The Color of Sin

“Regardless of the color of our skin, we all share the same color of sin. You can describe those sins as scarlet, or you can describe them as black, or as crimson, or as any other color that will upset somebody, but Christ will make them white as snow, white as wool. And one of the things that will happen when Christ sets you free is that you will be able to handle color metaphors like a grown-up.”

Skin and Blood, pp. 108-109

Absolutely Woebegone

“Socialist paradises don’t offer too many of those [lucrative opportunities], and so the ideal would be to find another host body. The problem they will confront is that when America is gone, the tapeworm will lament having killed the last fat guy. And you haven’t seen forlorn sorrow until you see a tapeworm who wouldn’t think ahead.”

Skin and Blood, p. 105

Indignant Chemicals

“If there is no God, then we are all just inchoate chemical assemblages and random neuron firings, and all of our moral indignation over this travesty or that outrage are on exactly the same level as what happens when you pour vinegar into baking soda. Something awful happens, and there you are, foaming away at it, and above you . . . only sky. So change that ‘something awful’ into ‘something that apparently displeased the baking soda.’”

Skin and Blood, p. 104