Mario Cuomo Quotes

Islam never interfered with the dogmas of any faith. It never invented the rack or the stake for stifling difference of opinion, or strangling the human conscience or exterminating heresy.

Many of us do not believe in any form of idolatry; but they have no right to object when others do it.

I have no argument with those who see in organized religion a template or an imperative to live life according to a prescribed set of beliefs. Just give others the room, within the laws of civil society, to believe or not believe whatever they like.

If we really want to cherish religious freedom, people who want to believe that same-sex marriage should take place, they have a right to believe that, and people who want to believe it's inappropriate, we should not demonize those people - if we really believe in religious liberty.

America's freedom of religion, and freedom from religion, offers every wisdom tradition an opportunity to address our soul-deep needs: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, secular humanism, agnosticism and atheism among others.

It cannot be wisdom to assert the truth of one faith.

Freedom arises from the multiplicity of sects, which pervades America and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society. For where there is such a variety of sects, there can not be a majority of any one sect to oppress and persecute the rest.

… tolerance is essential to protect one's own religion and one's own deeply held religious beliefs from external manipulation or efforts to overcome them, perhaps from other religions that are pushing in the opposite direction. That is the basic reason for religious tolerance.

What does religious freedom look like? As America gets more religiously diverse, the concept is getting harder to define …. You can get 10 different groups in the room and they will disagree about what religious liberty is.

I don't have a problem with other people having different faith; my problem is if we confuse respecting that with surrendering our own faith.

I respect religion and all people's ideas of it. I think everyone should be able to do whatever they want to do with their own life. I just don't particularly like it when people try and force their ideas on others.

I believe that everybody has the right to believe what they want to believe and to knock somebody's faith and religion is foolish, whatever it may be - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism.

Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I'm concerned--I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture, or necrodestination.

We have the most religious freedom of any country in the world, including the freedom not to believe.

We must continue to show tolerance for those whose opinions and sincerely held beliefs differ from our own. We must lead by example, finding a way to respect one another and to celebrate a culture that protects religious freedom while promoting equality under the law.

One of the great things about America is that we have the freedom to worship or not worship as we please. It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian, Jew, Muslim. It doesn't matter whether you're an evangelical or a Catholic or a moderate Jew. You're entitled to worship - or an agnostic or atheist.

Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.

Protection of religious freedom means considering the faiths and beliefs of everyone involved.

Religious liberty should be a bipartisan issue.

Certainly I'm a Christian first and foremost. But I do believe in religious tolerance and finding the commonality between all of us. I think that's how we're all going to come together.

It would be far better to be of no church than to be bitter of any.

At the political level, most Jews and most Catholics have accepted the liberal idea of religious freedom.

America's commitment to religious freedom and tolerance should not be conditional.

No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another.

I don't care what your religion is, as long as it doesn't chastise anybody that's not part of it.