WIST Quotations

Adams, John -- Letter (1820-07-08) to Simon Miller

Dave — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:10:41 +0000

My opinions indeed on Religious Subjects ought not to be of any consequence to any but myself.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1820-07-08) to Simon Miller
(Source)

Bell, Daniel -- “Religion in the Sixties,” Social Research (Fall 1971)

Dave — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 13:47:16 +0000

When theology erodes and organization crumbles, when the institutional framework of religion begins to break up, the search for a direct experience which people can feel to be religious facilitates the rise of cults.

Daniel Bell (1919-2011) American sociologist, writer, editor, academic
“Religion in the Sixties,” Social Research (Fall 1971)
(Source)

Black, Hugo -- Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 429-30 (1962) [majority opinion]

Dave — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:50:54 +0000

Our Founders were no more willing to let the content of their prayers and their privilege of praying whenever they pleased be influenced by the ballot box than they were to let these vital matters of personal conscience depend upon the succession of monarchs. The First Amendment was added to the Constitution to stand as a guarantee that neither the power nor the prestige of the Federal Government would be used to control, support or influence the kinds of prayer the American people can say — that the people’s religions must not be subjected to the pressures of government for change each time a new political administration is elected to office. Under that Amendment’s prohibition against governmental establishment of religion, as reinforced by the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, government in this country, be it state or federal, is without power to prescribe by law any particular form of prayer which is to be used as an official prayer in carrying on any program of governmentally sponsored religious activity.

Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 429-30 (1962) [majority opinion]
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1802-01-01) to the Danbury Baptists

Dave — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:31:07 +0000

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1802-01-01) to the Danbury Baptists
(Source)

Addressed to "messrs. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut."

Selden, John -- Table Talk, § 16.3 “Church” (1689)

Dave — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:09:35 +0000

A glorious Church is like a magnificent feast; there is all the variety that may be, but every one chooses out a dish or two that he likes, and lets the rest alone: how glorious soever the Church is, every one chooses out of it his own religion, by which he governs himself, and lets the rest alone.

John Selden (1584-1654) English jurist, legal scholar, antiquarian, polymath
Table Talk, § 16.3 “Church” (1689)
(Source)

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- 1 Corinthians 10: 29 [NJB (1985)]

Dave — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:37:46 +0000

Why should my freedom be governed by somebody else’s conscience?

[ἱνατί γὰρ ἡ ἐλευθερία μου κρίνεται ὑπὸ ἄλλης συνειδήσεως]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 Corinthians 10: 29 [NJB (1985)]
(Source)

Paul on how it's okay to eat food that others think is religiously wrong to eat (but how you shouldn't be a dick about it, either).

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

For why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
[KJV (1611)]

Why should my freedom depend on somebody else’s conscience?
[JB (1966)]

“Well, then,” someone asks, “why should my freedom to act be limited by another person's conscience?"
[GNT (1976)]

Why should my freedom be judged by someone else’s conscience?
[CEB (2011)]

For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience?
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]