Reading and Writing: Dewey Decimal System 200    

200 Religion:

200.92 Saints

Saints are not freaks or exceptions.  They are the standard operating model for human beings.  In fact, in the biblical sense of the word, all believers are saints.  "Sanctity" means holiness.  All men, women and children, born or unborn, beautiful or ugly, straight or gay, are holy, for they bear the image of God.
-Peter Kreeft

From Saints Writings

 “And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.”
― St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

 “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!
- St Teresa of Ávila

“When you speak of your neighbor, look upon your tongue as a sharp razor in the surgeon’s hand, about to cut nerves and tendons; it should be used so carefully, as to insure that no particle more or less than the truth be said.”
― Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

“I saw that every flower He has created has a beauty of its own, that the splendor of the rose and the lily’s whiteness do not deprive the violet of its scent nor make less ravishing the daisy’s charm. I saw that if every little flower wished to be a rose, Nature would lose her spring adornments, and the fields would be no longer enameled with their varied flowers.”
― Thérèse de Lisieux, The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower

Biographies: The shadow approached Joan slowly; the extremity of it reached her, flowed over her, clothed her in its awful splendor. In that immortal light her face, only humanly beautiful before, became divine; flooded with that transforming glory her mean peasant habit was become like to the raiment of the sun-clothed children of God as we see them thronging the terraces of the Throne in our dreams and imaginings.

Presently she rose and stood, with her head still bowed a little, and with her arms down and the ends of her fingers lightly laced together in front of her; and standing so, all drenched with that wonderful light, and yet apparently not knowing it, she seemed to listen—but I heard nothing. After a little she raised her head, and looked up as one might look up toward the face of a giant, and then clasped her hands and lifted them high, imploringly, and began to plead. I heard some of the words. I heard her say:

“But I am so young! oh, so young to leave my mother and my home and go out into the strange world to undertake a thing so great! Ah, how can I talk with men, be comrade with men?—soldiers! It would give me over to insult, and rude usage, and contempt. How can I go to the great wars, and lead armies?—I a girl, and ignorant of such things, knowing nothing of arms, nor how to mount a horse, nor ride it.... Yet—if it is commanded—”

Her voice sank a little, and was broken by sobs, and I made out no more of her words. Then I came to myself. I reflected that I had been intruding upon a mystery of God—and what might my punishment be? I was afraid, and went deeper into the wood. Then I carved a mark in the bark of a tree, saying to myself, it may be that I am dreaming and have not seen this vision at all. I will come again, when I know that I am awake and not dreaming, and see if this mark is still here; then I shall know. ― Mark Twain, Joan of Arc


Saintly Fiction: “Look, friend, you could do me a very great favor. You see, I have a brother at Monte Cassino… he’s only a boy, no more than fifteen. My youngest brother. He’s been a Benedictine oblate ever since he was five. When you take the place…will you keep an eye on him and see that he doesn’t get hurt?”
               “Most certainly I will , if I can”, said Piers warmly. “But how shall I recognize him?”
               The young poet laughed again. “You can’t miss him. He is a very fat boy, surely the fattest of the lot. Ah, but you don’t know his name, of course.  I haven’t introduced myself. I am Count Rainald of Aquino, and my little brother’s name is Thomas… Thomas of Aquino.”
- Louis de Wohl, The Quiet Light: A Novel of St. Thomas Aquinas

Fictional Saints: They canonized him eventually, of course—there was no question that he’d died for the Faith. But the miracles started right away. In Paris, a computer programmer with a very tricky program knew it was almost guaranteed to hang. But he prayed to Father Vidicon to put in a good word for him with the Lord, and the program ran without a hitch. Art Rolineux, directing coverage of the Super Bowl, had eleven of his twelve cameras die on him, and the twelfth started blooming. He sent up a quick prayer to Father Vidicon, and five cameras came back on-line. Ground Control was tracking a newly-launched satellite when it suddenly disappeared from their screens. “Father Vidicon, protect us from Finagle!” a controller cried out, and the blip reappeared. Miracles? Hard to prove—it could’ve been coincidence. It always can, with electronic equipment. But as the years flowed by, engineers and computer programmers and technicians all over the world began counting the prayers, and the numbers of projects and programs saved—and word got around, as it always does. So the day after the Pope declared him to be a saint, the signs went up on the back wall of every computer room and control booth in the world: “St. Vidicon of Cathode, pray for us!”
-Christopher Stasheff, Saint Vidicon To The Rescue

