--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We live in a highly polarized society. We…" description: "\"We live in a highly polarized society. We need to try to understand each other in respectful ways. To that end, I believe that we should make room for ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/alan-lightman-2270_atheist_we-live-in-a-highly-polarized-society-we_751605.png" --- # We live in a highly polarized society. We need to try to… ![“We live in a highly polarized society. We need to try to understand each other in respectful ways. To that end, I believe that we should make room for both spiritual atheists and thinking believers.” quote by Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/alan-lightman-2270_atheist_we-live-in-a-highly-polarized-society-we_751605.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/alan-lightman-2270_atheist_we-live-in-a-highly-polarized-society-we_751605.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/alan-lightman-2270_atheist_we-live-in-a-highly-polarized-society-we_751605.png) > “We live in a highly polarized society. We need to try to understand each other in respectful ways. To that end, I believe that we should make room for both spiritual atheists and thinking believers.” [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society’s division calls for mutual respect between secular and spiritual perspectives. **In simple terms:** Polarization demands respectful dialogue between differing beliefs. Key Takeaway Foster spaces for inclusive, respectful exchange. Themes polarization interfaith dialogue respect Mood hopeful constructive Type dialogue inspirational When to use this quote - community meetings - online forums - educational settings Key Concepts secularism spirituality communication Questions to Reflect On - How can we create common ground without diluting beliefs? - What practices encourage respectful listening? A Different Perspective Balancing differing worldviews can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Atheists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheists/) [Atheists Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheists-thinking-5845933/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believer/) [Believers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believers/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [I believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-believe/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Respectful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respectful/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spiritual Atheists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-atheists-1568801/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Believers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-believers-3505433/) [Try to understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-to-understand/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [What is certain is that for thinking believers to-day, faith is, before all and above all, wishing that God may exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/what-is-certain-is-that-for-thinking-believers-to-day-faith-is-before/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [Believing is easier than thinking; that's why there will always be more believers than thinkers. However, the results of god-belief are often far more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-thomas/believing-is-easier-than-thinking-that-s-why-there-will-always-be/) [Mark Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-thomas/) > [“To some believers, being on the pill or using a condom is a nonverbal way of telling God to go to hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/to-some-believers-being-on-the-pill-or-using-a-condom-is-a-nonverbal/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Most priests wish they were as righteous as they seem to most members of their congregations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-priests-wish-they-were-as-righteous-as-they-seem-to-most-members/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“It goes without saying that even those of us who are going to hell will get eternal life—if that territory really exists outside religious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/it-goes-without-saying-that-even-those-of-us-who-are-going-to-hell/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The greatest danger that besets us does not come from believers or atheists; it comes from those who, under the guise of religion, science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-greatest-danger-that-besets-us-does-not-come-from-believers-or/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [If religious people deny paradise to their opponents or to 'non-believers,' atheists would likewise seek to eliminate 'dangerous' believers with their 'childish' ways and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/if-religious-people-deny-paradise-to-their-opponents-or-to-non/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [“Whenever He answers prayers, God usually prioritizes those by people who, instead of their mouths, have prayed with their hands and/or feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/whenever-he-answers-prayers-god-usually-prioritizes-those-by-people/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [We're not mad at God, just like atheists don't hate Santa or Unicorns, they're just not there!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemant-mehta/we-re-not-mad-at-god-just-like-atheists-don-t-hate-santa-or-unicorns/) [Hemant Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemant-mehta/) > [I am like all other atheists only in that I do not believe there are any gods. Beyond that, I may differ dramatically in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carrier/i-am-like-all-other-atheists-only-in-that-i-do-not-believe-there-are/) [Richard Carrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carrier/) > [If all the Atheists & Agnostics left America, they'd lose 93% of The National Academy of Sciences & less than 1% of the prison population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/if-all-the-atheists-agnostics-left-america-they-d-lose-93-of-the/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [Good churches are not built by bad men; at least, there must be probity and enthusiasm somewhere in the society. These minsters were neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/good-churches-are-not-built-by-bad-men-at-least-there-must-be-probity/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Alan Lightman > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/every-reader-gets-something-different-from-a-book-and-every-reader-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > ["The Diagnosis" is by far my most ambitious book. I such great hopes for it... there was so much I wanted to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/the-diagnosis-is-by-far-my-most-ambitious-book-i-such-great-hopes-for/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the-contemporary-universe-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Except for a God who sits down after the universe begins, all other gods conflict with the assumptions of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/except-for-a-god-who-sits-down-after-the-universe-begins-all-other/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/each-person-who-gets-stuck-in-time-gets-stuck-alone/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-a-rigid-bonelike-structure-extending-infinitely-ahead-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/writers-are-a-loosely-knit-community-community-is-an-overstated-word/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Imagine a world in which there is no time. Only images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/imagine-a-world-in-which-there-is-no-time-only-images/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-the-clarity-for-seeing-right-and-wrong/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-time-has-three-dimensions-like-space-just-as-an-object/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) [Explore all 174 Alan Lightman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Atheist quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [That the world is in a bad shape is undeniable, but there is not the faintest reason in history to suppose that Christianity offers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/that-the-world-is-in-a-bad-shape-is-undeniable-but-there-is-not-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [Atheist’s denial of God’s existence needs just as much substantiation as does the theist’s claim; the atheist must give plausible reasons for rejecting God’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/atheist-s-denial-of-god-s-existence-needs-just-as-much-substantiation/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [“The atheist joined his hands. It wasn't against the Gods. He smiled, with his hands folded, saw his daughter's in-laws approaching near.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhavik-sarkhedi/the-atheist-joined-his-hands-it-wasn-t-against-the-gods-he-smiled/) [Bhavik Sarkhedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhavik-sarkhedi/) > [I am surprised that anyone can profess to be an atheist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/i-am-surprised-that-anyone-can-profess-to-be-an-atheist/) [Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [An Atheist wandering down a road where he meets up a four road junction , he asks a passer by hey !, where does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/an-atheist-wandering-down-a-road-where-he-meets-up-a-four-road/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [Good churches are not built by bad men; at least, there must be probity and enthusiasm somewhere in the society. These minsters were neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/good-churches-are-not-built-by-bad-men-at-least-there-must-be-probity/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of sin, was never invented by any of Adam's descendents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/an-ineffably-holy-god-who-has-the-utmost-abhorrence-of-sin-was-never/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [If all the Atheists & Agnostics left America, they'd lose 93% of The National Academy of Sciences & less than 1% of the prison population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/if-all-the-atheists-agnostics-left-america-they-d-lose-93-of-the/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [I am an atheist. I don't think there's anything divine. 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