Pastoral Resources

I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.

Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that.

Moreover, behind this vague tendency to treat religion as a side issue in modern life, there exists a strong body of opinion that is actively hostile to Christianity and that regards the destruction of positive religion as absolutely necessary to the advance of modern culture.

As I have pointed out, it is the Christian tradition that is the most fundamental element in Western culture. It lies at the base not only of Western religion, but also of Western morals and Western social idealism.

Our bodies are at once the receiving and transmitting stations for life itself. It is the highest wisdom to recognize this fact and train our bodies to render them sensitive and responsive to nature. art and religion.

I do not belong to any religion. Everything is between God and myself.

Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.

As soon as beauty is sought not from religion and love, but for pleasure, it degrades the seeker.

The knife of historical relativism... which has cut to pieces all metaphysics and religion must also bring about healing.

Where knowledge ends, religion begins.

In Lincoln's day a President's religion was a very private affair. There were no public prayer meetings, no attempts to woo the Religious Right. Few of Lincoln's countrymen knew anything at all of his religious beliefs.

I have increasingly, over the years, felt that religion today does our civilization more harm than good.

It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.

It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on.

Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion.

Religion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside?

Religion and political expediency go beautifully hand in hand.

I'm always going back to one thing - my family... It's my family, my religion, my fighters. Put them in any order you want.

More than this, even in those white men who professed religion we found much inconsistency of conduct. They spoke much of spiritual things, while seeking only the material.

In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees.