"We have domesticated God's transcendence. We often learn about God at about the same time as we are learning about Santa Claus but our ideas about Santa Claus change, mature and become more nuanced, whereas our ideas of God can remain at a rather infantile level."

"Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling success, politically as well as spiritually, and Islam went from strength to strength to strength."

"Today mythical thinking has fallen into disrepute we often dismiss it as irrational and self-indulgent. But the imagination is also the faculty that has enabled scientists to bring new knowledge to light and to invent technology that has made us immeasurably more effective."

"It's a great event to get outside and enjoy nature. I find it very exciting no matter how many times I see bald eagles."

"Thwackum was for doing justice and leaving mercy to heaven."

"Most religions live from a narrative that shapes their relationship with the divine other, God or the gods, and with the human other, the stranger."

"From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people."

"It's like those high-school yearbook photos that everyone would rather not see: Oh my God, look at that mullet hair. I have those photos too, but for me, they're, like, entire movies. And they show them on cable."