All Quotes By Tag: Religion

“My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for His creature: of whom I had made an idol.”

“وليس في إسلامنا ما نخجل منه ، وما نضطر للدفاع عنه ، وليس فيه مانتدسس به للناس تدسساً ، أو ما نتلعثم في الجهر به على حقيقته . إن الهزيمة الروحية أمام الغرب وأمام الشرق وأمام أوضاع الجاهلية هنا وهناك هي التي تجعل بعض الناس .. المسلمين .. يتلمس للإسلام موافقات جزئية من النظم البشرية ، أو يتلمس من أعمال ” الحضارة ” الجاهلية ما يسند به أعمال الإسلام وقضاءه في بعض الأمور … إنه إذا كان هناك من يحتاج للدفاع والتبرير والاعتذار فليس هو الذي يقدم الإسلام للناس . وإنما هو ذاك الذي يحيا في هذه الجاهلية المهلهلة المليئة بالمتناقضات وبالنقائض والعيوب ، ويريد أن يتلمس المبررات للجاهلية . وهؤلاء هم الذين يهاجمون الإسلام ويلجئون بعض محبيه الذين يجهلون حقيقته إلى الدفاع عنه ، كـأنه متهم مضطر للدفاع عن نفسه في قفص الاتـهام”

“Ironic, isn’t it, what religion does to people?””I guess it’s more ironic what people do to religion.”

“Bagiku, El, omong kosong jika para petinggi agama mengatakan bahwa agama tidak ada urusannya dengan akal. Buat apa manusia dianugerahi otak jika untuk mengenali Pencipta Otak itu, dia tidak boleh menggunakan otaknya? Menurutku, agama selalu memberi kesempatan kepada para pemeluknya untuk memilah mana yang harus dia pastikan dengan akalnya, mana yang cukup dipercaya begitu saja. (Kashva to Elyas, MLPH: 126)”

“Profound hearts, wise minds, take life as God makes it; it is a long trial, and unintelligible preparation for the unknown destiny.”

“Neither Pagan nor Mahamedan nor Jew ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the Commonwealth because of his religion. -quoting John Locke’s argument.”

“Must you know that yours will be the “better” picture before you pick up the brush and paint? Can it not simply be another picture? Another expression of beauty?Must a rose be “better” than an iris in order to justify it’s existence?I tell you this: you are all flowers in the Garden of the Gods.”

“Torah is not just a book, not just a bunch of laws, and not just a history, but so much more. The Torah is a way ofd life to learn and live, and when studied, a spiritual way to understand life as well as providing instructions on getting closer to Adonai (God). When we treat others kindly, fairly, and lovingly, both in our home, social, and business lives, we are living Torah. The “truth” is the Torah is many things simultaneously.”

“At least two important conservative thinkers, Ayn Rand and Leo Strauss, were unbelievers or nonbelievers and in any case contemptuous of Christianity. I have my own differences with both of these savants, but is the Republican Party really prepared to disown such modern intellectuals as it can claim, in favor of a shallow, demagogic and above all sectarian religiosity?Perhaps one could phrase the same question in two further ways. At the last election, the GOP succeeded in increasing its vote among American Jews by an estimated five percentage points. Does it propose to welcome these new adherents or sympathizers by yelling in the tones of that great Democrat bigmouth William Jennings Bryan? By insisting that evolution is ‘only a theory’? By demanding biblical literalism and by proclaiming that the Messiah has already shown himself? If so, it will deserve the punishment for hubris that is already coming its way. (The punishment, in other words, that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson believed had struck America on Sept. 11, 2001. How can it be that such grotesque characters, calling down divine revenge on the workers in the World Trade Center, are allowed a respectful hearing, or a hearing at all, among patriotic Republicans?).[. . . And Why I’m Most Certainly Not! — The Wall Street Journal, Commentary Column. May 5, 2005]”

“Against logic there is no armor like ignorance.”

“Social Roles Do Not Define Character; Character Defines Social Roles”

“Religion is an infectious and contagious virus. It can infect everyone if they don’t have immunity provided by pure knowledge and pure wisdom.”

“Heresy is another word for freedom of thought.”

“فالدين عقل وعاطفة، وعلم وأدب، ونظر صائب، وبصيرة نيرة.”

“A man without reason is no better than a mad dog, and mad dogs must be put down for the good of everyone.”