--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No church that panders to the zeitgeist…" description: "\"No church that panders to the zeitgeist deserves respect, and very shortly it will not get respect, except from those who find it politically useful, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg" --- # No church that panders to the zeitgeist deserves respect… ![“No church that panders to the zeitgeist deserves respect, and very shortly it will not get respect, except from those who find it politically useful, and that is less respect than disguised contempt.” quote by Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg) > “No church that panders to the zeitgeist deserves respect, and very shortly it will not get respect, except from those who find it politically useful, and that is less respect than disguised contempt.” [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Institutions that chase trends lose genuine respect, gaining only conditional, politically useful regard. **In simple terms:** Trendy churches lose true respect. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity over popularity. Themes religion politics authenticity Mood skeptical analytical Type sociopolitical critical When to use this quote - church leadership - media strategy - public policy Key Concepts institutional integrity public perception Questions to Reflect On - What defines true respect for an institution? - Can relevance coexist with authenticity? A Different Perspective Respect cannot be forced through trends. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Zeitgeist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zeitgeist/) ## Related quotes > [Antiphon, as another man gets pleasure from a good horse, or a dog, or a bird, I get even more pleasure from good friends.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/antiphon-as-another-man-gets-pleasure-from-a-good-horse-or-a-dog-or-a/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Twitter is like Ozymandias' wall of tv's in Watchmen. You don't read every tweet, but from the whole you can absorb the zeitgeist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pohjola/twitter-is-like-ozymandias-wall-of-tv-s-in-watchmen-you-don-t-read/) Mike Pohjola > [Nothing really says ... interactivity - which was so exciting and captures the real, the Web Zeitgeist of 1995 - than 'Click here for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/nothing-really-says-interactivity-which-was-so-exciting-and-captures/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [To be considered part of the fashion zeitgeist is fun, but it will never steal my focus from my qualifications as a food writer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-leong/to-be-considered-part-of-the-fashion-zeitgeist-is-fun-but-it-will/) [Melissa Leong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-leong/) > [Breaking new factual ground is not what Zeitgeist is about, however. Rather, the video is a powerful and fast-acting dose of agitprop, hawking its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-kinney/breaking-new-factual-ground-is-not-what-zeitgeist-is-about-however/) Jay Kinney > [We are at a point in the video game industry that the industry is hollowed out. It is out of touch with the zeitgeist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-lasky/we-are-at-a-point-in-the-video-game-industry-that-the-industry-is/) [Mitch Lasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-lasky/) > [We are part of the zeitgeist, and we are communicating in a human, real way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tambor/we-are-part-of-the-zeitgeist-and-we-are-communicating-in-a-human-real/) [Jeffrey Tambor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tambor/) > [The zeitgeist is ever-changing. If you try second guess what people want, you'll miss it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-frost/the-zeitgeist-is-ever-changing-if-you-try-second-guess-what-people/) [Nick Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-frost/) > [I have a little antennae, and even when I'm trying not to be, I'm connected with the bloody zeitgeist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roisin-murphy/i-have-a-little-antennae-and-even-when-i-m-trying-not-to-be-i-m/) [Roisin Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roisin-murphy/) > [I'm not exactly the zeitgeist queen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jincy-willett/i-m-not-exactly-the-zeitgeist-queen/) [Jincy Willett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jincy-willett/) > [I love fashion because it's plugged into the zeitgeist, so it's always changing. Thirty years ago, I could never have predicted I'd be where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kors/i-love-fashion-because-it-s-plugged-into-the-zeitgeist-so-it-s-always/) [Michael Kors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kors/) > [There's no geist like the Zeitgeist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hughes/there-s-no-geist-like-the-zeitgeist/) [Robert Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hughes/) > [Sometimes we make assumptions about influence when similarities between two writers' work are so strong, but they're still just assumptions. Some things are sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-currie-jr/sometimes-we-make-assumptions-about-influence-when-similarities/) [Ron Currie Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-currie-jr/) > [Since I became part of the zeitgeist, I've been called a sellout many times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-wurzelbacher/since-i-became-part-of-the-zeitgeist-i-ve-been-called-a-sellout-many/) [Joe Wurzelbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-wurzelbacher/) > [Trigger warnings are an instantiation of the West's zeitgeist of perpetual offense and victimhood that defines much of public discourse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gad-saad/trigger-warnings-are-an-instantiation-of-the-west-s-zeitgeist-of/) [Gad Saad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gad-saad/) ## More by Robert Bork > [Those who made and endorsed our Constitution knew man's nature, and it is to their ideas, rather than to the temptations of utopia, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/those-who-made-and-endorsed-our-constitution-knew-man-s-nature-and-it/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [ \[The current governing judicial philosophy is:\] If you want something passionately enough, it is guaranteed by the Constitution. No need to fiddle around gathering… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-current-governing-judicial-philosophy-is-if-you-want-something/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [The major obstacle to a religious renewal is the intellectual classes, who are highly influential and tend to view religion as primitive superstition. