I am tired of religion demanding special privileges. I mean, you know, get over it. There is no other idea in the world that needs protection. If ideas are strong they can stand criticism. And in any open society you have to be able to discuss things in whatever terms you choose. That’s just the nature of openness, otherwise you are starting to create a semi-open society.

* * * * *

The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas – uncertainty, progress, change – into crimes.

* * * * *

From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.

Salman Rushdie