Religion

"Who is all-powerful should fear everything."

"The omnipotence of evil has never resulted in anything but fruitless efforts. Our thoughts always escape from whoever tries to smother them."

"And we must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient—that we are only 6 percent of the world's population—that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind—that we cannot right every wrong or reverse every adversity—and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem."

"Some foreign writers, some our own despise; The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize. Thus Wit, like Faith, by each man is apply’d To one small sect, and all are damn’d beside. Meanly they seek the blessing to confine, And force that sun but on a part to shine."

"I’m inspired to be in this room because every single one of you is here for the same reason. You’re here because you’ve adopted as a core motivation the simple fact that this world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another. If we took just 5 minutes to recognize each other’s beauty, instead of attacking each other for our differences. That’s not hard. It’s really an easier and better way to live. And ultimately, it saves lives."

"From a distance there is harmony And it echoes through the land And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves It's the heart of every man (Every man). It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves This is the song of every man."

"She continued, "Theirs was a religion of freedom and joy and not pervaded by fanatical and morbid asceticism as some people would have us believe." Here again I feel she is absolutely right. The critics of Catharism fail to distinguish between the Parfait and the ordinary croyant. The latter were not required to fast and mortify the flesh any more than the average Hindu or Roman Catholic, even though both Hindu and Catholic priests may regularly practise asceticism as well as meditation and other such disciplines."

"The cause of human sectarianism is not lack of sympathy in thought, but in speech; and this it is our not unambitious design to remedy."

"From a distance you look like my friend Even though we are at war From a distance I just cannot comprehend What all this war is for."

"Being at one is god-like and good, but human, too human, the mania Which insists there is only the One, one country, one truth, and one way."

"I had imagined that the prelates of the Galilaeans were under greater obligations to me than to my predecessor. For in his reign many of them were banished, persecuted, and imprisoned, and many of the so-called heretics were executed … all of this has been reversed in my reign; the banished are allowed to return, and confiscated goods have been returned to the owners. But such is their folly and madness that, just because they can no longer be despots, … or carry out their designs first against their brethren, and then against us, the worshippers of the gods, they are inflamed with fury and stop at nothing in their unprincipled attempts to alarm and enrage the people."

"The dark shadow we seem to see in the distance is not really a mountain ahead, but the shadow of the mountain behind - a shadow from the past thrown forward into our future. It is a dark sludge of historical sectarianism. We can leave it behind us if we wish."

"They are irreverent to the gods and disobedient to our edicts, lenient as they are. For we allow none of them to be dragged to the altars unwillingly... It is therefore my pleasure to announce and publish to all the people by this edict, that they must not abet the seditions of the clergy … They may hold their meetings, if they wish, and offer prayers according to their established use … and for the future, let all people live in harmony … Men should be taught and won over by reason, not by blows, insults, and corporal punishments. I therefore most earnestly admonish the adherents of the true religion not to injure or insult the Galilaeans in any way … Those who are in the wrong in matters of supreme importance are objects of pity rather than of hate."

"The question has often been asked; Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? It does not matter what you call it. Buddhism remains what it is whatever label you may put on it. The label is immaterial. Even the label 'Buddhism' which we give to the teachings of the Buddha is of little importance. The name one gives is inessential....In the same way Truth needs no label: it is neither Buddhist, Christian, Hindu nor Muslim. It is not the monopoly of anybody. Sectarian labels are a hindrance to the independent understanding of Truth, and they produce harmful prejudices in men's minds."

"One who is holy of sect is proud because he is confident of his right of possession in God. The man of devotion is meek because he is conscious of Gods right of love over his life and soul. The object of our possession becomes smaller than ourselves, and without acknowledging it in so many words the bigoted sectarian has an implicit belief that God can be kept secured for certain individuals in a cage which is of their own make. In a similar manner the primitive races of men believe that their ceremonials have a magic influence upon their deities. Sectarianism is a perverse form of worldliness in the disguise of religion it breeds a narrowness of heart in a greater measure than the cult of the world based upon material interest can ever do. For undisguised pursuit of self has its safety in openness, like filth exposed to the sun and air. But the self-magnification with its consequent lessening of God that goes on unchecked under the cover of sectarianism loses its chance of salvation because it defiles the very source of purity."

"Political tension by itself cannot lead to civil war. Sectarianism is the one possible cause. But the position of the leadership has pulled the rug out from under this proposition."

"He who does reverence to his own sect, while disparaging all other sects from a feeling of attachment to his own, on the supposition that he thus glorifies his own sect, in reality by such conduct inflicts severe injury on his own sect."

"The philosophic outlook rises above all sectarian controversy. It finds its own position not only by appreciating and synthesizing what is solidly based in the rival sects but also by capping them all with the keystone of non-duality."

"In America the taint of sectarianism lies broad upon the land. Not content with acknowledging the supremacy as the Deity, and with erecting temples in his honor, where all can bow down with reverence, the pride and vanity of human reason enter into and pollute our worship, and the houses that should be of God and for God, alone, where he is to be honored with submissive faith, are too often merely schools of metaphysical and useless distinctions. The nation is sectarian, rather than Christian."

