---
title: "Top Religion Lines"
description: "Browse 58,737 Religion quotes by 17,017 authors. Discover the best Religion sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1a/stephen-j-wellum-99247_death_what-a-glorious-savior-he-is-once-again_2493489.jpg"
---

> [“What a glorious Savior he is! Once again consider Christ in his entire identity, life, and work. In his birth, he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-j-wellum/what-a-glorious-savior-he-is-once-again-consider-christ-in-his-entire/)

[Stephen J. Wellum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-j-wellum/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1a/stephen-j-wellum-99247_death_what-a-glorious-savior-he-is-once-again_2493489.jpg)

> [“Those who think that the wisest way to groom a child for spiritual maturity is to isolate him from the evil, corrupted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-kimmel/those-who-think-that-the-wisest-way-to-groom-a-child-for-spiritual/)

[Tim Kimmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-kimmel/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d8/tim-kimmel-30578_children_those-who-think-that-the-wisest-way-to-g_2317230.jpg)

> [These political passions are born of a hunger so deep that it touches on the spiritual. Or they were for me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lierre-keith/these-political-passions-are-born-of-a-hunger-so-deep-that-it-touches/)

[Lierre Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lierre-keith/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/lierre-keith-18643_arrows_these-political-passions-are-born-of-a-h_2407408.jpg)

> [“Out of all of the sects in the world, we notice an uncanny coincidence: the overwhelming majority just happen to choose the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/out-of-all-of-the-sects-in-the-world-we-notice-an-uncanny-coincidence/)

[Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/richard-dawkins-115_heredity_out-of-all-of-the-sects-in-the-world-we_1909216.jpg)

> [“Institutions are not pretty. Show me a pretty government. Healing is wonderful, but the American Medical Association? Learning is wonderful, but universities?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/institutions-are-not-pretty-show-me-a-pretty-government-healing-is-2/)

[Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/356/huston-smith-2415_institutionalized_institutions-are-not-pretty-show-me-a-pr_3031819.png)

> [You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/you-find-as-you-look-around-the-world-that-every-single-bit-of/)

[Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/553/bertrand-russell-69_anti-religious_you-find-as-you-look-around-the-world-th_69072.jpg)

> [Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/many-poets-are-not-poets-for-the-same-reason-that-many-religious-men/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/thomas-merton-231_artist_many-poets-are-not-poets-for-the-same-re_1541436.jpg)

> [I give to my friends the assurance that if they will recast their ideas and attitudes about the relative importance of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-l-richards/i-give-to-my-friends-the-assurance-that-if-they-will-recast-their/)

[Stephen L. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-l-richards/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/stephen-l-richards-43666_assurance_i-give-to-my-friends-the-assurance-that_1800358.png)

> [“The Self is the only thing that is worth knowing. Nothing else in this world is worth knowing. The other things which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-self-is-the-only-thing-that-is-worth-knowing-nothing-else-in-this/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/dada-bhagwan-31_happiness_the-self-is-the-only-thing-that-is-worth_1702425.jpg)

> [It is very important to develop a relationship with Jesus. It is amazing to think that because He saw we were suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-smith/it-is-very-important-to-develop-a-relationship-with-jesus-it-is/)

[Esther Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-smith/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/esther-smith-42614_daily-life_it-is-very-important-to-develop-a-relati_444365.jpg)

> [God then makes people whom he puts right in the middle of all this loaded creation. Commanding them to care for creation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/god-then-makes-people-whom-he-puts-right-in-the-middle-of-all-this/)

[Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/rob-bell-1025_care_god-then-makes-people-whom-he-puts-right_852923.jpg)

> [We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/we-conclude-therefore-that-a-christian-lives-not-in-himself-but-in/)

[Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9f/martin-luther-106_caught_we-conclude-therefore-that-a-christian-l_2055208.jpg)

> [Faith transcends reason because divine truth is not only higher, but also wider than the human mind, and the rationalist in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dawson/faith-transcends-reason-because-divine-truth-is-not-only-higher-but/)

[Christopher Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dawson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/870/christopher-dawson-15516_aspect_faith-transcends-reason-because-divine-t_2766523.jpg)

> [“While we must continue to align ourselves in denominations that share our theological distinctives, at the local level our bias should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/while-we-must-continue-to-align-ourselves-in-denominations-that-share/)

[Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/timothy-keller-240_christian-church_while-we-must-continue-to-align-ourselve_1766447.png)

> [“(Prayer is) a fictitious consolation invented by those who have everything in order to keep those who have nothing contented. I belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-de-queiroz/prayer-is-a-fictitious-consolation-invented-by-those-who-have/)

[Eca De Queiroz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-de-queiroz/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6da/e-a-de-queiroz-57240_bourgeoisie_prayer-is-a-fictitious-consolation-inven_2612944.jpg)

> [Kant's aim was to develop a religion within the boundaries of mere reason (that is, reason unaided by special empirical revelation) and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/kant-s-aim-was-to-develop-a-religion-within-the-boundaries-of-mere/)

[Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/642/allen-w-wood-2748_aim_kant-s-aim-was-to-develop-a-religion-wit_1718338.jpg)

> [For that again, is what all manner of religion essentially is: childish dependency. If something is irrational, that means it won't work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-ellis/for-that-again-is-what-all-manner-of-religion-essentially-is-childish/)

[Albert Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-ellis/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe2/albert-ellis-3379_art_for-that-again-is-what-all-manner-of-rel_330032.jpg)

> [Prayer is an act of faith. Just by praying to God, you are declaring our trust in someone other than yourself. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stanley/prayer-is-an-act-of-faith-just-by-praying-to-god-you-are-declaring/)

[Charles Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stanley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d3/charles-stanley-2331_answers_prayer-is-an-act-of-faith-just-by-prayin_2157829.png)

> [“On the 30th of March, 1820—some months after this strange religious revolution—the first party of Christian missionaries arrived at the islands from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-david-kalakaua/on-the-30th-of-march-1820-some-months-after-this-strange-religious/)

[King David Kalakaua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-david-kalakaua/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/king-david-kalakaua-35546_religion_on-the-30th-of-march-1820-some-months-af_522926.jpg)

> [“When you are little, your parents seem all-powerful, all-knowing….you have complete faith in them. I think that is what Jesus meant when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pandra-selivanov/when-you-are-little-your-parents-seem-all-powerful-all-knowing-you/)

[Pandra Selivanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pandra-selivanov/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a64/pandra-selivanov-268037_children_when-you-are-little-your-parents-seem-al_1846473.jpg)

> [The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-hillary/the-explorers-of-the-past-were-great-men-and-we-should-honour-them/)

[Edmund Hillary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-hillary/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/edmund-hillary-3760_adventure_the-explorers-of-the-past-were-great-men_2084028.jpg)

> [“Even people whose lives have been made various by learning sometimes find it hard to keep a fast hold on their habitual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-people-whose-lives-have-been-made-various-by-learning-sometimes-2/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48b/george-eliot-84_exile_even-people-whose-lives-have-been-made-v_2803836.jpg)

> [It might work in the short term, but it's not going to keep the people who hop from congregation to congregation. Church…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-gordon-melton/it-might-work-in-the-short-term-but-it-s-not-going-to-keep-the-people/)

[J. Gordon Melton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-gordon-melton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/j-gordon-melton-71375_church_it-might-work-in-the-short-term-but-it-s_1090778.jpg)

> [It could be ventured to understand obsessive compulsive neurosis as the pathological counterpart of religious development, to define neurosis as an individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-could-be-ventured-to-understand-obsessive-compulsive-neurosis-as/)

[Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/sigmund-freud-360_counterparts_it-could-be-ventured-to-understand-obses_1993933.jpg)

> [“Without radical humility that is expressed in gestures of adoration and in sacred rituals, no friendship with God is possible. Silence manifests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sarah/without-radical-humility-that-is-expressed-in-gestures-of-adoration/)

[Robert Sarah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sarah/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/153/robert-sarah-16360_catholic_without-radical-humility-that-is-express_1741948.jpg)

> [“Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/count-it-all-joy-my-brothers-when-you-meet-trials-of-various-kinds/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/anonymous-1_faith_count-it-all-joy-my-brothers-when-you-me_2267217.jpg)

> [“The preacher must be surrendered to God in the holiest devotion. He is not a professional man, his ministry is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-bounds-2/the-preacher-must-be-surrendered-to-god-in-the-holiest-devotion-he-is/)

[E. M. Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-bounds-2/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/e-m-bounds-2-66512_preacher_the-preacher-must-be-surrendered-to-god_740599.jpg)

