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Religious Quotes

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Religious Quotes

“There can be, therefore, no true education without moral culture, and no true moral culture without Christianity. The very power of the teacher in the school-room is either moral or it is a degrading force. But he can show the child no other moral basis for it than the Bible. Hence my argument is as perfect as clear. The teacher must be Christian. But the American Commonwealth has promised to have no religious character. Then it cannot be teacher.”

Children Character Shows School Christian Culture Force Religious Perfect Rooms Education Moral Christianity Clear Teacher Argument Bases Commonwealth Degrading True Education

Author:Robert Dabney

“Today we often think that before we start living a religious life we have first to accept the creedal doctrines and that before one can have any comprehension of the loyalty and trust of faith, one must first force one's mind to accept a host of incomprehensible doctrines. But this is to put the cart before the horse.”

Thinking Mind Firsts Today Force Religious Accepting Horse Loyalty Doctrine Host Comprehension Carts Religious Life Trust And Loyalty

Author:Karen Armstrong

“Religious people are not entitled to special rights, even if they are elected leaders or in the majority; they are not allowed to force everyone to support their religion.”

People Ifs Force Religious Leader Support Rights Atheism Special Majority Positive Atheism Entitled Elected Leaders

Author:Ed Buckner

“We urge all people to recognize that religious freedom requires not trying to use the power of government to force religious ideas on others.”

People Trying Ideas Use Government Force Religious Atheism Positive Atheism Urges Religious Freedom

Author:Ed Buckner

“Science may have come a long way, but as far as religion is concerned, we are first cousins to the !Kung tribesmen of the Kalahari Desert. Except for the garments, their deep religious trances might just as well be happening at a revival meeting or in the congregation of a fundamentalist TV preacher.... As we move further from the life of ignorance and superstition in which religion has its roots, we seem to need it more and more.... Why has religion become a force just when we'd have thought it would be losing ground to secularism?”

“I myself am not comfortable with the notion of secularists congregating in groups, except perhaps for defensive purposes: the last thing a secularist should wish to do is to act like a religion, with its rigid hierarchies, its suppression of divergent opinion, and, above all, its ruthless attempts (now mercifully inhibited by laws) to outlaw "heresy" by brute force. Opinions must be changed, one at a time if necessary, but if there are those who wish to persist in religious belief, they should certainly be allowed to do so.”

“There is no ground whatever for the claim, so often made by religious apologists, that these ideals are specifically Christian and originated with Jesus. What were specifically Christian were some of the less enlightened teachings, which have done untold harm. Christians claim that organised Christianity has been a great force for good, but this view can be maintained on one assumption only: that everything good in the Christian era is a result of Christianity and everything bad happened in spite of it.”

Has Beens Made Done Christian Jesus Force Religious Results Views Christianity Happened Atheism Teaching Ideals Claims Positive Atheism Harm Eras Assumption Spite Enlightened Organised

Author:Margaret E. Knight

“Two hundred years ago the forces of freedom challenged this idea. The children of the new enlightenment rose up to defy the tyranny of arrogant clergy and the censorship of pious bureaucrats. They boldly proclaimed that the state must be free from religious coercion and that religion must be free from state control. All individuals have the right to pursue the dictates of their own conscience. All citizens even have the right not to be religious at all.”

“I think it is wrong for the federal government to force Christian individuals, businesses, pastors, churches to participate in wedding ceremonies that violate our sincerely held religious beliefs. We have to stand up and fight for religious liberty. That's where this fight is going.”

Thinking Government Christian Fighting Individual Belief Force Church Religious Liberty Pastor Federal Government Ceremony Sincerely Religious Belief Religious Liberty Wedding Ceremony

Author:Bobby Jindal

“Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. 'Respect for religion' has become a code phrase meaning 'fear of religion.' Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”

“Religious ecstasy is a madness of thought freed of its bodily bonds, whereas in the ecstasy of love, the forces of twin natures unite, blend and embrace one another.”

Force Religious Madness Embrace Ecstasy Twins

Author:Honore de Balzac

“Air Force officials appear to be more concerned with appeasing the powerful Religious Right lobbyists who have argued against any guidelines that seek to respect and protect the rights of all cadets -- not just those adhering to majority religious beliefs.”

