Whence comes war and fighting, and factions? Whence but from the body and the lust of the body? Wars are occasioned by the love of money, and money has to be acquired for the same and service of the body.
PlatoRead
Those who dare to interpret God's will must never claim Him as an asset for one nation or group rather than another. War springs from the love and loyalty which should be offered to God being applied to some God substitute, one of the most dangerous being nationalism.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Interpretation of God's will should be universal, not limited to specific national or group agendas.
Robert Runcie's quote emphasizes the danger of using faith and loyalty to God as a justification for nationalism or the superiority of one group over another. It warns against the conflation of religious devotion with national allegiance, indicating that such attachments can lead to conflict and war. Runcie suggests that true spirituality should transcend boundaries, promoting unity rather than division.
Themes
GodNationalismWarLoyaltyFaith
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on ethics and morality, this quote could illustrate the potential dangers of conflating faith with nationalism.
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