> [“There is something that assaults God even more directly. It is the subtle sense that grows in us, usually unconsciously, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/there-is-something-that-assaults-god-even-more-directly-it-is-the/)

[John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-piper-255_religion_there-is-something-that-assaults-god-eve_1136638.jpg)

> [“I learned I didn't matter from the very same place that lifted me up, the place I'd found my center and voice:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrisse-khan-cullors/i-learned-i-didn-t-matter-from-the-very-same-place-that-lifted-me-up/)

[Patrisse Khan-Cullors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrisse-khan-cullors/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/patrisse-khan-cullors-72228_religion_i-learned-i-didn-t-matter-from-the-very_638039.jpg)

> [“With respect to what are called denominations of religion, if every one is left to judge of its own religion, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/with-respect-to-what-are-called-denominations-of-religion-if-every/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/thomas-paine-267_religion_with-respect-to-what-are-called-denomina_1219101.png)

> [“He's not a bad guy, John. It's human nature. He wanted it to be some mistake I made that he wouldn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/he-s-not-a-bad-guy-john-it-s-human-nature-he-wanted-it-to-be-some/)

[Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/304/mary-doria-russell-3319_bad-guy_he-s-not-a-bad-guy-john-it-s-human-natur_2726218.jpg)

> [“There's a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street and being the noise.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mesnevi/there-s-a-community-of-the-spirit-join-it-and-feel-the-delight-of/)

[Mesnevi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mesnevi/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2d/mesnevi-262349_community_there-s-a-community-of-the-spirit-join-i_986265.jpg)

> [“Tertullian presents the Christian assemblies in terms that non-Christian readers would recognize; he attempts to establish common ground. But Tertullian is also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kreider/tertullian-presents-the-christian-assemblies-in-terms-that-non/)

[Alan Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kreider/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f6/alan-kreider-21061_books_tertullian-presents-the-christian-assemb_2268186.jpg)

> [I do believe my personal spirituality, which spirituality itself I don't really equate to anything more than my personal connection with nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mcgwire/i-do-believe-my-personal-spirituality-which-spirituality-itself-i-don/)

[Mark McGwire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mcgwire/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc8/mark-mcgwire-13124_believe_i-do-believe-my-personal-spirituality-wh_2294722.jpg)

> [“A cult is a group of people who share an obsessive devotion to a person or idea. The cults described in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-smith/a-cult-is-a-group-of-people-who-share-an-obsessive-devotion-to-a/)

[Margaret Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-smith/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/margaret-smith-33490_abuse_a-cult-is-a-group-of-people-who-share-an_207435.jpg)

> [“I have been to many religious services over the years. Each one I go to only reinforces my general impression that religions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-have-been-to-many-religious-services-over-the-years-each-one-i-go/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/david-levithan-67_believe-in-god_i-have-been-to-many-religious-services-o_425941.jpg)

> [Religion is to be used as a stepping stone to God but it must never be used as a tower to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peace-pilgrim/religion-is-to-be-used-as-a-stepping-stone-to-god-but-it-must-never/)

[Peace Pilgrim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peace-pilgrim/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e98/peace-pilgrim-1191_body_religion-is-to-be-used-as-a-stepping-sto_458165.png)

> [ At this gathering \[Council of Niceau in 324 AD\] many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon ― the date of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/at-this-gathering-council-of-niceau-in-324-ad-many-aspects-of/)

[Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66f/dan-brown-203_administration_at-this-gathering-council-of-niceau-in-3_1302366.png)

> [“for many people conversion is simply a matter of aligning their religious life with that of their family, friends, and neighbors who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-stark/for-many-people-conversion-is-simply-a-matter-of-aligning-their/)

[Rodney Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-stark/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/521/rodney-stark-7977_christianity_for-many-people-conversion-is-simply-a-m_3173503.jpg)

> [“I find something repulsive about the idea of vicarious redemption. I would not throw my numberless sins onto a scapegoat and expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-find-something-repulsive-about-the-idea-of-vicarious-redemption-i/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b6/christopher-hitchens-117_absolution_i-find-something-repulsive-about-the-ide_393814.jpg)

