The institutions that claim to represent God, when they are not ignored altogether, are treated like other human institutions that have to earn their right to a hearing by the value of what they say, and not by virtue of who is saying it. Today, authority has to earn respect by the intrinsic value of what it says, not by the force of its imposition.

Godless Morality: Keeping Religion Out Of Ethics (ed. Canongate Books, 2000) - ISBN: 9781847676795