In Lincoln's day a President's religion was a very private affair. There were no public prayer meetings, no attempts to woo the Religious Right. Few of Lincoln's countrymen knew anything at all of his religious beliefs.

The basic assumption of the secular society is that modernity overcomes religion.

The arts and a belief in the values of the civil rights movement, in the overwhelming virtue of diversity, these were our religion. My parents worshipped those ideals.

I believe every religion captures a piece of the truth.

When you're in prison, you either embrace religion or you reject it. I embraced it it was a very spiritual time for me.