## Top authors on Religion

- [Lailah Gifty Akita 519 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/lailah-gifty-akita/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-mahatma-gandhi-62675.jpg) Mahatma Gandhi 333 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/mahatma-gandhi/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-dawkins-78503.jpg) Richard Dawkins 253 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/richard-dawkins/)
- [Dada Bhagwan 252 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/dada-bhagwan/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-swami-vivekananda-88348.jpg) Swami Vivekananda 231 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/swami-vivekananda/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-christopher-hitchens-23938.jpg) Christopher Hitchens 217 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/christopher-hitchens/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-jefferson-90435.jpg) Thomas Jefferson 208 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/thomas-jefferson/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-charles-spurgeon-22605.jpg) Charles Spurgeon 201 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/charles-spurgeon/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-timothy-keller-91037.jpg) Timothy Keller 192 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/timothy-keller/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 192 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/friedrich-nietzsche/)
- [Ralph Waldo Emerson 184 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/ralph-waldo-emerson/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-martin-luther-64750.jpg) Martin Luther 178 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/martin-luther/)

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                        "text": "“What a glorious Savior he is! Once again consider Christ in his entire identity, life, and work. In his birth, he is the divine Son and Lord who chooses to become our Mediator in obedience to his Father’s will. In his life, as the incarnate Son, he is still the sovereign King who willingly and gladly chooses to die for us. In his death, he does not die as a victim or martyr but as one who is fully in control, choosing to die for us. By his death, he pays for our sin, destroys death, and defeats Satan by putting him under his feet in triumph. In his resurrection, which is inseparable from his life and death, the Father by the Spirit exalts the Son and inaugurates the glorious new covenant age of the new creation. From that posture of authority, the glorified and exalted Son pours out the Spirit, once again proof that he is Lord and Messiah/King. From that same posture of authority, the exalted and ascended Lord rules over his people, governs history, and will return in power to consummate all that he has begun in his first coming.”",
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-j-wellum/what-a-glorious-savior-he-is-once-again-consider-christ-in-his-entire/",
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                        "text": "“Those who think that the wisest way to groom a child for spiritual maturity is to isolate him from the evil, corrupted world system or airbrush his childhood environment so much that it exposes only him to the good and never teaches him how to process the bad (or the counterfeit) will set a child up for a life of mediocrity at best and spiritual annihilation at worst.”",
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                            "name": "Tim Kimmel"
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                            "caption": "“Those who think that the wisest way to groom a child for spiritual maturity is to isolate him from the evil…” — Tim Kimmel",
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                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "These political passions are born of a hunger so deep that it touches on the spiritual. Or they were for me, and they still are. I want my life to be a battle cry, a war zone, an arrow pointed and loosed into the heart of domination: patriarchy, imperialism, industrialization, every system of power and sadism. If the martial imagery alienates you, I can rephrase it. I want my lifemy bodyto be the place where the earth is cherished not devoured, where the sadist is granted no quarter, where the violence stops.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Lierre Keith"
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                            "caption": "“These political passions are born of a hunger so deep that it touches on the spiritual. Or they were for me…” — Lierre Keith",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Out of all of the sects in the world, we notice an uncanny coincidence: the overwhelming majority just happen to choose the one that their parents belong to. Not the sect that has the best evidence in its favour, the best miracles, the best moral code, the best cathedral, the best stained glass, the best music: when it comes to choosing from the smorgasbord of available religions, their potential virtues seem to count for nothing, compared to the matter of heredity. This is an unmistakable fact; nobody could seriously deny it. Yet people with full knowledge of the arbitrary nature of this heredity, somehow manage to go on believing in their religion, often with such fanaticism that they are prepared to murder people who follow a different one.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Richard Dawkins"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/out-of-all-of-the-sects-in-the-world-we-notice-an-uncanny-coincidence/",
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                            "caption": "“Out of all of the sects in the world, we notice an uncanny coincidence: the overwhelming majority just…” — Richard Dawkins",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Institutions are not pretty. Show me a pretty government. Healing is wonderful, but the American Medical Association? Learning is wonderful, but universities? The same is true for religion... religion is institutionalized spirituality. — Mother Jones November/December 1997.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Huston Smith"
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                            "caption": "“Institutions are not pretty. Show me a pretty government. Healing is wonderful, but the American Medical…” — Huston Smith",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principle enemy of moral progress in the world.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Bertrand Russell"
