Respond to other quotes. We also invite you to visit our Take Part section where you'll find additional opportunties to offer feedback and engage in dialogue with other viewers.

Poster: Patrick Gallagher
Caption: You live in a different America than the one in which I live. You live in an intellectual world of liberals. I am a liberal agnostic and I live in a world of conservative Christians and Jews. I have learned to wrap my opinions in humor so as not to offend my friends.

Poster: Jon P. Womack
Caption: Yes, this is very true, but we can also be offensive to believers too. I mean someone who doesn't share whatever we may believe. Relegion is an explosive topic. It's the reason we are at war.

Poster: Leonard Rosenthal
Caption: It appears that relegion throughout history, including the present, has been used, in addition to assisting people with the on-going problems of life itself, as a means to divide people in mean ways. Millions have been slaughtered in the name of god and wars continue between peoples who believe differently. I do not believe any of the creators of the world's relegions ever meant this to be so. This continues to shake my belief as to existance of god.

Poster: Greg Moore
Caption: In college, my liberal agnostic professors pressure me to find more secular ways of answering. At work, my conservative Christian coworkers pressure me to find less offensive ways of speaking. As America seems to become more polarized, I believe that neither side actually understands itself.

Poster: Kathryn S. Jones
Caption: Really LOVE your program...thank you for being astute and inquisitive. I have loved Richard Rodriguez for years...also enjoyed John Houghton. YOu and your guest's intelligent conversation is inspiring.

Poster: Sarah Melici
Caption: As long as we accept and are not judgemental about others' beliefs, we can and should be able to discuss our religion, that is, our beliefs.

Poster: Paul Klismith
Caption: His dual existance, is a perfect metaphor. The vital issues which face humanity and earth will soon, I fear, need us all to engage in a deeper diaglogue toward truth as best we can find it. But if we won't come clean to others about beliefs we supposedly hold most sacred, how, pray tell, will this ever work? At what point do the unstated canyons which divide, surface into ramparts? How soon before Faith's fear of dialogue becomes our collective nightmare?

Poster: Greg Morrissey
Caption: I would like to have a chance to speak on the show. I believe in God and would LIKE a chance to prove my faith. There is a lot of proof out there It just needs to be shown and talked about. There is a absoulte truth

Poster: Rose Marie Barba,...NYC
Caption: You said that the Pope is a sinner. True, as we all on the face of this earth are. However, he is not in a 'condition of sin'. This is the distinction that discerns his (anyone's!) holiness.

Poster: Jane Welsh
Caption: This is the first time since 1967 that I have heard someone verbalize my feeling on my church. I have always been drawn to Mr. Rodriquez. This program had me. I will have to read more. It is so conforting to know of someone who spoke my views. Thanks.

Poster: Donn Trapp
Caption: I was raised and schooled thru college as a Catholic. The only religion I feel comfortable with is Catholic. BUT, I was raised to respect everyone elses beliefs. I don't attempt to convert anyone, yes I'm not at all reticent about telling it like it is for me. I am an older, gay man and do relate to how you feel when you attend Mass, yet it's Mass I must attend when in need of a religious service. Thank you for being on Bill Moyers program last night and thak you, Bill Moyers, for having Richard Rodriguez as a guest. Donn

Poster: Loretta Jensen
Caption: But sometimes, there comes a time when you feel a real need to be very specific about what you believe and do not resort to code words and can still allow others to be equally expressive without hate or animosity. When we can each love God (or not) in our own way and except that others may have foound another way and still love them because we are all children of God, we will be able to live in peace with ourselves and with each other.

Poster: Marcia Tiano
Caption: Each time I hear Mr. Rodriquez speak I'm reminded how fortunate we are to have people like him among us.

Poster: Bill Dieffenbach
Caption: We have disconnected, we have tried so hard to become pc, we no longer speak the same language. We no longer speak to each other in the public arena, we lecture each other, we use slogans, look at our scripted political debates. I beleive the American people are more resonable than their political parties reflect.

Poster: Hollis, Pensacola,Fl
Caption: I believe what he said is largely true but therein lies the problem. In our society today it has become politically incorrect to speak openly on issues of faith and in so doing religion gets pushed to the back of the room. Early in our history as a nation it took its place not just in the front of the room but up on the podium. That to me has lessened our value in the world.

Poster: Hinneni
Caption: thanks, Richard, for the repeated Call again to the Wilderness of which you reminded us. I'm currently absorbed in reading the Desert Fathers, the original Christian monastics, The Wisdom of the Desert. It is all so very timely, relevant and I recommend it all to sincere 'searchers' after truth. so very relevant!

Poster: Paul Overman, PhD
Caption: I was taught to only speak the truth, to only speak what was absolutely necessary, and to only speak at the right time. Why do I – or should I – feel pressured from the outside to speak about, or to defend, my religioin or my spirituality?

Poster: Rich Falzone
Caption: Doesn't the nonbeliever face precisely the same dilemma? Having to present (or defend) one's point of view while being careful to not offend persons of Faith? (No matter that the skeptical viewpoint is the result of a thoughtful re-examination of fundamental assumptions.) The Rodriguez quote seems oddly defensive in a society that overwhelmingly believes in the existence God and the literal truth of the Bible.

Poster: James Fothergill
Caption: As a manager of blue collar workers, it is necessary to be circumspect about my own beliefs and respectful to my staff about theirs. Like a teacher, I must be empathetic and (at least,) appear to be objective in order to for my staff (like students) to follow my instructions and guidance. A disagreement about something as fundamental as belief would obstruct the whole process.

