We often ask our citizens to split their public and private selves, telling them in effect that it is fine to be religious in private, but there is something askew when those private beliefs become the basis for public action.

Richard John Neuhaus, in his well-known book The Naked Public Square, tells us that in America, the public square has become openly hostile to religion.

The very aspect of religions that many of their critics most fear - that the religiously devout, in the name of their faith, take positions that differ from approved state policy - is one of their strengths.

I think that black fiction authors have to work very hard to avoid being typed as seeking only a black audience.

Teasing out the way the world might look through another's eyes is what makes the creative process so fascinating and enjoyable.

This trivializing rhetoric runs the subtle but unmistakable message: pray if you like, worship if you must, but whatever you do, do not on any account take your religion seriously.

In real life there are indeed black people who have been in the middle class for generations, but in entertainment it's as if they don't exist.