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                            "caption": "“You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement…” — Bertrand Russell",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves. They never get around to being the particular poet or the particular monk they are intended to be by God. They never become the man or the artist who is called for by all the circumstances of their individual lives. They waste their years in vain efforts to be some other poet, some other saint...They wear out their minds and bodies in a hopeless endeavor to have somebody else's experiences or write somebody else's poems.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Thomas Merton"
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                            "caption": "“Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in…” — Thomas Merton",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I give to my friends the assurance that if they will recast their ideas and attitudes about the relative importance of the spiritual to the material, and bring themselves to participate in the mighty cause of establishing God's kingdom in the earth, they will find a satisfaction, a sureness of purpose, a peace and contentment, surpassing anything they have ever known.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Stephen L. Richards"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-l-richards/i-give-to-my-friends-the-assurance-that-if-they-will-recast-their/",
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                            "caption": "“I give to my friends the assurance that if they will recast their ideas and attitudes about the relative…” — Stephen L. Richards",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The Self is the only thing that is worth knowing. Nothing else in this world is worth knowing. The other things which you have known are all relative and they are destructible. If you have a desire for worldly happiness, then you have to know the destructible religion.  ”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Dada Bhagwan"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-self-is-the-only-thing-that-is-worth-knowing-nothing-else-in-this/",
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                            "caption": "“The Self is the only thing that is worth knowing. Nothing else in this world is worth knowing. The other…” — Dada Bhagwan",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "It is very important to develop a relationship with Jesus. It is amazing to think that because He saw we were suffering and struggling with our flesh, He left heaven, where everything was so wonderful, and voluntarily took those sufferings upon Himself to open a way for us! We also have to suffer, but it's not so hard when we love.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Esther Smith"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-smith/it-is-very-important-to-develop-a-relationship-with-jesus-it-is/",
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                            "caption": "“It is very important to develop a relationship with Jesus. It is amazing to think that because He saw we…” — Esther Smith",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "God then makes people whom he puts right in the middle of all this loaded creation. Commanding them to care for creation, to manage it, to lovingly use it, to creatively order it... They are environmentalists. Being deeply connected with their environment is who they are. For them to be anything else or to deny their divine responsibility to care for all that God has made would be to deny something that is at the core of their existence. This is why litter and pollution are spiritual issues.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Rob Bell"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/god-then-makes-people-whom-he-puts-right-in-the-middle-of-all-this/",
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                            "caption": "“God then makes people whom he puts right in the middle of all this loaded creation. Commanding them to care…” — Rob Bell",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Martin Luther"
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                            "caption": "“We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise…” — Martin Luther",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Faith transcends reason because divine truth is not only higher, but also wider than the human mind, and the rationalist in his haste for premature simplification always tends to shut his eyes to one aspect of the truth and to seek a false harmony of thought by the sacrifice of an essential element of reality.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Christopher Dawson"
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                            "caption": "“Faith transcends reason because divine truth is not only higher, but also wider than the human mind, and the…” — Christopher Dawson",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“While we must continue to align ourselves in denominations that share our theological distinctives, at the local level our bias should be in the direction of cooperation with other congregations. Because of this belief, Redeemer Presbyterian Church has for a number of years given money and resources to churches of other denominations that are planting churches. We have helped to start Pentecostal churches, Baptist churches, and Anglican churches, as well as Presbyterian churches. For our efforts we have received sharp criticism and a lot of amazed stares. We believe this is one clear way to practice the kind of catholicity that turns a city of balkanized Christian churches and denominations into a movement.”",
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                            "name": "Timothy Keller"
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                            "caption": "“While we must continue to align ourselves in denominations that share our theological distinctives, at the…” — Timothy Keller",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“(Prayer is) a fictitious consolation invented by those who have everything in order to keep those who have nothing contented. I belong to the bourgeoisie and I know the only reason my class bothers to show the lower classes that distant paradise full of ineffable pleasures that will one day be theirs is to divert attention from their own bulging coffers and from the abundance of their harvests.”",
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                            "name": "Eca De Queiroz"
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                            "caption": "“(Prayer is) a fictitious consolation invented by those who have everything in order to keep those who have…” — Eca De Queiroz",