"They are trained in piety, holiness, justice, domestic and civil conduct, knowledge of what is truly good, or evil, or indifferent, and how to choose what they should and avoid the opposite, taking for their defining standards these three: love of God, love of virtue, love of men."

"Their love of God they show by … their freedom from the love of either money or reputation or pleasure, by self-mastery and endurance, again by frugality, simple living, contentment, humility, respect for law, steadiness and all similar qualities; their love of men by benevolence and sense of equality, and their spirit of fellowship."

"Such are the athletes of virtue produced by a philosophy free from the pedantry of Greek wordiness."

"In this country live a considerable part of the very populous nation of the Jews, including as it is said, certain persons, more than four thousand in number, called Essenes. Their name which is, I think, a variation, though the form of the Greek is inexact, of ὁσιότης (holiness), is given them, because they have shown themselves especially devout in the service of God, not by offering sacrifices of animals, but by resolving to sanctify their minds."

"I told her in detail how [...] I had been welcomed by the Essenes, mostly Israelites, who, through music and ancient Hebrew songs, had grown plants in half an hour."

"The Essenes strictly observed Mosaic law. They practiced ritual bathing for reasons of purity and kept themselves mostly isolated from the rest of the Jewish people."

"The Essenes are therefore Jews by birth, but more than others they are bound by mutual affection. They reject pleasure as a vice and, on the contrary, consider continence and control of the passions to be virtues. They disdain marriage for themselves but welcome other people's children when they are still young to introduce them to their studies: they consider them as relatives and impress their own habits on them. They do this not with the intention of abolishing marriage and interrupting the continuation of the species, but to guard against the lasciviousness of women. They also despise wealth and admirably share their possessions, which is why it would be impossible to find anyone who stands out from the others because they are richer."

"According to the ‘'Rule of the Community’', reported in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, community life was strictly organized. All property was held in common. Aspiring adepts had to undergo a long apprenticeship before being accepted as full members. The neophyte took a “terrible oath” in which he pledged to hate the perpetrators of injustice forever."

"Designing banknotes is a unique art. Each nation has currency notes of various denominations. Each denomination may feature a different design. Most of the designs depict a nation’s culture and heritage...Coins are usually made for subunits of currencies, but several nations have issued coins for the lower denominations of their currencies. When the intrinsic value of the metal used to create the coin exceeds the legal value of the coin, some people collect the coins in large numbers and melt them to extract metal"

"The predominant religious denomination in Indian society is the Hindu. Other religious denominations comprise the Muslims, Christians, Zorastrians (Parsis), Buddhists. The Muslims constitute a very significant minority of the population."

"(H.P.) Dunlap (in SOD: The Son Of The Man, 1861), whose personal researches seem to have been quite successful... traces the Essenes, Nazarenes, Dositheans, and some other sects as having all existed before Christ: "They rejected pleasures, despised riches, loved one another, and more than other sects, neglected wedlock, deeming the conquest of the passions to be virtuous,"* he says. These are all virtues preached by Jesus; and if we are to take the gospels as a standard of truth, Christ was a metempsychosist "or re-incarnationist" — again like these same Essenes, whom we see were Pythagoreans in all their doctrine and habits... In his discourses and sermons, Jesus always spoke in parables and used metaphors with his audience. This habit was again that of the Essenians and the Nazarenes; the Galileans who dwelt in cities and villages were never known to use such allegorical language."

"The Japanese interpreted all the teachings and disciplines of Buddhism spiritually and based their practice on this understanding. Thus no Japanese denomination at present actually follows the teachings and disciplines of original Buddhism, and no Japanese denomination has ever imposed disciplines as strict as those observed by Theravada monks in Southeast Asia."

"The Essenes, who are worth discussing a little because of the connections or links that, in the minds of some, connect them to modern Freemasonry, were already famous as an institution almost two centuries before the spread of Christianity. As Josephus states, the Essenes were direct and legitimate children of the Jewish religion and probably the most select part of Phariseeism, because they did not limit themselves to the dry interpretation of the scriptures, but derived the rules of life from them, so that they were not a school, but an institution intended primarily to bring men together, moralizing them through work."

"Some have said that Essenism gave rise to the Kabbalists and the Gnostics: the Essenes, who adapted Christianity to their old doctrines, became Gnostics: The Essenes who remained Jews became Kabbalists: thus Essenism died, giving birth to these two powerful twins: Kabbalah and Gnosticism."

"Essenes. A hellenized word, from the Hebrew Asa, a “healer”. A mysterious sect of Jews said by Pliny to have lived near the Dead Sea per millia sæculorum—for thousands of ages. “ Some have supposed them to be extreme Pharisees, and others—which may be the true theory—the descendants of the Benim-nabim of the Bible, and think that they were ‘Kenites and Nazarites. They had many Buddhistic ideas and practices; and it is noteworthy that the priests of the Great Mother at Ephesus, Diana-Bhavani with many breasts, were also so denominated. Eusebius, and after him De Quincey, declared them to be the same as the early Christians, which is more than probable. The title ‘ brother’, used in the early Church, was Essenean ; they were a fraternity, or a koinobion or community like the early converts.” (Isis Unveiled.)"