About Many Saints: Of course, it may sound strange to think of yourself drinking with the faithful departed, and yes, perhaps it is ironic that we are toasting to and drinking with the saints, some of whom were renowned for their extraordinary self-denial. Yet even John the Baptist, who drank “neither wine nor strong drink” (Lk. 1: 15), is now rejoicing at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. And if Cana is any indication of Our Divine Bridegroom’s preferences, you can be sure that the celestial vintage is being enjoyed by all. And so to those already at the Wedding Feast, Orate pro nobis, and to those still on pilgrimage here below, Prosit!
-Michael P Foley, Drinking with the Saints: The Sinner's Guide to a Holy Happy Hour

Maria Morera Johnson, a college professor with degrees in literature and education, is a self-declared fan of the sci-fi and superhero genres. She knows how to tell a good story, yet My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live proves she knows truth from fiction. Her stories describe real-life women who faced down outlaws in the Old West, genocide in Rwanda, convicts in a Tijuana prison, and oppressive regimes in Europe and Cuba. Maria also chronicles canonized saints, both well-known and obscure. Their strength, verve, and feminine genius may raise an eyebrow or two, but their powerful witness will inspire women seeking ways to live out a strong and uncompromising faith in a dangerous world.
-Maria Morera Johnson, My Badass Book of Saints


Legends and Children’s Stories: ‘Damian, who do you admire?’
I said, ‘St Roch, sir.’
The others stopped talking.
‘Who does he play for?’
‘No one, sir. He’s a saint.’
The others went back to football.
‘He caught the plague and hid in the woods so he wouldn’t infect anyone, and a dog came and fed him every day. Then he started to do miraculous cures and people came to see him – hundreds of people – in his hut in the woods. He was so worried about saying the wrong thing to someone that he didn’t say a word for the last ten years of his life.’ ‘
We could do with a few like him in this class. Thank you, Damian.’ ‘
He’s the patron saint of plague, cholera and skin complaints. While alive, he performed many wonders.’ ‘Well, you learn something new.’
-Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Millions

220 Bible

Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. Then the king's face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together. Daniel 5: 5-6 NASV

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. John 21: 25 NIV

About the Bible:
“The Bible, of course, for aside from religion there is much to be learned of men and their ways in the Bible. It is also a source of comments made of references and figures of speech. No man could consider himself educated without some knowledge of it.”
― Louis L'Amour, To the Far Blue Mountains

“These books can't possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when that history is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time."
Faukman's eyes went wide. "Don't tell me Harry Potter is actually about the Holy Grail."
"I was referring to the Bible."
Faukman cringed. "I knew that.”
― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It's a chocolate thing.”
― Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

“The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teaching were removed.”
― Teddy Roosevelt


Biblical Fiction: And now he knew that he must make sure, absolutely sure that the man was dead. He beckoned to the soldier to whom he had spoken. The fellow came, reluctantly.
“Give me your spear,” Cassius said roughly.
The man obeyed. His hands were trembling. No use letting him try; he’d only botch it. It was a regulation six-foot spear, the blade almost two inches wide and near the shaft a little over half an inch thick.
Cassius weighed it in his hands to get the feel of it and then tightened his grip. Raising the spear with both hands, he thrust it with all his strength forward and up, through the crucified man’s heart.
For one split moment he thought that he had been hit by a bolt of lightning. Everything around him lighten up with terrifying clarity, and he saw the long, lean body, pale and golden, with its arms outstretched as if to embrace him, and his spear entering it. He heard the thud, and he felt the resistance, either of the body or of the wood of the cross behind it.
Then it was night again, a dark-red night splashing all over him and blinding him completely, and he staggered and would have fallen if he had not held on to the spear in the crucified man’s heart.
Blood. He was full of blood. The whole world was full of blood.  He was suffocating in it.
From far, far, away came the sound of crying. The world was crying.
He wiped the blood from his face.
It was still day. The sun had broken through the clouds just as he had thrust in the spear, and for one moment he had seen clearly, for that one moment. Then darkness again… It had not been lightning but the sun.
The long, lean body hung before him, pale and golden, with its arms outstretched, as if to embrace him. The head with the crown of thorns had sunk on the chest.
-Louis DeWohl, The Spear

