Overheard

Christians claim theirs is a faith based on love, but they'll just as soon kill you.
Prof. Timothy Shortell, Chair
Sociology Dept.
Brooklyn College of CUNY
New York Daily News, May 23, 2005

Any religion centered on a God who is both all-powerful and all-good, including Islam and the more monotheistically inclined versions of Hinduism, should be subject to a thorough post-tsunami evaluation.
Barbara Ehrenreich
Progressive, March 2005

I consider this [the separation of church and state] the most important issue I've ever dealt with because there's no freedom more important than religious freedom. . . . if we allow government to get overly involved in our personal religious faith and our houses of worship, it will start our country down a slippery slope that would fundamentally change our nation for the worse.
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas
Waco Tribune-Herald
March 28, 2005

[R]eligion today is big public business, using efficient political organization and cutting-edge information technology to advance its ends. Religions play bare-knuckle rough all the time, while demanding kid-glove treatment in return.
Writer Salman Rushdie
"Just give me that old-time atheism!"
Toronto Star, May 23, 2005

The Schiavo case is, indeed, a chance to highlight what's going on in America . . . the rise of politicians willing to violate the spirit of the law, if not yet the letter, to cater to the religious right . . . the future seems all too likely to bring more intimidation in the name of God and more political intervention that undermines the rule of law.
Columnist Paul Krugman
"What's Going On?"
New York Times, March 29, 2005

As a senator, I worried every day about the size of the federal deficit. I did not spend a single minute worrying about the effect of gays on the institution of marriage. Today it seems to be the other way around. . . . Our current fixation on a religious agenda has turned us in the wrong direction.
Former U.S. Sen. John C. Danforth
"In the Name of Politics"
New York Times, March 30, 2005

I do hide my atheism.
I think it would damage what I do, and fewer people would hear what I have to say about other things.
Andy Rooney
CBS corespondent
AARP, May & June 2005

The steel "Cross of the Crossroads" punctuating the junction of I-57 and Interstate Highway 70 in the center of Illinois . . . towers as close to the highway as the Illinois Department of Transportation would permit, hovering over passing motorists, its white sheet-metal panels reflecting the glare of sun in order to command attention, to shout and to bully with its message of Christian morals.
Prof. David McGrath
"The art of jamming beliefs down our throats"
Chicago Tribune, May 12, 2005