This is the simplest and most persuasive argument for spirituality that I have ever heard, and when I read it, it lodged in me. Let's just admit it, any values you can find in religion are values that can just as easily be rooted in something else. The best Christianity is that which asks not "How can I be a better Christian?" but "How can I be a better person?" The best moral vision isn't the most unique one, it's the one we can all agree on, the one we all know deep down. But that, of course, threatens the particular ties that people have to their own religions. It threatens to annihilate belief itself, unless there is some other reason to believe besides truthfulness.
"So what does Goddess/God add? In one sense nothing, in another sense everything. Humanists, atheists, and those who believe in a non-omnipotent Goddess/God will probably be asking many of the same questions about how to achieve greater peace and justice in our world and will probably be active in many of the same causes. Yet for those who sense the presence of Goddess/God in all their relationships and activities, the world is transformed. When I rejoice in the joy of [a bird] hopping around outside my window, I know Goddess/God is rejoicing too. When I speak to others about my hope of achieving peace with justice rather than retaliating in violence, I feel that to the best of my limited knowledge I am creatively responding to the persuasions of Goddess/God. When I suffer, I know that Goddess/God has not abandoned me. When I witness the suffering of others, I know that Goddess/God is suffering too. I also know that Goddess/God shares my outrage at injustice. I experience Goddess/God as persuading me and others to respond creatively - to help those who suffer and to try to create a world where human-inflicted suffering is lessened. A small difference perhaps - or all the difference in the world."
-Carol Christ
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