Overheard

Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have a separation of church and state. We're a democracy.

Commentator Rosie O'Donnell
"The View" TV show, Sept. 12, 2006

The opposite of religious belief is not atheism or secularism or humanism. It is not an "ism." It is independence of mind--that's all.

Author Martin Amis
The Age of Horrorism, Part II
The Observer, Sept. 10, 2006

If Christianity is supposed to be a ministry of reconciliation, but has become, instead, a divisive force in American political life, something is terribly wrong and we should correct it.

No theologian, however learned; no church council, however authoritative; no bishop or archbishop, however holy, will ever persuade me that protecting a frozen embryo that will never see the light of day should take precedence over my brother Don [who died of Lou Gehrig's disease].

. . . I just don't believe that any political party should be a sectarian party.

Former Sen. John Danforth, author
Faith and Politics: How the 'Moral Values' Debate Divides America
Associated Press, Sept. 15, 2006

Which gods are we trying to pacify and appease today, and every day, in Iraq, India and Afghanistan, in the United States, Britain, Spain, Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, Sudan and a dozen other places, that we must ceaselessly spill blood and commit mass murder?

Guest editorialist Kiran Nagarkar
"In Whose Name, Exactly?"
New York Times, Sept. 11, 2006

There may or may not be a God, but I'm not going to be the one who is going to give the answers. Every religion is telling us there's one God, but I'm not sure, so I'm not giving it a lot of thought.

Dying columnist Art Buchwald
Editor & Publisher, March 4, 2006

In Their Own Words

A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me. . . . I think there's change happening here. It seems to be there's a Third Awakening.

Pres. George W. Bush to conservative journalists
Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2006

I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty.

Pres. George W. Bush
Remarks to business group
Irvine, Calif.
Editor & Publisher, April 24, 2006

Freedom is a gift from the Almighty. . . . And the Catholic Church and its institutions play a vital role in helping our citizens acquire the character we need to live as free people.

Here in the United States, we work to strengthen a culture of life, through many state and federal initiatives that expand the protections of the unborn. . . .

Pres. George W. Bush
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
April 7, 2006, whitehouse.gov

. . . that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, . . . and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren't involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we're going to have a nation of secular laws. That's not what our founding fathers intended and that's certainly isn't what God intended.

. . . if you're not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin. . . . because people look to our country as one nation as under God and whenever we legislate sin and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don't know better, we are leading them astray and it's wrong.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla.
Florida Baptist Witness interview
Aug. 24, 2006

To put it simply, No Darwin, no Hitler.

Dr. D. James Kennedy
The Coral Ridge Hour
"Darwin's Deadly Legacy"
Aug. 26, 2006

I think Darwinism is popular as a story because it allows atheists not to have to explain why we're here.

Ann Coulter
The Coral Ridge Hour
"Darwin's Deadly Legacy"
Aug. 26, 2006

Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations. I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler--and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil. (Previous statement: "Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil.")

Father Gabirele Amorth
Vatican exorcist, Vatican Radio
Daily News [London], Aug. 28, 2006

I think it was seduction. She was 22 and Danny was 19. The only one accused of touching her is Danny, the baby boy. [In support of 4 American marines accused of raping a Filipino woman.]

Rev. James B. Reuter
Jesuit missionary
New York Times, Sept. 2, 2006

[Homosexual activity is contrary to the teachings of Christianity and homosexuals must change their behavior if they are to be welcome in the Anglican church.] We don't say "Come in and ask no questions." I do believe conversion means conversion of habits, behaviors, ideas, emotions. [He backs a resolution saying homosexual practice is incompatible with the bible.]

Rev. Rowan Williams
Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury
Head of Worldwide Anglican Communion
Interview, Nederlands Dagblad
LifeSiteNews.com, Aug. 28, 2006

[Christians and Muslim radicals are engaged in] a war to the spiritual death of one of us. Folks, they're not like us. They're not like us at all, and for them, their war has been going on for 1,200 years.

Mayor Ken Murray
Redding, Calif.
One Nation Under God ceremony
Record Searchlight, Sept. 8, 2006

[The conflict is] a war about idolatry--whether or not we are sold out to the living God or sold out to some substitute for him. [The announced closure of a family planning clinic is due to prayer.]

Rev. Jim Wilston
PrayerNorthstate
Co-sponsor (see above)
Record Searchlight, Sept. 8, 2006

I have today something from the ancient prophet Isaiah that speaks so clearly to what happened here, this tremendous effort. And now that it's over, it's a peace treaty brokered by the United Nations under Article 6 as opposed to Article 7, which means that the peacekeeping forces cannot really fire on insurgents such as Hezbollah. They're there essentially as peacekeepers, not as a military force, and that is extremely significant.

Isaiah said in the 26th chapter: 'We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth.'

We gave birth to wind. In other words nothing came out of this at all. We writhed in pain, but there was nothing born from it.

Rev. Pat Robertson
Lamenting the ceasefire
"700 Club," Aug. 14, 2006

There are a great many who have heard a calling of service and have answered with the words of Isaiah, 'Here am I. Send me.'

Texas Gov./candidate Rick Perry
endorsing faith-based spending
Addressing audience of 1,000
White House Conference on Faith-based and Community Initiatives
Austin, Texas
San Antonio Express-News, July 26, 2006