Poster: Phil Rizzo
Caption: Richard Rodriquez is so cool? (I'm 79 and know cool when I see it!)We're lucky to have him here in CA. The word,religion, itself gives me the creeps. I like spiritual better. While one may or may not feel comfortable talking about their beliefs we have an intrinsic responsibility to defend all our beliefs. If people talk war and you think it wrong we need to make our position clear. Same goes for any of our core beliefs. What's the point of having beliefs? Talking about them? I don't think so. Acting out of them makes us who we are.

Poster: Rick Henry
Caption: There is no prohibition to speak about religious issues at all in the public arena. What is not acceptable is to be rude, and argumentive with people who do not believe as you do. Sincere and honest inquirey or observation about the nature of a faith when done with respect is always acceptable and builds a bridge between parties of different faiths. Good manners matter.

Poster:
Caption: It was a most wonderful personal revelation when I discovered years ago that it was OK to disbelieve in religious teachings and all the trappings that go with Beliefs. At 84 years old I am very comfortable to feel spiritually that I am a part of the earth. During a part of my life I agonized some on the fact that I could not believe in a surpreme being. I try very hard to not interfer with the beliefs of other people as I think they do need whatever gives them comfort. Very difficult for me to understand how intelligent, thinking people have so little curiosity. I think of myself as a Humonist and I have attended UUA Felloship for over 40 years. As a child in rural America there was little church attendance, though not discouraged. Very moral people who believed the Golden Rule was important teaching to childern and to live by. I am very greatful that Bill Moyer is so available and I gently make others aware of this site. Thank you.

Poster: Dori Rhodes
Caption: Faith exists only at the expense of reason...and when the faithful rule, reason goes into exile. Religion is a sacred cow that nobody is willing to criticize. When I hear someone extolling the virtues of their faith in the public square, I can't help but think about all the people who are descriminated against, hated, discounted and, in many cases killed based on the tenets of religion. Wake up, people. There is a very ugly, insidious side to religion. Reveling in the glory of your god IS NOT glorious to those on the other side of the sword.

Poster: Scott Wallace
Caption: My sense is that too often in the world we confuse spirituality and religion. I think of religions as structural institutions that serve to hold however spirituality may be perceived by those who belong to a particular religion. Within all of the world's seminal religions, and those far from the mainstream, people find their own personal ways to experience spirit... the sadness today is the inability or unwillingness for a number of religious worshipers to accept other's ways to worship and make meaning of their spiritual experience. I know of no major religion that espouses hatred, vengeance or other negative behaviors. It is not written in their sacred texts. What has happened?

Poster: Carl Haldeman
Caption: Because of his position, Mr. Rodriquez feels it necessary to speak softly as regards his religious beliefs. That's not the case with most people. I have only softened my speech regarding religious matters as I have become older and more mature. I don't need to draw a line in the sand, anymore. It bothers me less what other people think and do. However, I don't hesitate to tell people what I think, I'm not running for office or trying to maintain some public position.

Poster: Jim McGee
Caption: Unity of thought brings peace within. The continual splicing of thought creates friction. This is commonly called anxiety; or one of the countless other disorders psychiatry defines each year, with the annual publication of their manual. The self tends towards order and peace. Disruption of this process has created the self help industry. To speak with your mind is self destructive. Speak from the heart. It is natural and yields peace. To do so requires virtue. Be careful lest you believe the knowledge of virtue yield peace, for it is in the practice of it that its treasure is revealed.

Poster: Mark McGoldrick
Caption: Some people publicly adress faith issues personally. In our society the disconnect between faith and appearances stems from the political conections that are made and the way we as a people tend to form opinions. I think this is a result of too many poorly designed opinion polls making it into the mainstream press, which tends to make people more 'guarded' in their personal discourse.

Poster: James Henry Maiewski
Caption: It seems to me, as an agnostic, that they are people like myself who must be 'careful,' rather than the reverse, as Mr, Rodriguez seems to imply. I say this because we agnostics are thought to not believe in anything. A deeply religious person can tell me all about how they feel sorry for those who don't have god, or Christ, or whomever in their lives, but If I say that I feel sorry for those who waste their energy contemplating an unknowable deity, which one of us is more likely to be thought of as insensitive? I should say, however, that I don't feel that this is necessarily wrong, or unfortunate. In some respects the onus lies with the one who isn't as emotionally invested to yield to the one who is. Also, when considering two or more people who hold strong, yet differing (or even mutually exclusive) beliefs, it seems entirely reasonable for each to present a more 'secular' face to the other.

Poster: Mark Newman
Caption: Most everyone I know is utterly agnostic. 'Religious' people who speak of it here, around me, in Seattle, seem to come from those fundamentalist or evangelical backgrounds which -- at my end -- always seem angry or self-deceptively naive. The more 'liberal' edges of what I feel uncomfortable even calling a 'faith community', since that term seems as though I'm trying to be polite to someone emerging from yesterday's time machine, the more 'liberal edges' of those considering themselves 'religious', then, I can't help thinking of as simply kind and political. What Richard Rodriguez seems to be talking about is a personal world I recognize but for which I have no name. It's an existential awareness, the hint of a 'center', a feeling. Perhaps there are ways to cultivate that feeling -- maybe there are 'prayers' or 'rituals' that, communal or not, find themselves tailorable to an individual.