Religion

The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe in a master faith.

In your choosing your own death, you are robbing those that love you with such tenderness the opportunity of meeting you in your last moments…That last kiss, that last warm touch, that last breath, matters - but it was never intended for us to decide when that last breath is breathed.

When they beat me, they would tell me, 'You're all alone, scream as loud as you want. There is no one here to hear you’…I asked from God to die.

If you ask a Saudi Imam why women in Saudi Arabia can’t drive, he’ll say, ‘Because Islam demands it.’ But that’s absurd, because - first of all - Islam demands no such thing; and secondly, the only country in the world in which women can’t drive is Saudi Arabia. The inability to understand the difference between a cultural practice and religious belief is shocking among self-described intellectuals.

Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not ‘Islamic.’ No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim.
And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor the people it subjugates.
ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.

Jesus is not from Georgia. Jesus does not speak English. And Jesus is not a member of the NRA.

I think that local school districts - not the federal government - should make the decision about how they teach science, biology, economics. I want my kids to be taught about evolution; I want my kids to be taught about other theories.

Catholicism played a large role in democratizing this country, and now Catholicism and religion can play a huge role in putting the values system right.

Thirty-five is half a life. I can't lose the other half. I've lost so much living as a shadow of a person.

I don't like to talk badly about the Islamic State too much. At the end of the day, they're my brothers in Islam. But they're making mistakes, and they're too harsh on people, and they don't listen to scholars. I'm 100 percent convinced that they're on the wrong path.

I think there’s a sexual awakening going on among Iranian youth that transcends class, transcends religious barriers [and] religious differences at the moment. I’ve seen it really trickle down. So I think society is slowly changing, but the biggest fear for people is getting in trouble with the regime - getting in trouble with the law.

Not only should we not get our moral compass from religion, as a matter of fact we don’t…if you actually look at the bible or the Koran, and get your moral compass from there, it’s horrible – stoning people to death, stoning people for breaking the Sabbath. Now, of course we don’t do that anymore, but the reason we don’t do it is that we pick out those verses of the bible that we like, and reject those verses we don’t like. What criteria do we use to pick out the good ones and reject the bad ones? Non-biblical criteria, non-religious criteria. The same criteria as guide any modern person in their moral compass that has nothing to do with religion.