Biblical Science Fiction: You know what happened and how it happened. We will arrive on the day that Pilate asks the inhabitants of Jerusalem whom he should set free, as the citizens are permitted to grant amnesty to one prisoner over the Feast of the Passover. When the crowd begins to shout ‘Barabbas’, as we know it must, then you must shout it too. You must not appear to be different in any way from the rest of the citizens. This is vitally important. You have to appear to be in agreement with the rest of the crowd. You must jeer at Christ and shake your fists as he drags the cross through the streets. You must remember that communities in those times were not very large, and if a small section of people is silent the others will begin to wonder why and will question you. You will be sure to give yourselves away under stress — not because you are idiots but because you are clever. People in those times were simple. They followed the ring-leaders, and they will regard anyone who does not with great suspicion. It is far more difficult to think and speak with simplicity under pressure than it is the reverse, so do as I say and everyone will be perfectly safe. It may be distasteful and even repugnant to your nature, but it is a necessity. When they nail up the sign ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’, you must laugh. Those that remain awestruck while the rest of the crowd are dancing and prancing, screaming and shouting, will only draw attention to themselves by their silence. I repeat, it is for your own safety.
Garry Kilworth, Let's Go to Golgotha!: The Songbirds of Pain

“And he had a couple of Bibles in need of customized repair, and those were an easy fifty dollars apiece – just brace the page against a piece of plywood in a frame and scorch out the verses the customers found intolerable, with a wood-burning stylus; a plain old razor wouldn’t have the authority that hot iron did. And then of course drench the defaced book in holy water to validate the edited text. Matthew 19:5-6 and Mark 10:7-12 were bits he was often asked to burn out, since they condemned re-marriage after divorce, but he also got a lot of requests to lose Matthew 25:41 through 46, with Jesus’s promise of Hell to stingy people. And he offered a special deal to eradicate all thirty or so mentions of adultery. Some of these customized Bibles ended up after a few years with hardly any weight besides the binding.”
― Tim Powers, The Bible Repairman and Other Stories

“You can have everything in the world, but if you don't have love, none of it means crap," he said promptly. "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love."

And the greatest of these is love," I finished. "That's from the Bible."

First Corinthians, chapter thirteen," Thomas confirmed. "I paraphrased. Father makes all of us memorize that passage. Like when parents put those green yucky-face stickers on the poisonous cleaning products under the kitchen sink.”
― Jim Butcher, Blood Rites

230 Christianity

I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” — Napoleon Bonaparte (French General, Politician and Emperor (1804-14). 1769-1821)

280 Christian denominations

Catholic:

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
― Pope John Paul II

The act of consuming flesh by a zombie horde has parallels to another act of consuming flesh by a collective, one that is done in churches across the world—the Eucharistic liturgy. It is precisely at this juncture that the flesh of the zombie comes into contact with the Word made flesh. Monstrosity is overcome, not by plastering over the rotting flesh of the zombie, but by incorporating the dying flesh of the horde into the living flesh in the body of Christ. This joining of flesh is undertaken, not by a divine erasure of the “death drive,” but by a divine entry into it, redirecting it. The grammar of the saving work of Christ is brought about not through a violent overcoming of the zombie, but by Christ himself taking on the condition of a zombie, giving flesh, so to speak, to the line by St. Paul, who talks of Christ as “he who knew no sin [and] became sin on our behalf.”  This line of inquiry makes the Eucharist a vital element because it highlights how Christ takes on the zombified condition by handing over his flesh to be consumed by the horde. Nevertheless, it is precisely because it is Eucharistic that the consumption of his flesh only becomes a prelude to an absorption of that zombified flesh into his living body.
-Matthew John Paul Tan, Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus 

Protestantism: 

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession...Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Orthodox:

