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"I think a lot of us share a fear that we and people we love will lose control of our own destinies at the end of life."
John DanforthWhether religion is a divisive or reconciling force depends on our cer — John Danforth
"Whether religion is a divisive or reconciling force depends on our certainty or our humility as we practice our faith in our politics. If we believe that we know Gods truth and that we can embody that truth in a political agenda, we divide the realm of politics into those who are on Gods side, which is our side, and those with whom we disagree, who oppose the side of God. This is neither good religion nor good politics. It is not consistent with following a Lord who reached out to a variety of people — prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers. If politics is the art of compromise, certainty is not really politics, for how can one compromise with Gods own truth? Reconciliation depends on acknowledging that Gods truth is greater than our own, that we cannot reduce it to any political platform we create, no matter how committed we are to that platform, and that Gods truth is large enough to accommodate the opinions of all kinds of people, even those with whom we strongly disagree."
John Danforth
John Danforth
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John Claggett Danforth is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and Episcopal priest who served as the attorney general of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as a United States senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of the Republican Party, he later served as special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1999 to 2000 and as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2004 to 2
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"I had not been left behind in the parish. I wasnt holding the hands of grieving widows. I wasnt struggling to educate my children. I was pontificating on the great issues of the day in the comfort of a privileged lifestyle."
John DanforthQuote
"Most of all, faith brings recognition that our quest never leads us to certainty. We are always uncertain, always in doubt that our way is Gods way. That self-doubt makes it possible to be reconciled to one another. It is faith that makes the reconciling work of politics possible."
John DanforthQuote
"As a senator, I worried every day about the size of the federal deficit. I did not spend a single minute worrying about the effect of gays on the institution of marriage. Today it seems to be the other way around."
John DanforthQuote
"The problem is not that Christians are conservative or liberal, but that some are so confident that their position is Gods position that they become dismissive and intolerant toward others and divisive forces in our national life."
John DanforthQuote
"In the Middle East, Iraq, Sudan, the former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, and many other places in the world, religion has been so divisive that people have killed one another, believing they were doing the work of God."
John Danforth