart And MindTolerationHuman ThoughtUnqualifiedFundamental Rights Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
“And I should like to assure you, my Islamic friends, that under the American Constitution, under American tradition, and in American hearts, this Center, this place of worship, is just as welcome as could be a similar edifice of any other religion. Indeed, America would fight with her whole strength for your right to have here your own church and worship according to your own conscience. This concept is indeed a part of America, and without that concept we would be something else than what we are.” ShouldHeartStatesWholeWould BeAmericaFightingChurchWorshipConscienceConceptsTraditionConstitutionWelcomePresidentialIslamicEdificeAmerican TraditionAmerican ConstitutionPlaces Of Worship Author:Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The divine impeccability of the immortal [Soviet] State turned out not only to have suppressed individual human beings but also to have defended them, to have comforted them in their weakness, to have justified their insignificance. The State had taken on its own shoulders the entire weight of responsibility; it had liberated people from the chimera of conscience.” PeopleHumansStatesIndividualHuman BeingsResponsibilityTakenDivineWeaknessConscienceWeightShouldersImmortalSovietJustifiedLiberatedInsignificanceChimera Author:Vasily Grossman
“At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.” IfsFirstsStatesAmericaReligiousChristianityRightsOughtWorshipConscienceUniversalConstitutionEncouragementConsiderationSentimentsAmendmentsAdoptionFirst Amendment Author:Joseph Story
“The art of creation lies in the gift of perceiving the particular and generalizing it, thus creating the particular again. It is therefore a powerful transforming force and a generator of creative solutions in relation to a given problem. It is the currency of human exchanges, which enables the sharing of states of the soul and conscience, and the discovery of new fields of experience.” HumansArtSoulStatesProblemLyingGivenForcePowerfulCreativeCreationFieldsParticularCreatingSolutionsConscienceDiscoveryRelationCurrencyTransformingGeneratorCreative Solutions Author:Yehudi Menuhin
“Liberty of conscience is for those who truly fear the Lord. A fundamental task of the state is the establishment of pure religion.” StatesLibertyLordPureConscienceTasksFundamentalsEstablishment Author:John Cotton
“We cannot abdicate our conscience to an organization, nor to a government. 'Am I my brother's keeper?' Most certainly I am! I cannot escape my responsibility by saying the State will do all that is necessary. It is a tragedy that nowadays so many think and feel otherwise.” ThinkingFeelsStatesGovernmentResponsibilityBrotherConscienceOrganizationTragedyMy BrotherKeepers Book:Albert Schweitzer: An Anthology Source: Albert Schweitzer: An Anthology
“The church must be reminded that it is not the master, or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.” StatesChristianChurchMastersConscienceServantChurch And StateProphetic Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
“One desire has been the ruling passion of my life. One high motive has acted like a spur upon my mind and soul. and sooner than that I should seek escape from the sacred necessity that is laid upon me, let the breath of life fail me. It is this: That in spite of all worldly opposition, God's holy ordinances shall be established again in the home, in the school and in the State for the good of the people; to carve as it were into the conscience of the nation the ordinances of the Lord, to which Bible and Creation bear witness, until the nation pays homage again to God” PeopleShouldMindHas BeensSoulStatesHomeSchoolDesirePassionNationsPayChristianityLordFailingCreationBearsHolyConscienceBreathsSacredWitnessMotiveSpiteOppositionWorldlyRulingSpursHomageOrdinancesRuling Passion Author:Abraham Kuyper
“It is curious to note that when for reasons of conscience, people refuse to kill, they are often exempted from active military duty. But there are no exemptions for people who, for reasons of conscience, refuse to financially support the bureaucracy that actually does the killing. Apparently, the state takes money more seriously than life.” PeopleDoeStatesReasonSupportMilitaryDutyConscienceNotesKillingRefuseActiveCuriousBureaucracyExemption Author:Karl Hess