I want the traditional family upheld, but I don't want it upheld to the detriment of other people.

It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.

When I look back at the Christian faith, I see that we have had to retranslate, almost reinvent ourselves a number of times.

There's an awful lot of biblical ignorance, and the church perpetuates that ignorance.

The church is like a swimming pool. Most of the noise comes from the shallow end.

You can't go to church without praying ten or fifteen times for God to have mercy on you. You can't sing "Amazing Grace" without reminding yourself that the reason God's grace is amazing is it saves a wretch like you. This self-denigration stuff - Jesus died for my sins - is nothing but a guilt message. That's the thing we've got to get out from under. That's not Christianity. That's sort of fourth-century Christianity that got turned into doctrines and dogmas that we've never been able to escape.

I think if you're convinced that you're evil, and that God has had to rescue you, then the best you can be is grateful. But nobody ever loves the person they have to be perpetually grateful to. That's just not the way it works in humanity. You need to be set free. You need to be loved just as you are so that you can become all that you can be. That's the direction we have to turn the Christian message; when we do, it becomes universal.