If the Old Testament were a reliable guide in the matter of capital punishment, half the people in the United States would have to be killed tomorrow.

We must never forget that both good and evil flow from the Bible. It is therefore not above criticism.

...we are entitled to make almost any reasonable assumption, but should resist making conclusions until evidence requires that we do so.

There are few pages of history which do not demonstrate that public prayer and ritual never inoculated people against mass-madness and cruelty. What is needed is emphasis on morality and manners.