It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.

When we are reflecting on terrorism we can grieve for many things we do and have done.

It seems true that the growth of science and secularism made organized Christianity feel under threat.

Hierarchy works well in a stable environment.

Any great organization can go through sectarian phases.

Inequality can have a bad downside, but equality, for its part, sure does get in the way of coordination.

An escalating, violent tit-for-tat may lead to terrorism.

Pretensions to moral superiority are devastatingly destructive.

I am sure it must be true that people opt out of the mainstream society because they feel that there are going to be no rewards for them, if they stay.

Every year the progress of advanced capitalist society makes our population consist of more and more isolates. This is because of the infrastructure of the economy, especially electronic communications.

What did our nation ever do to provoke these madly vicious enemies? What is seen as injustice in one place is seen as just requital in the other.

I have increasingly, over the years, felt that religion today does our civilization more harm than good.

If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny.

The theory of cultural bias... is the idea that a culture is based on a particular form of organization. It can't be transplanted except to another variant of that organization.

I am convinced that living in an enclave shapes the personality, and living alone shapes the personality too.

Enclave life becomes very tense, Even when they do elect a leader, the factions remain, with the threat of splitting off.

Hierarchy is is much reviled in the present day.

The natural response of the old-timers is to build a strong moral wall against the outside. This is where the world starts to be painted in black and white, saints inside, and sinners outside the wall.

The history of the Church of Rome is a constant leakage of members into such breakaway cults, which go on splitting.

Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion.

Our technological infrastructure alienates us from each other. No need to form a workplace community, everybody there will be out in a year or two, and so will you, looking for a better place.

Religion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside?

Inside a religious body you get sects and hierarchies, inside an information network you get bazaars and cathedrals, it is the same, call them what you like. They survive by pointing the finger of blame at each other.

Some scholars have been arguing that a civilizational clash between organized religions is the next step in human history.

Islam is in principle egalitarian, and has always had problems with power.

Yes, disappointment over perceived unfairness, injustice, promises not kept, tends to go hand in hand with increasing prosperity. Expectations are dashed. What can I say!

It's unlikely that the organized religions will get more sectarian... or is it? I am not at all sure.

Real equality is immensely difficult to achieve, it needs continual revision and monitoring of distributions. And it does not provide buffers between members, so they are continually colliding or frustrating each other.

Since 1970, relationships can be more volatile, jobs more ephemeral, geographical mobility more intensified, stability of marriage weaker.

Behind a leader there must be followers, but they should always be on the lookout for the main chance and ready to change sides if the current leader doesn't deliver.

Mormons... are so strong, they can handle wealth, they are confident. I think it is because they are not bogged down by rules for equality, but have a firmly defined system of relative status and responsible command.

It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on.

If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.

Without that assured American largesse Israel would have been obliged to come to an accommodation with her neighbours.

It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.

The theory of cultural bias is the idea that a culture is based on a particular form of organization. It cant be transplanted except to another variant of that organization.

If you want to change the culture you will have to start by changing the organization.

Where there is dirt there is system. Dirt is the byproduct of a systematic ordering and classification of matter.

When millions applaud you seriously ask yourself what harm you have done; and when they disapprove you, what good.

Saddam Hussein has been tenacious in his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and, unless he is removed from power, he will eventually harm our nation and our allies. Every moment we delay allows him to grow stronger.

Religion has caused more harm than any other idea since the beginning of time. There's nothing good I can say about it. People use it as a crutch.

The real harm of term extension comes not from these famous works. The real harm is to the works that are not famous, not commercially exploited, and no longer available as a result.

Innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.

Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.

I would rather my soul broil in hell than I do you any harm.

Another argument, vaguer and even less persuasive, is that gay marriage somehow does harm to heterosexual marriage. I have yet to meet anyone who can explain to me what this means. In what way would allowing same-sex partners to marry diminish the marriages of heterosexual couples?

Words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused.

We do as much harm holding onto programs and people past their natural life span as we do when we employ massive organizational air strikes. However, destroying comes at the end of life's cycle, not as a first response.

Some people, and I am one of them, hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm is the norm.