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                        "text": "Kant's aim was to develop a religion within the boundaries of mere reason (that is, reason unaided by special empirical revelation) and then to ask about existing ecclesiastical faith (especially about Christianity, and the Lutheran Christianity of his time and place) how this revealed faith must be interpreted if it is to be reconciled with reason, and even seen as a wider (though morally optional) extension of a religion of reason.",
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                        "text": "For that again, is what all manner of religion essentially is: childish dependency. If something is irrational, that means it won't work. It's usually unrealistic. People don't just get upset. They contribute to their upsetness. People have motives and thoughts of which they are unaware. Rational beliefs bring us closer to getting good results in the real world. Self-esteem is the greatest sickness known to man or woman because it's conditional. The art of love is largely the art of persistence.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Albert Ellis"
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                            "caption": "“For that again, is what all manner of religion essentially is: childish dependency. If something is…” — Albert Ellis",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Prayer is an act of faith. Just by praying to God, you are declaring our trust in someone other than yourself. Your faith is increased as you pray and watch how God answers your prayers. God says in Jeremiah 33:3, Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know. God is awesome in power and there is never a time when He is not beside you. He is faithful and holy.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Charles Stanley"
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                            "caption": "“Prayer is an act of faith. Just by praying to God, you are declaring our trust in someone other than…” — Charles Stanley",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“On the 30th of March, 1820—some months after this strange religious revolution—the first party of Christian missionaries arrived at the islands from Massachusetts. They were well received. They found a people without a religion, and their work was easy. Other missionary parties followed from time to time, and found the field alike profitable to the cause in which they labored and to themselves individually. They acquired substantial possessions in their new home, controlled the government for the fifty or more years following, and their children are to-day among the most prosperous residents of the group. This is not said with a view to undervalue the services of the early missionaries to Hawaii, but to show that all missionary fields have not been financially unfruitful to zealous and provident workers.”",
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                            "name": "King David Kalakaua"
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“When you are little, your parents seem all-powerful, all-knowing….you have complete faith in them. I think that is what Jesus meant when he talked of the faith of children….total unquestioning faith and trust in God as we trust and believe in our parents as children.”",
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                            "name": "Pandra Selivanov"
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                            "caption": "“When you are little, your parents seem all-powerful, all-knowing….you have complete faith in them. I think…” — Pandra Selivanov",
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                        "text": "The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit lives on. It is still not hard to find a man who will adventure for the sake of a dream or one who will search, for the pleasure of searching, not for what he may find.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edmund Hillary"
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                            "caption": "“The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit…” — Edmund Hillary",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Even people whose lives have been made various by learning sometimes find it hard to keep a fast hold on their habitual views of life, on their faith in the Invisible - nay, on the sense that their past joys and sorrows are a real experience, when they are suddenly transported to a new land, where the beings around them know nothing of their history, and share none of their ideas - where their mother earth shows another lap, and human life has other forms than those on which their souls have been nourished. Minds that have been unhinged from their old faith and love have perhaps sought this Lethean influence of exile in which the past becomes dreamy because its symbols have all vanished, and the present too is dreamy because it is linked with no memories.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "George Eliot"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-people-whose-lives-have-been-made-various-by-learning-sometimes-2/",
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                            "caption": "“Even people whose lives have been made various by learning sometimes find it hard to keep a fast hold on…” — George Eliot",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "It might work in the short term, but it's not going to keep the people who hop from congregation to congregation. Church is about one's relationship with God and one's relationship with people. The gimmick may attract you for the moment, but it's the substance that will hold you there.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "J. Gordon Melton"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-gordon-melton/it-might-work-in-the-short-term-but-it-s-not-going-to-keep-the-people/",
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                            "caption": "“It might work in the short term, but it's not going to keep the people who hop from congregation to…” — J. Gordon Melton",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "It could be ventured to understand obsessive compulsive neurosis as the pathological counterpart of religious development, to define neurosis as an individual religiosity; to define religion as a universal obsessive compulsive neurosis.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Sigmund Freud"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-could-be-ventured-to-understand-obsessive-compulsive-neurosis-as/",
