You must get courageous men, men of strong views and let them debate and argue with each other.

Some Christians worried about a faith that was so embracing as to be meaningless, that exalted not the Almighty so much as the American way of life. When civil religion bleached the challenge from faith and left behind a watery patriotism, there was room for concern.

You must get courageous men, men of strong views and let them debate and argue with each other.

Of all ennobling sentiments, patriotism may be the most easily manipulated. On the one hand, it gives powerful expression to what is best in a nation's character: a commitment to principle, a willingness to sacrifice, a devotion to the community by the choice of the individual. But among its toxic fruits are intolerance, belligerence and blind obedience, perhaps because it blooms most luxuriantly during times of war.

If Heaven is willing to sing to us, it is little to ask that we be ready to listen.

Illusions are the truths we live by until we know better.

For the truly faithful, no miracle is necessary. For those who doubt, no miracle is sufficient.