Before Quote by Krista Tippett

There is a powerful desire by majorities to assert a religious identity for the country.

— Jack Balkin

In every historical period, the religious groups that grow most rapidly are those that set believers at odds with the surrounding culture.

— Nancy Pearcey

The very aspect of religions that many of their critics most fear - that the religiously devout, in the name of their faith, take…

— Stephen L. Carter

Religions prosper in large part because of the communities that they create.

— Lawrence Wright

Happily for the states, they enjoy the utmost freedom of religion. This freedom arises from that multiplicity of sects which pervades America, and which…

— James Madison

Religions survive mainly because they brainwash the young.

— A.C. Grayling

Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.

— E. O. Wilson

The great decisions of government cannot be dictated by the concerns of religious factions.... We have succeeded for 205 years in keeping the affairs…

— Barry Goldwater

“The established religions no longer ask fundamental questions about our identity and our reason for living. Instead, they concentrate purely on a series of…

— Paulo Coelho

Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.

— James Madison

Organized religious institutions are in for a huge transformation, for the simple reason that people have become genuinely religious in spite of them.

— Marianne Williamson

Every brand of religion maintains, and is, a permanent mechanism for transmitting ideas and values - whether one regards those values as admirable or…

— Susan Jacoby