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                            "caption": "“It could be ventured to understand obsessive compulsive neurosis as the pathological counterpart of…” — Sigmund Freud",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Without radical humility that is expressed in gestures of adoration and in sacred rituals, no friendship with God is possible. Silence manifests this connection in an obvious way. True Christian silence makes itself sacred silence first so as to become silence of communion.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Robert Sarah"
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                            "caption": "“Without radical humility that is expressed in gestures of adoration and in sacred rituals, no friendship…” — Robert Sarah",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. -James 1:2-4”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Anonymous"
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                            "caption": "“Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your…” — Anonymous",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The preacher must be surrendered to God in the holiest devotion. He is not a professional man, his ministry is not a profession; it is a divine institution, a divine devotion. He is devoted to God. His aim, aspirations, ambition are for God and to God, and to such prayer is as essential as food is to life.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "E. M. Bounds"
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                            "caption": "“The preacher must be surrendered to God in the holiest devotion. He is not a professional man, his ministry…” — E. M. Bounds",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“There is something that assaults God even more directly. It is the subtle sense that grows in us, usually unconsciously, that the real effectiveness of our spiritual acts is at the horizontal level among people, not before the face of God. In other words, if my children see me pray at meals, it will do them good. If the staff sees me fasting, they may be inspired to fast. If my roommate sees me read my Bible, he may be inspired to read his. And soon. Now that’s not all bad. Jesus’ public prayers certainly inspired the disciples (Luke 11:1). But the danger is that all of our life—including our spiritual life—starts to be justified and understood simply on the horizontal level for the effects it can have because others see it happening. And so God subtly and slowly can become a secondary Person in the living of our lives. We may think that he is important to us because all these things that we are doing are the kinds of things he wants us to do. But, in fact, he himself is falling out of the picture as the focus of it all.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "John Piper"
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                            "caption": "“There is something that assaults God even more directly. It is the subtle sense that grows in us, usually…” — John Piper",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“I learned I didn't matter from the very same place that lifted me up, the place I'd found my center and voice: school. And it will not be until I am an adult, determined to achieve a degree in religion, part of a long and dedicated process I undertook to become an ordained minister, that I will enjoy school again.”",
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                            "name": "Patrisse Khan-Cullors"
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                            "caption": "“I learned I didn't matter from the very same place that lifted me up, the place I'd found my center and…” — Patrisse Khan-Cullors",
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                        "text": "“With respect to what are called denominations of religion, if every one is left to judge of its own religion, there is no such thing as a religion that is wrong; but if they are to judge of each other's religion, there is no such thing as a religion that is right; and therefore all the world is right, or all the world is wrong. but with respect to religion itself, without regard to names, and as directing itself from the universal family of mankind to the Divine object of all adoration, it is man bringing to his Maker the fruits of his heart; and though those fruits may differ from each other like the fruits of the earth, the grateful tribute of every one is accepted.”",
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                        "text": "“He's not a bad guy, John. It's human nature. He wanted it to be some mistake I made that he wouldn't have made, some flaw in me that he didn't share, so he could believe it wouldn't have happened to him. But it wasn't my fault. It was either blind, dumb, stupid luck from start to finish, in which case, we are all in the wrong business gentleman, or it was a God I cannot worship.”",
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                        "text": "“There's a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street and being the noise. Drink all your passion, and be a disgrace. Close both eyes to see with the other eye. From Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks”",
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                        "text": "“Tertullian presents the Christian assemblies in terms that non-Christian readers would recognize; he attempts to establish common ground. But Tertullian is also interested in differentiating the Christian assemblies from the collegia. He does this especially by looking, not at the written constitutions of the groups, but at the configuration of activities, customs, and reflexes that constitutes the groups’ habitus. The ways Christians behave, Tertullian is convinced, are their most articulate statements. As he puts it on the last page of his Apology, Christians “teach by deeds.”",
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                        "text": "I do believe my personal spirituality, which spirituality itself I don't really equate to anything more than my personal connection with nature and the universe. With what is real, not a manmade contrivance. Finding a connection with those things through my music is something I've begun to take more seriously in order to understand why I feel that way.",
