“If [teens] find their beliefs head that way, they won’t feel like an outcast, that something is wrong with them. I consider this process similar to what gay individuals go through.”
Stuart Bechman-Besamo, an atheist, explaining why he’s teaching Sunday School at Simi Valley (California) United Church of Christ.
“With tae kwon do, they can turn the aggression of the attacker on the attacker without being too violent themselves.”
Roger Lyons, British union leader, on new self-defense classes for clergy. A recent survey showed church leaders are more vulnerable than probation officers.
“I lost a lot of men when I explained it. If they didn’t have the power to melt prison bars, they weren’t interested.”
Jamyi Witch, an appointed Wiccan chaplain at Wisconsin’s Waupun Correctional Institution.
“We … may be returning to the point in America where fundamentalists and evangelicals remain true to their beliefs and think politics is corrupt and therefore they shouldn’t participate.”
Karl Rove, senior political adviser to President George Bush.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, BBC, The New York Times
Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere
The articles quoted above include:
Vicars offered self defense classes — BBC (Dec. 17, 2002)
Wiccan Chaplain Brews Storm — Los Angeles Times (Jan. 7, 2002)
Aide Says Bush Will Do More to Marshal Religious Base — The New York Times (Dec. 12, 2001)
See Christianity Today’s Quotation Marks from November, December, and January.
For more quotations to stir the heart and mind, see Christianity Today’sReflections:
Past Reflections columns include:
On Enemies (January 8, 2002)
Life After Christmas (December 26, 2001)
Love & Marriage (November 13, 2001)
The Word of God (October 22, 2001)
Leadership (October 11, 2001)
Suffering (September 13, 2001)
Change (August 14, 2001)
Living Tradition (July 18, 2001)
Sacred Spaces (June 11, 2001)
Friendship (May 17, 2001)
The Cross (Apr. 12, 2001)
The Quotable Stott (Apr. 27, 2001)
