Quotes About Religion

The fundamental sanity of Indian civilization has been due to an absence of Satan.

This was also demonstrated to a more marked extent in the universal segregation of Dalit groups across all religions. Because much of religion was also linked to caste, it was not surprising that Christianity and Islam in India also functioned through a variety of sects, and recognized caste inequality and hierarchy in practice, however much they may have disavowed it in theory.

The remains of what might be the earliest temple dedicated to Hindu worship have been located through excavations at Besnagar.

Religion rarely fights for the equality of all in material life.

Periodization based on religion as the sole criterion of historical activity is a negation of history.

Pre-modern Hinduism had its warts—big and small—as do all religions, but its subtleties were richer than what is now being thrust on its believers. Hindutva is in many ways the antithesis of Hinduism, and aims to create a society that is narrow, bigoted and inward looking, in which the co-existence with those that differ, such as the minority communities of various kinds, is becoming increasingly impossible, as demonstrated by the frequency of communal riots.

The worship of the Buddha by non-Buddhists remained largely formal and deferential.

Religious nationalism takes an extreme form in communal historical writing.

Organized religion, however, is different from the religion of the individual.

The secular critique of communalism is not an opposition to religion but to the abuse of religion.

Insistence on the subservience of women did not dull male ardour in worshipping female deities, encapsulating the quintessential female force.

The decline of Buddhism in the Ganges heartland and the peninsula occurred before the Turkish conquest.

A fundamental sanity in Indian civilization has been due to an absence of Satan.

The discarding of the icon by both the Brahmo and Arya Samaj was almost a knee-jerk reaction. It was seen as a pollution of the original religion but possibly the jibe of idol worship may have enhanced this reaction.

If large numbers of Hindus converted then the majority of Muslims were indigenous Hindus and cannot be regarded as alien.

Religious violence is not alien to Hinduism despite the modern myth that the Hindus are by instinct and religion a non-violent people.

Historically the interesting question is when and why did the prohibition on eating beef become the requirement of a good Hindu.

Religion as an ideology needs to be analyzed in all its dimensions, for, unless its political, social and economic dimensions are openly discussed, even if it is claimed that such discussion hurts sensibilities, there can be no real move away from dogma to humanism.

Identity by religion, cutting across caste, region and language, has become something of a fantasy for pre-modern times.

John C. Brown] "You ought to keep the Sabbath, Bob." [Bob Ford] "You got your religion, I got my own. It isn't right to spoon it down our throats every Sunday." "It's just that me and the missus, we're Spirit-fired people, and when you think you've got the answer, well, you want to share it." "I'd just as soon as you didn't", said Bob.

there was a common understanding that religion generally served the powerful, who manipulated the words of the gods and prophets to justify their greed and lust for power. Yet Christianity comes in numerous guises; mystical to dogmatic; it is used by some as a reason to justify their wars, their oppression and their hatreds. Others use it to oppose those wars and other injustices.

Freedom of religion is a principle that is central to our Nation's Declaration of Independence. Congress has taken this positive step to protect our freedom to express allegiance to America's flag and the ideals it represents.

Must there always be "wars and rumors of war"? Accepting the inevitability of war is one thing, but glorifying war in the name of God and claiming that it reflects strong character and patriotism is quite another.

These manipulations are not evidence that evil is a result of religious beliefs. Instead, they show how evil men usurp the authority of religion to promote war. That this tactic can succeed reflects that too much complacency among people is preventing resistance against the thugs who coopt religion and use it for evil ends.