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                        "text": "“A cult is a group of people who share an obsessive devotion to a person or idea. The cults described in this book use violent tactics to recruit, indoctrinate, and keep members. Ritual abuse is defined as the emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive acts performed by violent cults. Most violent cults do not openly express their beliefs and practices, and they tend to live separately in noncommunal environments to avoid detection. Some victims of ritual abuse are children abused outside the home by nonfamily members, in public settings such as day care. Other victims are children and teenagers who are forced by their parents to witness and participate in violent rituals. Adult ritual abuse victims often include these grown children who were forced from childhood to be a member of the group. Other adult and teenage victims are people who unknowingly joined social groups or organizations that slowly manipulated and blackmailed them into becoming permanent members of the group. All cases of ritual abuse, no matter what the age of the victim, involve intense physical and emotional trauma. Violent cults may sacrifice humans and animals as part of religious rituals. They use torture to silence victims and other unwilling participants. Ritual abuse victims say they are degraded and humiliated and are often forced to torture, kill, and sexually violate other helpless victims. The purpose of the ritual abuse is usually indoctrination. The cults intend to destroy these victims' free will by undermining their sense of safety in the world and by forcing them to hurt others. In the last ten years, a number of people have been convicted on sexual abuse charges in cases where the abused children had reported elements of ritual child abuse. These children described being raped by groups of adults who wore costumes or masks and said they were forced to witness religious-type rituals in which animals and humans were tortured or killed. In one case, the defense introduced in court photographs of the children being abused by the defendants[.1] In another case, the police found tunnels etched with crosses and pentacles along with stone altars and candles in a cemetery where abuse had been reported. The defendants in this case pleaded guilty to charges of incest, cruelty, and indecent assault.[2] Ritual abuse allegations have been made in England, the United States, and Canada.[3] Many myths abound concerning the parents and children who report ritual abuse. Some people suggest that the tales of ritual abuse are \"mass hysteria.\" They say the parents of these children who report ritual abuse are often overly zealous Christians on a \"witch-hunt\" to persecute satanists. These skeptics say the parents are fearful of satanism, and they use their knowledge of the Black Mass (a historically well-known, sexualized ritual in which animals and humans are sacrificed) to brainwash their children into saying they were abused by satanists.[4] In 1992 I conducted a study to separate fact from fiction in regard to the disclosures of children who report ritual abuse.[5] The study was conducted through Believe the Children, a national organization that provides support and educational sources for ritual abuse survivors and their families.”",
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                        "text": "“I have been to many religious services over the years. Each one I go to only reinforces my general impression that religions have much, much more in common than they like to admit. The beliefs are almost always the same; it's just that the histories are different. Everybody wants to believe in a higher power. Everybody wants to belong to something bigger than themselves, and everybody wants company in doing that. They want there to be a force of good on earth, and they want an incentive to be a part of that force. They want to be able to prove their belief and their belonging, through rituals and devotion. They want to touch the enormity. It's only in the finer points that it gets complicated and contentious, the inability to realize that no matter what our religion or gender or race or geographic background, we all have about 98 percent in common with each other. yes, the differences between male and female are biological, but if you look at the biology as a matter of percentage, there aren't a whole lot of things that are different. Race is different purely as a social construction, not as an inherent difference. And religion--whether you believe in God or Yahweh or Allah or something else, odds are that at heart you want the same things. For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that's different, and most of the conflict in the world comes from that.”",
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                        "text": "Religion is to be used as a stepping stone to God but it must never be used as a tower to hold one aloft from others. We are all cells in the body of humanity. When anyone attempts to isolate another, they only isolate themselves more.",
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                        "text": "At this gathering [Council of Niceau in 324 AD] many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon ― the date of Easter, the role of the bishops, the administration of sacraments, and, of course, the divinity of Jesus... until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet... a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.",
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                        "text": "“for many people conversion is simply a matter of aligning their religious life with that of their family, friends, and neighbors who already have joined—thus creating a self-sustaining network of growth. Finally, for many people of privilege and ambition, their abandonment of paganism was a matter of opportunism—many people professed Christianity or were discreet about their paganism in order to gain social and political advantages.”",
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                        "text": "“I find something repulsive about the idea of vicarious redemption. I would not throw my numberless sins onto a scapegoat and expect them to pass from me; we rightly sneer at the barbaric societies that practice this unpleasantness in its literal form. There's no moral value in the vicarious gesture anyway. As Thomas Paine pointed out, you may if you wish take on a another man's debt, or even to take his place in prison. That would be self-sacrificing. But you may not assume his actual crimes as if they were your own; for one thing you did not commit them and might have died rather than do so; for another this impossible action would rob him of individual responsibility. So the whole apparatus of absolution and forgiveness strikes me as positively immoral, while the concept of revealed truth degrades the concept of free intelligence by purportedly relieving us of the hard task of working out the ethical principles for ourselves.”",
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