Century Marks: Voices of 2007

“Earth Mother is fighting back—not only from the four winds but also from underneath. Scientists call it global warming. We call it Earth Mother getting angry.”
—Talking Hawk, a Native American from the Mohawk Tribe, preparing for a sacred ceremony to pray for the Earth

“We need to consult a meteorologist and climatologist, not invisible rainmakers in the sky. Obviously, if there was a god, it knows of the drought and has chosen to ignore it.”
—Blair Scott, the Alabama director of American Atheists, criticizing Alabama governor Bob Riley for issuing an official proclamation urging Alabamians to pray for rain

“There is one thing a bishop should say to another bishop: that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”
—Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, chiding conservative Anglican bishops for their criticism of the Episcopal Church’s acceptance of gay clergy and same-sex unions

“You can’t make fun of everybody, because some people don’t deserve it.”
—Don Imus, radio talk show host, apologizing for making a sexist and racist comment about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team

“He is completely heterosexual. That is something he discovered. It was the

acting-out situations where things took place. It wasn’t a constant thing.”
—Tim Ralph, counselor to evangelical leader Ted Haggard, who admitted improprieties involving a male prostitute

“If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace.”
—From an open letter by 138 leading scholars from every branch of Islam, addressed to the pope and “leaders of Christian Churches everywhere,” pleading with them “to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions”

“If it was up to me, I would close Guantánamo not tomorrow but this afternoon.”
—Colin Powell, former secretary of state, calling for the closing of the military prison where alleged terrorists are held by the U.S.

“It would have criminalized Jesus Christ.”
—Senator Hillary Clinton, on a bill that included sanctions against those who aid undocumented aliens

“We are not preaching any type of civil disobedience, we’re just simply saying if someone comes to us and they’re in need of food, they’re in need of going to the doctor, we’re not going to take the time to look for a green card, we’re going to minister and show them Christ’s love.”
—The Rev. Robert Wilson, explaining a resolution passed by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma vowing that members would continue working with immigrants despite a new state law that makes it illegal to aid undocumented immigrants

“I trust those conversions when they happen on the road to Damascus, not on the road to Des Moines.”
Representative Tom Tancredo (R., Colo.) at a presidential debate, referring to candidates who shift to conservative positions on hot-button issues before the Republican caucuses in Iowa

“Jesus was too smart to ever run for office.”
—Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and Republican presidential candidate, when asked whether Jesus would support the death penalty

“I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
—President Bush in October on Iran’s purported attempts to make a nuclear weapon

“Iran halted the [nuclear weapons program] in 2003 primarily in response to international pressure.”
—U.S. intelligence assessment released in December

“I’m not necessarily saying it’s going to be nuclear. The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.”
—TV evangelist Pat Robertson’s prediction that terrorists will attack the U.S. in late 2007

Sources: Boston Globe, Newsweek, New York Times, RNS, Time