Quote of the Day (G. K. Chesterton, on Angels)

"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.”— British man of letters G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy (1908)

Quote of the Day (Justice Robert Jackson, on Laws Concerning Religion)

"[I]f there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein." —Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, majority opinion in West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnett (1942)

Too bad that Donald Trump never got around to learning the lesson behind these words…

Quote of the Day (Steinfels)

“When it comes to nomenclature, writing about religion is of course a minefield. Terms like ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal,’ ‘traditionalist’ and ‘progressive’ are almost unavoidable shorthand, though they suffer from their origins in political categories and almost inevitably oversimplify and dichotomize religious realities that are multifaceted.

But ‘orthodox’ is a special case, because it suggests a sharp boundary between those who properly belong and those who are properly excluded, the way that ‘patriotic’ can suggest a boundary between loyal citizens and something verging on traitors. Religious leaders have a hard enough time wrestling with such matters. Journalists should not get in their way.”—Peter Steinfels, “The Audacity of Claiming the Last Word on This Word,” The New York Times, September 13, 2008