Belief Force Religious Powerful Rights Air Protect Concerned Majority Officials Religious Belief Air Force Guidelines Lobbyists Cadets

Author:Barry W. Lynn

“The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and guide the natural descent of its object, operates with irresistible weight; and Jovian had the good fortune to embrace the religious opinions which were supported by the spirit of the times and the zeal and numbers of the most powerful sect. Under his reign, Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory; and, as soon as the smile of royal patronage was withdrawn, the genius of Paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust.”

Source: THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (All 6 Volumes): From the Height of the Roman Empire, the Age of Trajan and the Antonines - to the Fall of Byzantium; Including a Review of the Crusades, and the State of Rome during the Middle Ages

“Of course, even the general designation 'religious' includes various basic ideas or convictions, for example, the indestructibility of the soul, the eternity of its existence, the existence of a higher being, etc. But all these ideas, regardless of how convincing they may be for the individual, are submitted to the critical examination of this individual and hence to a fluctuating affirmation or negation until emotional divination or knowledge assumes the binding force of apodictic faith.”

“Our freedom must be buttressed by a homogeny equally and unchallengeably free, no matter what color they are, so that all the other inimical forces everywhere -- systems political or religious or racial or national -- will not just respect us because we practice freedom, they will fear us because we do.”

Matter Political Force Religious Practice Color No Matter What

Book:Essays, Speeches & Public Letters

Source: Essays, Speeches & Public Letters

“The theory that religion is a force for peace, often heard among the religious right and its allies today, does not fit the facts of history.”

Doe Facts Today Force Religious Heard Theory Fit Allies

Book:The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

Source: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

“It is the religious impulse which supplies the cohesive force which unifies a society and a culture... A society which has lost its religion becomes sooner or later a society which has lost its culture.”

Culture Lost Force Religious Impulse Sooner Or Later Supplies

Book:Enquiries Into Religion and Culture (The Works of Christopher Dawson)

Source: Enquiries Into Religion and Culture (The Works of Christopher Dawson)

“There are always forces at work in a society, which are really forces of censorship - either religious bodies or zealots who are always putting pressure on things, whether it's books or art or film.”

Art Book Body Film Force Religious Pressure Censorship Zealot

Author:John Boorman

“[T]he bill exceeds the rightful authority to which governments are limited by the essential distinction between civil and religious functions, and violates in particular the article of the Constitution of the United States which declares that Congress shall make no law respecting a religious establishment.... This particular church, therefore, would so far be a religious establishment by law, a legal force and sanction being given to certain articles in its constitution and administration.”

“America's only respectable form of bigotry is bigotry against religious people. And the only reason for hatred of religion is that it forces us to confront matters many would prefer to ignore.”

People Matter Reason Christian America Form Force Religious Hatred Bigotry Respectable

Author:William Bennett

“Boy lovers and the lesbians who have young lovers... are not child molesters. The child abusers are priests, teachers, therapists, cops and parents who force their staid morality onto the young people in their custody.”

People Children Christian Young Force Parent Religious Boys Teacher Lovers Morality Priests Child Abuse Cop Therapists Young Love Abusers Custody

Author:Patrick Califia

“Lenin, Stalin, and Rakosi recognized that a renewed and purified Christianity was the only force that could move the masses as powerfully as the Marxist ideal could. They attacked it as the enemy that it was and is.”

Christian Moving Force Religious Christianity Enemy Mass Ideals Marxist

Book:Inspirational Writings of Charles Colson

Source: Inspirational Writings of Charles Colson

“It's said the religious right wants to force its faith on the public. But whose faith are we talking about?... Everyone who operates in the political arena wants to see their morals reflected in our laws and governmental institutions - including the National Organization of Women, the National Abortion Rights Action League, and the American Civil Liberties Union, whether or not they are willing to admit it.”

Want Said Action Christian Law Political Force Religious Talking Liberty Moral Rights Willing Organization Institutions Unions Including League Abortion Arena Civil Liberties Abortion Rights

Author:Don Feder

“What could be more absurd than the idea that genuine anti-Christian prejudice is a major force in American politics.”

