“The intolerant man will not rely on persuasion, or on the worth of the idea. He would deny to others the very freedom of opinion or of dissent which he so stridently demands for himself. He cannot trust democracy.” MenIdeasOpinionDemocracyDemandSpeechDenyRelyPersuasionDissent Book:The Pursuit of Justice Source: The Pursuit of Justice
“There are two kinds of comprehensive doctrines, religious and secular. Those of religious faith will say I give a veiled argument for secularism, and the latter will say I give a veiled argument for religion. I deny both. Each side presumes the basic ideas of constitutional democracy, so my suggestion is that we can make our political arguments in terms of public reason. Then we stand on common ground. That's how we can understand each other and cooperate.” GivingKindTwoIdeasReasonPoliticalSidesTermReligiousCommonDemocracyArgumentDenyDoctrineLatterSecularSuggestionsReligious FaithSecularismComprehensiveCommon GroundPolitical Arguments Author:John Rawls
“We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism....” PeopleWorldHumansCountryGovernmentFormValuesPracticeDemocracyRightsResourcesHatredThirdsHuman RightsDenyTerrorismHatedCorporationsThird WorldMultinationalsThird World CountriesMultinational Corporations Author:Howard Zinn
“No one can deny that some Islamist groups have credential and popularity. But that does not mean they are a majority. If we are serious about democracy we cannot blame the people for choosing what they want. We must promote the kinds of procedures and processes that are helping the people move ahead.” PeopleIfsWantKindMeanDoeHelpingMovingProcessDemocracyGroupsSeriousBlameMajorityDenyPopularityProceduresMoving AheadIslamists Author:Tariq Ramadan
“You don't help a country by supporting a military regime that denies any sign of democracy, and what defeated Pakistan was its military regime.” CountryHelpingDemocracyMilitaryDenyRegimesDefeatedPakistan Author:Indira Gandhi