Creation Quote by Wendell Berry
““Once the creator was removed from the creation, divinity became only a remote abstraction, a social weapon in the hands of the religious institutions. This split in public values produced or was accompanied by, as it was bound to be, an equally artificial and ugly division in people's lives, so that a man, while pursuing Heaven with the sublime appetite he thought of as his soul, could turn his heart against his neighbors and his hands against the world... Though Heaven is certainly more important than the earth if all they say about it is true, it is still morally incidental to it and dependent on it, and I can only imagine it and desire it in terms of what I know of the earth. (pg. 23, "A Native Hill")””
About This Quote
Source Book: A Native Hill, 1977
When divine authority is detached from daily life, it becomes an abstract tool for institutions, leading to moral division and alienation from both community and nature.
In simple terms: Removing God from life makes religion a distant weapon, causing social split.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and reconnect spiritual values with tangible, lived experience.
Themes
religion
morality
community
nature
alienation
Mood
reflective
critical
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
social commentary
When to use this quote
- political discourse
- environmental activism
- personal reflection
- community building
Key Concepts
secularism
institutional power
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- How does institutional religion shape your community values?
- Can spirituality be grounded without dogma?
A Different Perspective
Such abstraction can also provide comfort and shared identity for some.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
