Overheard

There's an old saying that God exists in your search for him. I just want you to understand that I ain't looking.

Actor/comedian Leslie Nielsen
Esquire, April 2008

One of the things that I think churches have to be mindful of is that if the federal government starts paying the piper, then they get to call the tune. I want to see how monies have been allocated through that [faith-based] office before I make a firm commitment [to] sustaining practices that may not have worked as well as they should have.

Sen. Barack Obama interview
Christianity Today, March 11, 2008

We stand tall in the press gallery, head unbowed, lips unmoving, emotions ping-ponging between agnostic contempt and a desire to rip off our shirt, revealing a thick, imagined, chest-sized Star of David tattoo.

Dear Idaho, we heathens too are participating in the political process.

Reporter Nathaniel Hoffman
"It's Time to Kick Jesus Out of Politics"
Boise Weekly, March 23, 2008

I am horrified by poor quality and transience. If you're religious, you can believe in the eternal. For me, the next best thing is the enduring.

My religion is nature. That's what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.

I don't think anyone needs the supernatural. I'm glad that natural is enough for me.

Dr. Oliver Sacks
The New York Times, March 9, 2008

I don't believe in heaven and hell concepts. I believe I've had heavenly moments and hellish moments.

Rev. Fay Gemmell
The Keene Sentinel, Feb. 16, 2008

Like every candidate, Obama must appeal to millions of voters who believe that without religion, most of us would spend our days raping and killing our neighbors and stealing their pornography. Examples of well-behaved and comparatively atheistic societies like Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark--which surpass us in terrestrial virtues like education, health, public generosity, per capita aid to the developing world, and low rates of violent crime and infant mortality--are of no interest to our electorate whatsoever. It is, of course, good to know that people like Reverend Wright occasionally do help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. But wouldn't it be better to do these things for reasons that are not manifestly delusional? Can we care for one another without believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is now listening to our thoughts?

Obama did not say that religion's effect on our society, and on the black community especially, has been destructive--and where it has seemed constructive it has generally taken the place of better things. Religion unites, motivates, and consoles beleaguered people not with knowledge, but with superstition and false promises. Surely there is a better way to bring people together in the 21st century.

Sam Harris
The Huffington Post, March 21, 2008