"The hajj is one of the five essential practices of Islam; when they make the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims ritually act out the central principles of their faith."
Karen ArmstrongTiny Panda Quotes
Quotes by Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong, a renowned British author and scholar of religion, has dedicated her life to exploring the role of faith in human history and contemporary society. Born on November 14, 1944, she transitioned from a convent to academia, eventually gaining prominence for her accessible writings on complex religious concepts. Armstrong's influential works, including "A History of God" and "The Case for God," challenge readers to understand faith beyond dogma. Her profound insights continue to inspire dialogue on spirituality and coexistence, establishing her as a pivotal voice in interfaith understanding.
14 quotes found
"Ever since the Crusades, when Christians from western Europe were fighting holy wars against Muslims in the near east, western people have often perceived Islam as a violent and intolerant faith - even though when this prejudice took root Islam had a better record of tolerance than Christianity."
Karen Armstrong"Today mythical thinking has fallen into disrepute; we often dismiss it as irrational and self-indulgent. But the imagination is also the faculty that has enabled scientists to bring new knowledge to light and to invent technology that has made us immeasurably more effective."
Karen Armstrong"Compassion is a practically acquired knowledge, like dancing. You must do it and practice diligently day by day."
Karen Armstrong"I am not interested in the afterlife. Religion is supposed to be about losing your ego, not preserving it eternally in optimum conditions."
Karen Armstrong"Mythology and science both extend the scope of human beings. Like science and technology, mythology, as we shall see, is not about opting out of this world, but about enabling us to live more intensely within it."
Karen Armstrong
"Today we often think that before we start living a religious life we have first to accept the creedal doctrines and that before one can have any comprehension of the loyalty and trust of faith, one must first force one's mind to accept a host of incomprehensible doctrines. But this is to put the cart before the horse."
Karen Armstrong
"A theology should be like poetry, which takes us to the end of what words and thoughts can do."
Karen Armstrong
"There are some forms of religion that are bad, just as there's bad cooking or bad art or bad sex, you have bad religion too."
Karen Armstrong
"Zionism was originally a rebellion against religious Judaism and the PLO Charter was essentially secularist. But because the conflict was allowed to fester without a resolution, religion got sucked into the escalating cycle of violence and became part of the problem."
Karen Armstrong"Now I think one of the reasons why religion developed in the way that it did over the centuries was precisely to curb this murderous bent that we have as human beings."
Karen Armstrong
"Islam is a religion of success. Unlike Christianity, which has as its main image, in the west at least, a man dying in a devastating, disgraceful, helpless death."
Karen Armstrong
"Well, logos is science or reason, something that helps us to function practically and effectively in the world, and it must therefore be closely in tune and reflect accurately the realities of the world around us."
Karen Armstrong"Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage."
Karen Armstrong