Tony Campolo quotes

When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying? (Tony Campolo)
Freud taught us that it wasn't God that imposed judgment on us and made us feel guilty when we stepped out of line. Instead, it was the superego - that idealized concept of what a good person is supposed to be and do - given to us by our parents, that condemned us for what had been hitherto regarded as ungodly behavior.
Tony Campolo
Often, we ignore the fact that our spiritual condition and psychological state of mind are highly affected by what is happening to us physically. Sometimes depression is simply the result of exhaustion.
Tony Campolo
Sadly, we do a much better job of making people feel guilty than we do of delivering them from the guilt we create. We need to confess this and change our ways.
Tony Campolo
And we've got to ask ourselves some very serious questions as to whether or not certain religious leaders, in terms of raising money - I hate to bring this up - are pushing hot buttons.
Tony Campolo
The reason why I buy into the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party is because there are over 2,000 verses of Scripture that deal with responding to the needs of the poor.
Tony Campolo
I teach at Eastern University, which is highly committed to doing work among the poor and the oppressed peoples of the world. We have a special commitment to the city.
Tony Campolo
The real problem that I think those of us who are evangelicals and Democrats have to face up to is that the political right controls the religious media.
Tony Campolo
But I think it's up to a local congregation to determine whether or not a marriage should be blessed of God. And it shouldn't be up to the government.
Tony Campolo
I think it goes back to the fact that the evangelical community often does not have a biblical vision of God.
Tony Campolo
I contend that Bush would be a lot more moderate if there weren't some fundamentalists breathing down his neck every time he wants to establish the state of Israel, every time he wants to do justice for the Palestinian people. (Tony Campolo)
I contend that it's impossible to read the Sermon on the Mount and not come out against capital punishment.
Tony Campolo
Those issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.
Tony Campolo
So after the Lewinsky scandal, everything changed, and we moved from using the Bible to address the moral issues of our time, which were social, to moral issues of our time that were very personal. I have continued that relationship up until the present.
Tony Campolo
I contend the state ought to do its thing and provide legal rights for all couples who want to be joined together for life. The church should bless unions that it sees fit to bless, and they should be called marriages.
Tony Campolo
When you talk about evangelicals, don't forget that a significant proportion of the evangelical community is African American. And most African Americans - well over 90 percent, thoroughly evangelical, thoroughly biblical - will probably vote Democratic.
Tony Campolo
So I really would like to see both parties respond to the poor with greater commitment. But I've got to tell you, the Democrats, I feel, are doing a better job in that respect than Republicans are.
Tony Campolo
I think the real place where most evangelicals have trouble with the Democratic Party is on the issue of abortion.
Tony Campolo
But I contend that if we're providing total medical coverage for every man, woman, and child in Iraq, shouldn't we at least be doing the same thing for every man, woman, and child in the United States?
Tony Campolo
When you listen to Christian radio stations - and there are thousands of them now in the United States - and when you listen to Christian television networks - and there are thousands of Christian television shows across the country - they are all politically right.
Tony Campolo
If America is too arrogant, too prideful to repent, it's not the kind of country that God wants it to be. (Tony Campolo)
I think the time has come for the United States to do even-handed justice.
Tony Campolo
I think there are other issues that the Democrats could use to rally evangelicals. There are a lot of us, for instance, who believe that the Bible calls us to be environmentally responsible.
Tony Campolo
I contend that, in spite of all that might be said about Watergate, Richard Nixon was good for the poor people of America.
Tony Campolo
When leading evangelicals say terrible things about Islam, evil things about Islam, terrible things about Muhammad, they ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Tony Campolo