Given that religious faith is an intrinsic element of human experience, it is best to approach and engage the subject with a sense of history and a critical sensibility.

[T]o argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt.

America has long raised political and cultural cognitive dissonance to an art form. We are capable of living with enormous inequality and injustice while convincing ourselves that we are in fact moving toward what Churchill called the "broad, sun-lit uplands."

Jefferson was the rare leader who stood out from the crowd without intimidating it.

The way to put oneself in a position to take the harder, more honorable political path is to argue for one's virtues in a vigorous way.

While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago. I think this is a good thing - good for our political culture.

There is nothing new under the sun.