To the extent that we are committed to the ideal
of a secular
society free of ecclesiastical influence and governed by toleration, liberty, and a conception
of civic virtue; and insofar as we think
of true religious piety as
consisting in treating other human beings with dignity and respect, and regard the Bible simply as a profound work
of human literature with a universal moral message, we are the heirs
of Spinoza's scandalous treatise.