Thoughts on Freedom for Reflection
“Responsibility and respect of others and their religious beliefs are also part of freedom.”
~Horst Koehler (president of Germany from 2004-2010)
“I know it will give great offense to the clergy, but the advocate of religious freedom is to expect neither peace nor forgiveness from them.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
“God has no religion.”
~Mahatma Gandhi
“I think vital religion has always suffered when orthodoxy is more regarded than virtue. The scriptures assure me that at the last day we shall not be examined on what we thought but what we did.”
~Benjamin Franklin
“When politics and religion are intermingled, a people is suffused with a sense of invulnerability, and gathering speed in their forward charge, they fail to see the cliff ahead of them.”
~Frank Herbert (American author, 1920-1986)
“In religion as in politics it so happens that we have less charity for those who believe half our creed, than for those who deny the whole of it.”
~Charles Caleb Colton (English cleric and author, 1780-1832)
“That religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion.”
~Patrick Henry (American patriot and orator, 1736-1799)
“Religion, like poetry, is not a mere idea, it is expression. The self-expression of God is in the endless variety of creation; and our attitude toward the Infinite Being must also in its expression have a variety of individuality ceaseless and unending.”
~Rabindranath Tagore (Indian poet and Nobel laureate, 1861-1941)
“Thought takes man out of servitude, into freedom.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American poet, 1807-1882)
“When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”
~Pope John Paul II (Roman Catholic pontiff, 1920-2005)
From the DLRE
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’”
~C.S. Lewis, British novelist
No matter what age we are, we need connection with others. The friends we make today could stay with us for a lifetime, and exploring the topic of friendships in your family can be a way to stay connected to one another, and be connected to your child’s wider world of friends.
Knowing where we come from is another way to stay connected. By seeing our roots, we can find the similarities with others – maybe even our friends. Take some time to talk about your family’s religious heritage. What traditions did your ancestors belong to? Tell the stories from those traditions to your children so they can tap into the roots and embrace the freedom to change.
Join the Conversation
Discussion about our October theme is open on our Facebook page. “Like” the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos at www.facebook.com/uulosalamos, and click the “Discussions” tab on the left.
