Religious Freedom Quotes

“Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged”
― Jalal ad-Din Rumi

“Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.

[Epitaph, upon his instructions to erect a 'a plain die or cube ... surmounted by an Obelisk' with 'the following inscription, and not a word more…because by these, as testimonials that I have lived, I wish most to be remembered.' It omits that he had been President of the United States, a position of political power and prestige, and celebrates his involvement in the creation of the means of inspiration and instruction by which many human lives have been liberated from oppression and ignorance]”
― Thomas Jefferson

“No, I wasn't afraid. I was tired." Ali's voice broke on the word. "I'm tired of everyone in this city feeding on vengeance. I'm tired of teaching our children to hate and fear other children because their parents are our enemies. And I'm sick and tired of acting like the only way to save our people is to cut down all who might oppose us, as if our enemies won't return the favor the instant power shifts.”
― S.A. Chakraborty, The Kingdom of Copper

“It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
― Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia & Confession of Nat Turner

“We have no right to prejudice another in his civil enjoyments because he is of another church.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“The fundamentalists of every faith remain blind to the truth that the “sigh within the prayer is the same in the heart of the Christian, the Muslim, and the Jew.” I have seen this unity with my eyes, heard it with my ears, felt it with all my being.”
― David James Duncan, God Laughs & Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right

“Where the preamble declares that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word "Jesus Christ," so that it should read "a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion." The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of it's protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination.”
― Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson

“But our rulers can have authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be said, his testimony in a court of justice cannot be relied on, reject it then, and be the stigma on him. Constraint may make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his errors, but will not cure them. Reason and free enquiry are the only effectual agents against error.”
― Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia

“To every Armageddonist, every earth lover must keep saying with all the sincerity and affection we can muster, “May God make this world as beautiful to you as it has been to me.”
― David James Duncan, God Laughs & Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right

“The Founding Faith, then, was not Christianity, and it was not secularism. It was religious liberty—a revolutionary formula for promoting faith by leaving it alone.”
― Steven Waldman, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America

“An Act for establishing religious Freedom.

Section 1

Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free;

That all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and therefore are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being Lord, both of body and mind yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do,

That the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time;

That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions, which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical;

That even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor, whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing from the Ministry those temporary rewards, which, proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind;

That our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry,

That therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages, to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right,

That it tends only to corrupt the principles of that very Religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments those who will externally profess and conform to it;

That though indeed, these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way;

That to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own;

That it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order;

And finally, that Truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“Sonnet for Francis

When the queen kicked the bucket,
I felt zero loss - unless they go out of their way,
to make amends, like did real Queen Diana,
the entire bucking(ham) bunch are irrelevant.

However, upon the passing of Francis,
I do feel a certain loss, mainly because,
despite being the head of an atrocious church,
he had the potential for growth and tolerance.

Not everyone is in the position to be
outspoken against all inhumanities,
but if you have the guts to call out even some,
you have a life-long friend in me.

I cherish every human who shows
even the slightest trace of inclusivity,
as strongly as I feel resigned towards any ape
that thrives on prejudice disguised as piety.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“Compulsion of religion is a thing of the past,
conversion of faith, trivial as changing clothes;
mark of a holy being is not belief, but behavior -
clothes, creed, all wither, not character's glow.

Christian on Sunday, Atheist on Monday,
Buddhist on Tuesday, Sikh on Wednesday,
Hindu on Thursday, Muslim on Friday,
Jewish on Saturday, try the rest the next day.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“Faith is a private pill, not public law.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“I fight for your right to religion, as madly as I fight for another's choice of not having religion.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“Nevertheless, the spirit of religious freedom continues to wither within the corridors of power, where the pleas of the victims of the misuse of blasphemy law, the anguished cries of the forcibly converted, and the desperate screams of victims of faith-based violence fall on deaf ears. It appears that religious freedom has been consigned to permanent life support—if not buried entirely.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“It’s no surprise that religious freedom in Pakistan has come at a heavy cost. The sacrifices of Shahbaz Bhatti and Salman Taseer have not only sanctified the struggle for religious liberty but have also elevated it from a basic right to a profound and solemn responsibility.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“Sadly, religious oppression does more than silence voices; it burdens individuals with guilt, forcing them to bear the weight of their faith in a society that regards their faith as a “defect”.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“States that show no appetite for upholding freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) risk facing an existential threat to their own coexistence.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“Religious freedom can only flourish when legal protections are reinforced by a societal commitment to shared humanity where differences are not merely tolerated but embraced as part of the national identity.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“At its core, religious freedom is the heartbeat of a nation, a vital force that pumps peace and harmony through the veins of society and yet millions are denied this essential grace, leaving both them and the state weakened and vulnerable.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“What pains me deeply is the growing fear that religious freedom and my homeland may forever remain like two banks of a river always close yet destined never to unite.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“In Torquay, Devon, I sought not refuge but the strength to continue writing in tribute to those whose religious freedoms are denied and whose voices remain unheard.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“Beyond the question, the fallen soul of religious freedom continues to bleed beneath the altars of power, where the sobbing of accused blasphemy victims, fall upon on deaf ears.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“I have spent my life advocating for religious freedom, a cause that has brought me face to face with the heart-wrenching stories of victims of forced conversions, the misuse of blasphemy laws, and survivors of mob violence. I felt their pain as if it was my own.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“The Man With No Roots (Sonnet)

The day children are raised
without religion and nationality,
that's the beginning of peacemaking,
and the empirical end to warmongery.

Either raise your children with
no religion or multiple religions,
either raise your children with
no culture or multiple cultures.

I grew up celebrating Diwali,
eating fruitcake on the 25th,
and waking up to the call of Azaan -
if I'm devout anything, it's a devout human.

I have no roots, for I am the roots;
I am the ruin of all heritage of lies.
Illegal Immigrant in every state,
for I come from a Time beyond tribes.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“Right to leave religion is just as fundamental as right to religion.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“No one is kafir, kainat is my kalma, service of humanity is the supreme shahada.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“Religion flourishes in greater purity without than with the aid of Government.”
― James Madison

“We need a human-centric realization of divine, not divine-centric realization of human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat