One of the important things about religion is that it is a sphere which is partially protected from selection. Religious creativity occurs when people pull out of the whole selectivity issue. Becoming celibate - obviously you couldn't be less selective… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share Image
We have to treat others as part of who we are, rather than as a 'them' with whom we are in constant competition. — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
Leaving home in a sense involves a kind of second birth in which we give birth to ourselves. — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
We have to understand ourselves as a part of the narrative of evolution. And evolution never stops. The notion that human evolution at some… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
While there are practical and sometimes moral reasons for the decomposition of the family, it coincides neither with what most people in society say… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
...for limited purposes only, let me define religion as a set of symbolic forms and acts which relate man to the ultimate conditions of… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
We may wonder at the choice of Israel and Rome as the archetypes of the new nation, in view of the long history of… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
It's clear all the way through history that practices are primary and beliefs are secondary. — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
Yet Buddhism is four hundred years older than Christianity, and if it's not a universal religion I don't know what a universal religion is.… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
We never get to the bottom of ourselves on our own. We discover who we are face to face and side by side with… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
The academic world is one of the few places where prejudice is supposed to be totally banned, and we're politically correct on everything, but… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
Human culture, in evolutionary terms, moves from episodic, to mimetic, to mythic, to theoretic - that made all kinds of sense. To some extent,… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
We're [humans] running great risks of doing things that will not be good for us. The cost can be very high indeed if we… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
Women have entered the work force . . . partly to express their feelings of self-worth . . . partly because today many families… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
The family is in flux, and signs of trouble are widespread. Expectations remain high. But realities are disturbing. — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
"Nothing is ever lost" means that what we are now goes all the way back through natural history. We are biological organisms and not… — Robert Neelly Bellah Copy Share