Because faith is not logical certainty but a personal relationship, and because this personal relationship is as yet very incomplete in each of us and needs continually to develop further, it is by no means impossible for faith to coexist with doubt. The two are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps there are some who by God's grace retain throughout their life the faith of a little child, enabling them to accept without question all that they have been taught. For most of those living in the West today, however, such an attitude is simply not possible. We have to make our own the cry, “Lord, I believe: help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). For very many of us this will remain our constant prayer right up to the very gates of death. Yet doubt does not in itself signify lack of faith. It may mean the opposite—that our faith is alive and growing.
-Bishop of Diokleia  Kallistos, The Orthodox Way

Some people simply don’t believe in God. I do not know why those people do not believe in God. I wish I did. I also wish I knew why most people do believe in God, if only because it might make my job as a Christian pastor—to help people to encounter Him and connect with Him—a bit easier. There does not seem to be any one thread of personality that runs through all atheists or all believers that could give us a clue as to the cause of unbelief or belief. There are skeptics who are believers. There are gullible people who are unbelievers. There are kind-hearted atheists and selfish theists. The rich, the poor, the old, the young, the educated and the uneducated, the majorities and the minorities—none of these seem to have a corner on the market of either belief or unbelief. What all believers have in common, at least the ones who really believe and are not faking it, is that they believe God has somehow knocked on the door of their hearts, which is not something that is measurable by psychology or any physical device.
-Andrew Stephen Amick, An Introduction to God: Encountering the Divine in Orthodox Christianity  

290 Other religions

Atheism/Agnostic:

By way of introduction, my name is Hemant, and I’m a friendly atheist. I’m serious when I say that in this book, I’m going to do my best to help improve the way churches present the Christian message.

 As I read Christian books, and as I spent months attending an amazing variety of churches in different parts of the country, I kept running across a consistent and troubling truth about American Christianity. It is clear that most churches have aligned themselves against nonreligious people. By adopting this stance, Christians have turned off the people I would think they want to connect with. The combative stance I’ve observed in many churches, and from many Christians on an individual level, is an approach that causes people to become apathetic—and even antagonistic—toward religion as a whole. By displaying a negative attitude toward anyone outside the religious community, people of faith make enemies of those who don’t believe in the same God they do.

I am not angry with God, and I don’t want to rid the world of religion. In this book, as we talk about matters of belief and nonbelief, I hope you will think of me not simply as an atheist, but rather as a person with questions about faith, an openness to evidence that might contradict my current beliefs, and a curiosity about Christianity and its message. Please don’t assume I am the enemy of religious belief. I’m not trying to tear down anyone’s religion, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers.
 -Hemant Mehta, I Sold My Soul on eBay  

Buddhism:

“Sometimes when I meet old friends, it reminds me how quickly time passes. And it makes me wonder if we've utilized our time properly or not. Proper utilization of time is so important. While we have this body, and especially this amazing human brain, I think every minute is something precious. Our day-to-day existence is very much alive with hope, although there is no guarantee of our future. There is no guarantee that tomorrow at this time we will be here. But we are working for that purely on the basis of hope. So, we need to make the best use of our time. I believe that the proper utilization of time is this: if you can, serve other people, other sentient beings. If not, at least refrain from harming them. I think that is the whole basis of my philosophy.

So, let us reflect what is truly of value in life, what gives meaning to our lives, and set our priorities on the basis of that. The purpose of our life needs to be positive. We weren't born with the purpose of causing trouble, harming others. For our life to be of value, I think we must develop basic good human qualities—warmth, kindness, compassion. Then our life becomes meaningful and more peaceful—happier.”
― Dalai Lama XIV, The Art of Happiness

Cults:

“No one listening [to Jones' sermons], even those who were the most devoted to him, could take it all in. But at some point each follower heard something that reaffirmed his or her personal reason for belonging to Peoples Temple, and for believing in Jim Jones. As Jonestown historian Fielding McGehee observes, "What you thought Jim said depended on who you were.”
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“Jim Jones was a dedicated Esquire reader, and for him its January 1962 issue (which reached newsstands in December 1961) could not have been timelier. One lead story, touted on the cover, was titled “9 Places in the World to Hide,” the cities and/or regions where inhabitants had the best odds of survival following nuclear war. Reporter Caroline Bird”
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 “In years to come, Jim Jones would frequently be compared to murderous demagogues such as Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson. These comparisons completely misinterpret, and historically misrepresent, the initial appeal of Jim Jones to members of Peoples Temple. Jones attracted followers by appealing to their better instincts. The purpose of Peoples Temple was to offer such a compelling example of living in racial and economic equality that everyone else would be won over and want to live the same way.”
― Jeff Guinn, The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple

Hinduism:

“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God. Denial of God we have known. Denial of truth we have not known.”
― Mahatma Gandhi 
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“The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth.”
― Mahatma Gandhi , Gandhi: An autobiography
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“And that is why all of us with one voice call one God differently as Paramatma, Ishwara, Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, Allah, Khuda, Dada Hormuzda, Jehova, God, and an infinite variety of names. He is one and yet many; He is smaller than an atom, and bigger than the Himalayas. He is contained even in a drop of the ocean, and yet not even the seven seas can compass Him. Reason is powerless to know Him. He is beyond the reach or grasp of reason.”
― Mahatma Gandhi, What is Hinduism?

Islam:

My adolescent life never marched in rhythm with those of my non-Muslim friends. Balancing Muslim practices successfully with teenage life in Los Angeles was no easy feat. Leaving my non-Muslim friends in order to perform my prayers several times a day was uncomfortable. Abstaining from food and water during the fasting month of Ramadan evoked frankly incredulous stares. Those of my Muslim acquaintances who wore a head scarf, a hijab, wore daily visible evidence of their differences. Islam is a religion of orthopraxy, practice-oriented rather than doctrine-oriented. The practice of Islam, therefore, cannot be kept totally secret, much to adolescent dismay. Islam is often called a way of life rather than a religion. The Qur’an hardly differentiates between practical life and spiritual life. Muhammad,** the Prophet of Islam, led his community practically as well as spiritually.
-Sumbul Ali-Karamali, The Muslim Next Door: The Qur'an, the Media, and That Veil Thing

ISLAM WAS MORE than empire, more even than a faith or ideology: It was a religion, a style, a code of conduct, a loyalty, a system of law, a literature, and a language (wherever Islam was honored, Arabic was understood). It was as if Roman law, the Catholic faith, and the social nuances of the British Empire were combined in one all-embracing system. The wandering Roman could cry civis Romanus sum – “I am a Roman citizen” - wherever he went in the world of the Caesars. The wandering Catholic could confess in Latin anywhere. The wandering Briton, if he knew the right people, could be sure of a proper reception from Halifax in Yorkshire to Ooty in India. The wandering Moslem could expect still more, especially if he was a learned man of religion: Everywhere co-religionists would help him, guide him, put him up, hear his case, introduce him, offer him letters of credit, and see him safely on his way. It was an immense fraternity, expressed not only in human relationships and legal practices, but in the grand mosques of Islamic architecture, in the caravansaries of the pilgrim routes, in the common treasury of Arab legend and tradition, in the music of the Arabic tongue, and in the shared conviction that there was one God and Mohammed was his prophet.
Jan Morris, The Best Traveled Man on Earth (2014)

Judaism:

 “One year, on Yom Kippur eve, Salanter did not show up in synagogue for services. The congregation was extremely worried; they could only imagine that their rabbi had suddenly taken sick or been in an accident. In any case, they would not start the service without him. During the wait, a young woman in the congregation became agitated. She had left her infant child at home asleep in its crib; she was certain she would only be away a short while. Now, because of the delay, she slipped out to make sure that the infant was all right. When she reached her house, she found her child being rocked in the arms of Rabbi Salanter. He had heard the baby crying while walking to the synagogue and, realizing that the mother must have gone off to services, had gone into the house to calm him.”

