Abdolkarim Soroush

Religion forbids us from assuming a God-like character. This is especially true in politics and government, where limiting the power of the state, division of powers, and the doctrine of checks and balances are established in order to prevent accumulation of power that might lead to such Godly claims. ”

We no longer claim that a genuinely religious government can be democratic, but that it cannot be otherwise. ”

Human beings can remain spiritual and religious while enjoying the benefits of rational administration of their affairs. ”

Establishing an equilibrium between the Islam of truth and Islam as an identity is one of the most difficult tasks of religious intellectuals. ”

Islam, or any religion, will become totalitarian if it is made into an ideology, because that is the nature of ideologies. ”

We coin concepts and we use them to analyse and explain nature and society. But we seem to forget, midway, that these concepts are our own constructs and start equating them with reality. ”

If a group of people feels that it has been humiliated and that its honour has been trampled underfoot, it will want to express its identity and this expression of an identity will take different shapes and forms. ”

The clergy earns its living from religion. If your interests are secured through religion, then you will defend your interests first, and religion will become secondary. ”