In thinking about religion and society in the 21st century, we should broaden the conversation about faith from doctrinal debates to the larger question of how it might inspire us to strengthen the bonds of belonging that redeem us from our solitude, helping us to construct together a gracious and generous social order.

Values are tapes we play on the Walkman of the mind: any tune we choose so long as it does not disturb others.

The supreme religious challenge is to see God’s image in one who is not in our image.

A Martian would think that the English worship at supermarkets, not in churches.

Religious ritual is a way of structuring time so that we, not employers, the market or the media, are in control. Life needs its pauses, its chapter breaks, if the soul is to have space to breathe.

In an ecology of love, people can relate in trust and face the future without fear. They do not need to play it safe. They can take uncertainty in their stride.

The meaning of the universe lies outside the universe.