“If someone takes human choices in the marketplace as his absolute, the end result will be a market in which the fundamental commodity will be the souls of men. But if someone takes the law of God as his direction, the end result will be a market in which a man can buy and sell his cabbages or cabinets or cars without getting permission from some functionary at the Department of Hubris.”
No Finger in the Air
“The fact is, the Bible does say that for a man to lie with another man as with a woman is an abomination (Lev. 20:13), that Israel should not suffer a witch to live (Ex. 22:18), that God flooded the entire globe good and wet for their experiments in federally funded genetic splicing (Gen. 6:4), that Christian slaves were instructed to work doubly hard for their Christian masters (1 Tim. 6:2), and that placing women in combat roles was beyond appalling (Deut. 22:5). There is a kind of Christian still out there who believes that exegesis of such passages is not done by licking a finger and holding it up in the breeze.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 40
Which Would be Vigorous Negative Enthusiasm
“This is why, if someone suggests bringing an explicitly religious concern into public policy discussion, the vigor with which he is shouted down exhibits the kind of negative enthusiasm you might reserve for the advocate of releasing 10,000 plague-carrying rats into Central Park.”
On Not Being Mean
“But evangelicals—babes in the woods when it comes to this kind of thing—have confused the biblical requirement to not be mean with the impossible requirement to never be accused by liars of being mean. Once you accept the latter as your standard, you can always be steered, no matter how nice you are.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 37
Let’s Think This Through
“If we are in the fire, and some suggests getting back in the frying pan, it is hardly to the point to suggest that this might lead to us falling into the fire.”
The Sin of Soft
“The modern evangelical church is effeminate. That is the problem. That is our besetting sin. When the apostle Paul rebuked the malakoi, the soft ones (1 Cor. 6:9), he was talking about the effeminate objects of sodomite lust. But that kind of softness can also trickle into bed with a girl. That kind of softness can remain heterosexual and can get institutionalized in the overarching directive to all faithful evangelicals, which is be nice and don’t be mean.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 36
Theocracy and Fear
“Why are we so afraid of theocracy? What might happen? Might we go on a rampage and kill sixty million babies? Yeah, that would be bad. Better not risk it. Might we set up a surveillance state, with camera clusters pointed in every direction at all the intersections? Right—theocracies are terrible like that.”
Two Jobs
“The priests of this system have two basic jobs. The first is to keep throwing virgins into the volcano. The second is to keep up an unrelenting stream of criticism of the Christians, heaping scorn upon how we treat our virgins.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 29
At the Table or On It
“There are only two ‘ways,’ two fundamental religions in the world. One of them feeds people, and the other one eats people.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 27
Contra All Three
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and pecksniffs.”