I just finished reading 'Have a little faith' by Mitch Albom, the author of Tuesdays with Corrie.

Some excerpts


'Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich'
Napoleon

Meaning:
Without the fear of God –or literally the hell we might have to pay –the rest of us would just take what we wanted.

The news headlines certainly endorsed that idea. In recent months, there had been terrorist train blasts in India, greedy executives sentenced in the Enron fraud case, a truck driver who’d shot five girls in an Amish schoolhouse, and a California congressman sent to jail for taking millions in bribes while living on a yacht.

‘Do you think that our nature is evil?’
Mitch asked the Reb
“No” he said, “I believe there is goodness in man”
So we do have better angels?
“Deep down, yes.”
Then why do we do so many bad things?
He sighed: “Because one thing God gave us-and I am afraid it’s at times a little too much-is free will. Freedom to choose. I believe he gave us everything needed to build a beautiful world if we choose wisely.
“But we can also choose badly. And we can mess things up something awful.
Can man change between good and evil?
The Reb nodded slowly. “In both directions.”