Contumeliously defending the religious bubble

“Treat other people as you want to be treated. It’s that simple.”

“The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself.”

“No matter how small your congregation, some ‘other’ is a part of it.”

“Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.”

“This is what anti-blasphemy laws inevitably lead to: the arrest and persecution of religious minorities, including children, in order to ‘protect sensibilities’ of religious majorities.”

“I suppose that once you’ve started sleeping with minors it damages the credibility of your rants against toe cleavage.”

“Conservative evangelicals in England have dreamed or hoped for 20 years that England could be brought back to a Nigerian or Ugandan view of homosexuality. It’s not going to happen.”

“The notion that Christians should dance carefully around reality, that we should speak in euphemisms and only tell comfortable, sanitized stories, is a destructive one that has profoundly affected the evangelical culture as a whole.”

“From inside the ‘hedge of protection’ — a Christian ghetto undisturbed by competing viewpoints — the pastors could not fathom 2016: Obama’s America as blatant propaganda.”

“I can’t wait for a little kid in the congregation to yell out, ‘Were you there?’”

“They think there’s only one interpretation of the Bible — theirs. Which, when you think about it, is a strange interpretation of religious freedom, isn’t it?”

“The hustler isn’t simply scapegoating one group, he is betting on the thick-wittedness of the other group to which he alleges fealty.”

“Haters tend to be equal-opportunity-haters. Once a person has closed his/her heart to one block of humanity, it is that much easier to close one’s heart to others.”

“Neither of you is wearing a tie.”