Timothy Radcliffe Quotes

From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.

The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.

There is nothing more dangerous than the conscience of a bigot.

Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.

There is only one step from fanaticism to barbarism.

It's never a good sign when extremism becomes the norm.

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

There is such a thing as fanaticism, it is always wrong, and if you disagree, you're wrong too.

Senseless violence is, almost by definition, hard to understand. Not that I can understand terrorists who kill from hate, but at least we can identify a reason - a terrifying one, to be sure, grounded in a violent belief system - for what they do. Two gangs go to war. Extremists kill in the name of belief.

The enemy of idealism is zealotry.

I cannot determine what people or nations should do, but I do think that extremism gives birth to following and subsequent extremism.

Sectarianism, bigotry, and it's horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.

Ignorance and fanaticism are ever busy and need feeding.

Our enemy is hatred - the hatred inherent in fundamentalism.

My feeling is that the most dangerous people are always those who take a hardline position - and nothing inspires that sort of extremism like difference.

Those who are convinced they have a monopoly on The Truth always feel that they are only saving the world when they slaughter the heretics.

The Islamists will try to spoil everything for everyone.

It is not possible to unknow what you do know - the result of that is fanaticism.

Religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance... the spread of which can only be regarded as the total eclipse of human reason.

As long as you persecute people, you will actually throw up terrorism.

The persecuting spirit has its origin... in the assumption that one's own opinions are infallibly correct.

Bigotry murders religion to frighten fools with her ghost.

I don't think people by nature are extremists. You will never find a population of extremists. Extremists have existed throughout the centuries on all religions. And what happens is, extremists start to have more leverage when the situation is bad.

I just heard a story from someone the other day where somebody was beaten up by Christians for wearing one of our shirts. Of course, that's a very Christian thing to do.

Those who believe that they have absolute truth and the only moral system are destructive both to themselves and to those whom they try to convert.