Since all premodern state ideology was inseparable from religion, warfare inevitably acquired a sacral element. - Karen Armstrong

And before you embark on an argument or a debate, ask yourself honestly if you are ready to change your mind.

Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our limited needs. fears and desires. We can assume that he loves what we love and hates what we hate, endorsing our prejudices instead of compelling us to transcend them.

Saint Augustine … insisted that scripture taught nothing but charity. Whatever the biblical author may have intended, any passage that seemed to preach hatred and was not conducive to love must be interpreted allegorically and made to speak of charity.