Ideas Christian Force Religious Majors Prejudice Genuine Absurd American Politics Anti Christian

Author:Michael Kinsley

“In America, about the only thing censored today is Christianity, the same Christianity that was the driving force behind the building of this great nation.”

Today Christian America Force Nations Religious Behinds Christianity Building Driving Great Nations Driving Force Censored

Book:Enough is Enough

Source: Enough is Enough

“Nowhere have the forces of intolerance been displayed less tolerantly than in the area of religious speech and practice.”

Christian Force Religious Practice Speech Areas Intolerance

Book:The things that matter most

Source: The things that matter most

“This democracy... The elections in Iraq were held despite the American opposition. It was the will of the Iraqi people and the religious authorities. [The elections] were the result of pressure by Ayatollah Sistani, by the Iraqi religious authorities, and by the fighting forces in Iraq on America. They left the US no choice but to allow the elections.”

People America Choices Fighting Left Force Religious Results Democracy Authority Pressure Election Iraq Despite Opposition

Author:Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

“And a noble life is one ordered by, and oriented to, a transcendent moral code, not just one's own concept of existence and meaning and truth. ...if we want a society that reveres life, that defends the family, and that discourages delinquency and promotes decency, we cannot force a privatization of religion; we must allow the truth-claims of religious faith to be uttered aloud in the public square.”

Ifs Want Life Is Religion Force Religious Existence Moral Concepts Claims Noble Code Just One Squares Decency Religious Faith Discouraging Transcendent Moral Code Privatization Delinquency

Author:Rick Santorum

“Faith is like love, it cannot be forced. Therefore it is a dangerous operation if an attempt be made to introduce or bind it by state regulations; for, as the attempt to force love begets hatred, so also to compel religious belief produces rank unbelief.”

Ifs Love Made States Belief Force Religious Love Is Dangerous Produce Hatred Operations Regulation Introducing Begets Religious Belief Unbelief Like Love

Author:Arthur Schopenhauer

“One does well to put on gloves when reading the New Testament. The proximity of so much uncleanliness almost forces one to do this.”

Wells Doe Reading Force Religious Bible Testament New Testament Gloves Proximity

Book:The Portable Nietzsche

Source: The Portable Nietzsche

“What do I see in the God of that infamous sect if not an inconsistent and barbarous being, today the creator of a world of destruction he repents of tomorrow; what do I see there but a frail being forever unable to bring man to heel and force him to bend a knee. This creature, although emanated from him, dominates him, knows how to offend him and thereby merit torments eternally! What a weak fellow, this God!”

Ifs Knows Men World God Today Force Religious Know How Forever Tomorrow Creatures Weak Destruction Fellows Creator Knees Merit Heels Torment Repent Sects Inconsistent Frail Infamous

Author:Marquis de Sade

“Is religion a force for good? The evidence of history and the evidence of current events cast doubt on the truism.”

Evil Force Religious Doubt Events Evidence Casts Currents Truism Current Events

Book:Holy horrors: an illustrated history of religious murder and madness

Source: Holy horrors: an illustrated history of religious murder and madness

“The word spirit comes from the Latin word for "breath" - spiritu - and the origin of the word spirituality has to do with breath and life force, the mysteries of the ancients and all this. The word is very suspect in much of the art world - the Western art world. Certainly, spirituality has become divorced from religious.”

World Art Spirit Spirituality Force Religious Mystery Breaths Western Suspects Latin Divorced Art World

Author:Chris Martin

“Religious communities have historically been designed to counteract the forces of alienation. That's why so many successful social movements have relied upon the strength of spiritual communities and a large base of their organizing has been through them.”

Has Beens Spiritual Force Social Community Religious Successful Movement Alienation Social Movements Religious Community Spiritual Community

Author:Tim DeChristopher

“Yes, the kingdom of Christianity and the Church has been one of the most destructive forces in history, and there are levels of bastardization of religious beliefs. But the unique thing about Christianity is that it is so amorphous and not reductive to culture or place or anything. It's extremely malleable.”

Has Beens Culture Belief Force Church Religious Levels Christianity Unique Kingdoms Destructive Religious Belief Unique Things

Author:Sufjan Stevens