“What I learned at that moment was the extraordinary clout that religious organizations can have to impose their theological views on others. And I found it exasperating and dangerous.”

I think fundamentally, the real power behind the anti-choice movement in regard to abortion and the opposition to the rights of LGBT Americans is fundamentally religious.

Air Force officials appear to be more concerned with appeasing the powerful Religious Right lobbyists who have argued against any guidelines that seek to respect and protect the rights of all cadets — not just those adhering to majority religious beliefs.

It was an effort to include intelligent design and treat it as science, disparaging evolution along the way. That will not stand.

I was interested in the question of the power of religious organizations to effect public policy in a negative way.

When I was in college, and I found out at that time the Catholic Church was in such control of everything in communities, including in progressive places like New York – that a roommate of mine was not able to obtain an abortion with his girlfriend, even in places like New York.

I know that there are people who are secularists who have problems with the rights of gay people and problems with reproductive choice, but frankly those people are few in number.

I think one of the great strengths of Americans United is that it has such diversity.

Ohio’s students deserve a first-class education appropriate for the 21st century, not Sunday School lessons masquerading as science.

That it has not only people who have no religious belief, but lots of people who do and who take that belief very seriously. And I think that provides us with a great opportunity to talk about the separation of church and state.

I think it is going to be very difficult for any church that still calls itself a church, never to try and convince someone that their religion is the best one.

There are plenty of other groups, and some of them are quite good at what they do, but they also have an agenda of non-theism, but we don’t have, you might say, a theology. We just have a commitment to the Constitution.

The internet creates chaos and a dangerous kind of piracy but makes the viewer much more active and gives the voice to minority players.

When men – insofar as they are embodiments of the patriarchal idea – have become dangerous to children and other living things, themselves included

Again, during a sacrifice, the augur Spurinna warned Caesar that the danger threatening him would not come later than the Ides of March.

As a rock on the seashore he standeth firm, and the dashing of the waves disturbeth him not. He raiseth his head like a tower on a hill, and the arrows of fortune drop at his feet. In the instant of danger, the courage of his heart here, and scorn to fly.

The more able a man is, if he make ill use of his abilities, the more dangerous will he be to the commonwealth.

Carelessness about our security is dangerous, carelessness about our freedom is also dangerous.

You’re entering dangerous land when you start theorising about comedy.

For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it.