A nation can assume that the addition of the words "under God" to its pledge of allegiance gives evidence that its citizens actually believe in God whereas all it really proves is that they believe in "believing" in God
Interpretation
The quote critiques the notion of belief in God as merely a performative act rather than a genuine conviction.
Huston Smith's quote highlights the difference between superficial acknowledgment of belief and true faith. By stating that the inclusion of 'under God' in the pledge suggests a belief in belief itself rather than in God, he encourages deeper reflection on the authenticity of one's convictions and the motives behind public declarations of faith.
In practice
During a speech on the importance of genuine faith in community gatherings.
One reason education undoes belief is its teaching of evolution; Darwin's own drift from orthodoxy to agnosticism was symptomatic. Martin Lings is probably right in saying that more cases of loss of religious faith are to be traced to the theory of evolution ... than to anything else.
So always, if we look back, concern for face-to-face morality, and its modern emphasis on justice as well, have historically evolved as religious issues.
The crisis that the world finds itself in as it swings on the hinge of a new millennium is located in something deeper than particular ways of organizing political systems and economies.
...conversation can be as mutually incomprehensible as foreign languages. We need the different and complementary perspectives of the various yogas - and ideally of all religions - not only to reach God but to reach each other.
In the post-individualistic era, science and spirituality will become allies, and human beings will realize a vast potentiality now only dimly felt.
In nature, the emphasis is in what is rather than what ought to be.
What is the evolutionary value of blushing? It seems not to be to our advantage to do it, to involuntarily reveal our inner emotions. If we're trying to manipulate or lie, actions in furtherance of individual goals as opposed to the goals of others, blushing would not seem to be helpful. And yet everyone blushes, except the psychopath.
Where knowledge ends, religion begins.
Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.
Call no man happy, said Shadow, until he is dead
If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.
In the largest scheme of things, just as no one has the right to tell us our true value, no one has the right to tell us what we truly owe.
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