"We are the same. There is no difference anywhere in the world. People are people. They laugh, cry, feel, and love, and music seems to be the common denomination that brings us all together. Music cuts through all boundaries and goes right to the soul."

"The most important message of our denomination is to let people know that we can all be saved regardless of our sexuality, gender or fashion preferences."

"The traditional values they cherish– hard work, responsibility, self-control, the belief that life does not revolve around us – who is harmed by these values? How does promoting these values hurt anyone? The millions of Americans who share these values are tired of being constantly told that they need to keep their opinions to themselves. On issue after issue, they are expected to be tolerant of others. But increasingly, our culture is intolerant of them. This is not about imposing our religion on anyone. In America you have the right to worship any way you choose. That’s why virtually every faith and every denomination on Earth has a presence in our land. You have a right to not believe in God at all. But I believe Jesus Christ is God. I believe He loves every single human being that has ever lived, no matter what they have done, even if they don’t believe in Him. That’s why He suffered a brutal death and He resurrected from the dead, to erase the sins that separate us from Him."

"Repentance is an hearty sorrow for our pastmisdeeds, AND a sincere resolution and endeavour, to the utmost of our power, to conform all our actions to the law of God. So that repentance does not consist in one single act of sorrow, (though that being the first and leading act gives denomination to the whole,) but in "doing works meet for repentance" in a sincere obedience to the law of Christ, the remainder of our lives."

"...how many different denominations of Christians are in our world. Every denomination implicitly or explicitly claims “we go by the Bible”, implying that others don't (quite) interpret the Bible correctly. Many congregations are so ashamed of the divisions in Christianity contrary to Jesus’s wish for unity."

"After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation. This position doesn't require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom."

"Hence the Sunday- school must be something more than a place for the pouring of so much religious information into the children's minds. … the attendance at which was very large, and included persons of nearly all denominations."

"Rather than take out small denominations again and again, it makes sense to take out larger amounts every 2 to 3 days. Not only will this keep you from raking up fees, but you also won’t waste time in lines waiting for a free machine."

"I was raised Catholic and I'm Presbyterian now, but I've always been a Christian, regardless of denomination. I believe that Jesus is the way."

"I don't care what denomination you belong to, as long as you're embarrassed by it."

"Some Indologists labeled the Hinduism they encountered polytheistic; others even coined new terms, like henotheism, to describe this baffling array of spiritual traditions. Few, however, have realized, and fewer still have written, that India's Sanatana Dharma, or "eternal faith, " known today as Hinduism and comprising nearly a billion followers, is a family of religions with four principal denominations Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. This single perception is essential for understanding Hinduism and explaining it accurately to others. Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a one Supreme Being, though by different names. For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Saivites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme. For Smartas, liberal Hindus, the choice of Deity is left to the devotee."

"The folkish-minded man, in particular, has the sacred duty, each in his own denomination, of making people stop just talking superficially of God's will, and actually fulfill God's will, and not let God's word be desecrated. For God's will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord's creation, the divine will."

"All civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination."

"According to the religious belief of the people of India as well as the people of other countries, the central place and meeting spot of all of their religious creeds are represented by enormous monuments which were erected by them and dedicated as the dwelling place of their gods and divinities...It is said that an Indian religious monuments is not necessarily a Hindu shrine. It can belong to any of the several religious denominations — Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh."

"The Essenes, a third sect of the Jews, are not mentioned in the New Testament. They differed from both the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were Jewish monks or hermits, passing their time little in society, but mostly in places of obscurity and retirement. It is not probable, therefore, that our Saviour often, if ever, encountered them; and this, it is supposed, is the reason why they are not mentioned in the New Testament. They were a contemplative sect, having little to do with the common business of life. The property which they possessed they held in common. They denied themselves, in a great measure, the usual comforts of life, and were exceedingly strict in the observance of the duties of religion. They were generally more pure than the rest of the Jews, and appear to have been an unambitious, a modest, and retiring sort of people. The two sexes were not in company except on the Sabbath, when they partook of their coarse fare (only bread and salt) together. They practiced dancing in their worship. Few of them were married; they were opposed to oaths, and they asserted that slavery was repugnant to nature. In regard to doctrine, they did not differ materially from the Pharisees, except that they objected to the sacrifices of slain animals, and of course did not visit the temple, and were not, therefore, likely to come into public contact with the Saviour. They perpetuated their sect by proselytes, and by taking orphan children to train up."

"Prakrit dialects were sufficiently cultivated by the Jain masters — both of the Shvetambara and the Digambara denominations. The early Prakrit works by Jain munis were religious and ethical, naturally leaving very little scope for the ..."