"We need to recover the best of the American democratic tradition, which is a tradition of dissent, of protest, of resistance."

"To be a Christian is to be a follower of the historical Jesus, who was a revolutionary Jew."

"To be a visionary is to see beyond the present moment."

"We are living in an age of spiritual blackout, where the lights of truth, beauty, and goodness are being extinguished."

"I'm a Socratic gadfly, always asking questions, always challenging assumptions."