Quotes

This is Jimmy Carter's extemporaneous definition of fundamentalism, from a recent interview on Speaking of Faith:

Fundamentalism is a characteristic of dominant males who, first of all, subjugate women and derogate women's rights. Secondly, an aspect of their fundamentalism is that they assume that they have a rare or unique relationship with God Almighty, whatever god they define, and their beliefs, therefore, are ordained by God. And since their beliefs are God's beliefs, they are infallible. They cannot make a mistake or acknowledge a mistake. Anyone who disagrees with them, by definition, is wrong because 'the disagreement is with me and with God.' And being wrong, you are inferior and, in extreme cases, you are considered to be subhuman. And so that's where violence erupts and condemnation erupts and value of a human life within a person who disagrees with you has little or no value. And that's where the violence comes out, and that's where the unnecessary war comes out, and that's where what we define as terrorism comes out.

This is from the title song of Bruce Hornsby's Halcyon Days:

Some rise by wrong,

and some by virtue fall;

and those in judgment could be guiltiest of all.

Wash it all away!

I'd love to bring you--

on a silver tray--

some halcyon days.

More later.