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-major-obstacle-to-a-religious-renewal-is-the-intellectual-classes/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [The Federalist Society has done more for the health of the law than any organization I have witnessed in my career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-federalist-society-has-done-more-for-the-health-of-the-law-than/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [Reporters treat religion as beneath mention, as personally distasteful, or as a clear and present threat to the American way of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/reporters-treat-religion-as-beneath-mention-as-personally-distasteful/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [“Now, however, the educational system has become the weapon of choice for modern liberals in their project of dismantling American culture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/now-however-the-educational-system-has-become-the-weapon-of-choice/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [ When a judge goes beyond \[his proper function\] and reads entirely new values into the Constitution, values the framers and ratifiers did not put… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/when-a-judge-goes-beyond-his-proper-function-and-reads-entirely-new/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [I don't think the Constitution is studied almost anywhere, including law schools. In law schools, what they study is what the court said about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/i-don-t-think-the-constitution-is-studied-almost-anywhere-including/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [If the children already born each have only two children themselves ... in twenty-seven to thirty-five years the population of the world will double.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/if-the-children-already-born-each-have-only-two-children-themselves/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [In a constitutional democracy the moral content of law must be given by the morality of the framer or legislator, never by the morality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/in-a-constitutional-democracy-the-moral-content-of-law-must-be-given/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [As the courts keep pushing religion out of sight, the press either ignores it or treats it as some sort of emotional affliction. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/as-the-courts-keep-pushing-religion-out-of-sight-the-press-either/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [The National Rifle Association is always arguing that the Second Amendment determines the right to bear arms. But I think it really is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-national-rifle-association-is-always-arguing-that-the-second/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [The purpose that brought the fourteenth amendment into being was equality before the law, and equality, not separation, was written into the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-purpose-that-brought-the-fourteenth-amendment-into-being-was/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [One evening at a hotel in New York I flipped around the television channels. Suddenly there on the public access channel was a voluptuous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/one-evening-at-a-hotel-in-new-york-i-flipped-around-the-television/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [The American press is extraordinarily free and vigorous, as it should be. It should be, not because it is free of inaccuracy, oversimplification and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-american-press-is-extraordinarily-free-and-vigorous-as-it-should/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) [Explore all 40 Robert Bork quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) ## More Church quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [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/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you're in mission territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/the-minute-you-walk-outside-of-your-church-on-sunday-you-re-in/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) [Browse all 9,430 Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No church that panders to the zeitgeist deserves respect, and very shortly it will not get respect, except from those who find it politically useful, and that is less respect than disguised contempt.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Bork" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist-deserves-respect-and-very/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Church" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist-deserves-respect-and-very/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/robert-bork-16437_church_no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist_854759.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No church that panders to the zeitgeist deserves respect, and very shortly it will not get respect, except…” — Robert Bork", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Bork", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No church that panders to the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist-deserves-respect-and-very/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/no-church-that-panders-to-the-zeitgeist-deserves-respect-and-very/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```