Political Quotes

“freedom of religion is certainly a vital cornerstone of this country. The right to pray, the right to seek divine guidance should be unimpaired, and heaven only knows by watching this Congress in action, or this year in inaction, we have more and more to pray about every day. But throughout recorded history our forebears have recognized the importance not only of religious conviction but of religious freedom and tolerance, for throughout recorded history there have been those who, as Jonathan Swift so aptly put it, had just enough religion to make us hate and not enough to make us love. And so it is this country was founded on the concept of religious freedom, to respect the rights of others, and that concept has served this Nation very well. As we look around the world today we think of the divisions caused in society over religion. We look to South Asia or to the Balkans or to the Middle East. But indeed we have our own religious Ayatollahs right here in this country. Some of them unjustly attacked our colleague the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), and others like Jerry Falwell have declared, "I hope to live to see the day when there will be no public schools. What a happy day that will be." That is what this amendment is all about, the movement to destroy public education and to substitute religious arrogance for religious freedom.”