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“Ameikh ami, ve’Elo-hai-ikh Elo-hai—
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy

Mormonism:

I know an awful lot about Mormonism. It is generational in my family. My ancestors were our family’s original members of the church and made the arduous trek across the midwestern plains and Rocky Mountains, some of them pushing handcarts and others riding in covered wagons pulled by oxen.
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Mormons had a saying that everyone memorized early on. It went like this: “As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.” This was the concept of eternal progression. Therefore, God was once just like me and eventually graduated to Godhood, and I was on the same track. So, there was a lot on the line compelling me to behave. We had other incentives, of course, but this was the big one. It doesn’t get much bigger. I can now understand how all this God business must have rubbed people the wrong way. Of course, most people don’t think they are on the God track the way I did. They think it is the height of insanity, the epitome of arrogance, or the gall of blasphemy (or, more likely, all three of them at once). But I wasn’t the only person who figured he’d be a God someday. My dentist, doctor, school teacher, and garbage collector all thought the same thing. And so did my barber, scoutmaster, and Little League coach, to say nothing of the Governor, our two United States Senators, and our Congressmen. It was a mainstream belief in my town. (You’ll notice there are no women on the list. That is because only men could become Gods. A woman, provided she was married to a Mormon man, could become a Goddess, but she wouldn’t get her own planet—she’d just help her husband manage his.)
-Warren Driggs, Mormon Boy: A Memoir 

Paganism:

“Paganism is one of the first religions that deliberately incorporates new perspectives from science, metaphysics, and mysticism into its spirituality and consciously breaks from the traditional Newtonian view of the world. Pagans tend to see all parts of the universe-from the smallest atom to the largest planetary system-as sacred and having some form of consciousness or spark of intelligence. Most Pagans believe that this living universe is able to communicate to all parts of itself on one or more levels, and that these parts can choose to cooperate together for specific ends. Pagans call this cooperation magick.
― Joyce Higginbotham, Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions

Scientology:

“The real and, to me, inexcusable danger in Dianetics lies in its conception of the amoral, detached, 100 per cent efficient mechanical man—superbly free-floating, unemotional, and unrelated to anything. This is the authoritarian dream, a population of zombies, free to be manipulated by the great brains of the founder, the leader of the inner manipulative clique.”
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“Scientology, a fundamentally narcissistic philosophy that demonizes doubt and insecurity as products of the "reactive mind," is a belief system tailor-made for actors. The Training Routines that are part of early Scientology indoctrination have been compared to acting exercises: students are taught to "duplicate," or mirror, a partner's actions; project their "intention," or thoughts, onto inanimate objects; experiment with vocal tones, the most dominant being a commanding bark known as "tone 40"; and deepen their ability to "be in their bodies" without reacting to outside stimuli. In auditing, Scientologists re-create scenes from past lives. Some processes focus directly on members "mocking up," or visualizing themselves, in different scenarios.”
― Janet Reitman, Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion

Shinto:

Shinto, the indigenous faith of the Japanese people, has long been a source of fascination for both the casual visitor and old-timer. The strange symbolism, exotic rites, ceremonies, and festivals, and the mystic atmosphere of the shrines constitute a never-ending lure for those who would pry into the recesses of the religious faith of this people. However, except for the student who has the interest, ability, and almost inexhaustible resources in time for his investigation, Shinto remains practically a closed book.
-Sokyo Ono, Shinto the Kami Way 

Taoism

“The honey doesn't taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn't mean so much once it is reached; the reward is no so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won't have very much. But if we add up the spaces *between* the rewards, we'll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards *and* the spaces, then we'll have everything - every minute of the time that we spent.”
― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

Theism:

“ I'm always talking to God about whether or not he exists - that's how I know I'm a theist. ”

“Even the devils are theists. I am of all people one of the least qualified to judge, but I do believe that some atheists are closer to God than are some theists. With Him, it is better to be distant in the mind but near in the heart than it is to be distant in the heart but near in the mind.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

The whole war between the atheist and the theist comes down to this: the atheist believes a 'what' created the universe; the theist believes a 'who' created the universe.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

Wiccan:

“The Wiccan Rede You can do whatever you want so long as you do not harm anyone. This is a belief that true practitioners take to heart and is one of the underlying, non-negotiable beliefs common to all schools of Wicca.  The Rule of Three This is quite a simple principle - whatever you do to others will come back to you three times over. Thus, if you choose to send out negative energy into the world, or choose to do wicked things, you are only hurting yourself. We are all Connected Wiccans believe that everyone and everything is spiritually connected and so it is important to work to improve the world, for the good of all.”
― Sasha Cillihypi, Wicca: 101 Reference (The Definitive Guide on The Practice of Wicca, Spells, Rituals and Witchcraft)