--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If religion comes into the public square…" description: "\"If religion comes into the public square, it is as vulnerable as any other human institution to be pelted with produce. Ignorance does not become wisdo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/charlie-pierce-13624_doe_if-religion-comes-into-the-public-square_1721111.jpg" --- # If religion comes into the public square, it is as… ![“If religion comes into the public square, it is as vulnerable as any other human institution to be pelted with produce. Ignorance does not become wisdom just because you gussy it up with the Gospels.” quote by Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/charlie-pierce-13624_doe_if-religion-comes-into-the-public-square_1721111.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/charlie-pierce-13624_doe_if-religion-comes-into-the-public-square_1721111.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edf/charlie-pierce-13624_doe_if-religion-comes-into-the-public-square_1721111.jpg) > “If religion comes into the public square, it is as vulnerable as any other human institution to be pelted with produce. Ignorance does not become wisdom just because you gussy it up with the Gospels.” [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public religious institutions face criticism like any other, and ignorance isn’t solved by merely adding scripture. **In simple terms:** Religion can be criticized; adding text doesn’t create wisdom. Key Takeaway Critically assess beliefs rather than cloaking them. Themes religion public discourse criticism Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political debates - media commentary - educational curricula Key Concepts institutional vulnerability knowledge vs belief Questions to Reflect On - How can we foster respectful critique of religious ideas? - What role should faith play in public policy? A Different Perspective Criticism can be dismissed as bias, limiting constructive dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [Between knowledge of what really exists and ignorance of what does not exist lies the domain of opinion. It is more obscure than knowledge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/between-knowledge-of-what-really-exists-and-ignorance-of-what-does/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [When ignorance does not know something, it says that what it does not know is stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/when-ignorance-does-not-know-something-it-says-that-what-it-does-not/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! 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H. 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The purpose of religion is to unite the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-grey/religion-comes-from-the-word-re-or-again-and-ligare-meaning-to-bind/) [Alex Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-grey/) > [“The religion that only comes to us from external scriptures never becomes our own; our only tie with it is that of habit. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-religion-that-only-comes-to-us-from-external-scriptures-never/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [The word religion comes from an origin which means "coming together." But priesthood has been doing just the opposite, it has created splits in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-word-religion-comes-from-an-origin-which-means-coming-together/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Charlie Pierce > [There is a barbarism in the American soul, and we must protect some of it by law. 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Everyone knows, but nobody says, that if something happens again, the elite consensus in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/this-has-been-the-new-normal-since-september-11-everyone-knows-but/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [For all the huffing and blowing we get about rugged individualism, the American spirit and the American experiment always have had at their heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/for-all-the-huffing-and-blowing-we-get-about-rugged-individualism-the/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [There is a lot in American politics (and in American life) that is angry, greedy, reckless and violent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/there-is-a-lot-in-american-politics-and-in-american-life-that-is/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [The idea that America elected a black man to be its president forty years after it declined to allow Martin Luther King Jr. to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/the-idea-that-america-elected-a-black-man-to-be-its-president-forty/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [You know, what genuinely makes me uneasy with the way things are going are not - is not really that Trump is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/you-know-what-genuinely-makes-me-uneasy-with-the-way-things-are-going/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [The institutions of college athletics exist primarily as unreality fueled by deceit. 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Unfortunately, Obama has governed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/obama-ran-as-sane-and-decent-as-though-we-were-electing-a-mood-and/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [One of the great changes wrought by the increased public awareness of Alzheimer's - and thank you, Nancy Reagan, you wonderful tough old dame,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/one-of-the-great-changes-wrought-by-the-increased-public-awareness-of/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) [Explore all 49 Charlie Pierce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) ## More Doe quotes > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. 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