John Shore:

We read because it's awesome to climb into someone else's heart and mind, to know what they know -- to, for just a moment or two, become them.  And if the book we have read is a great one, then on some weird cellular level we are permanently altered by it; for the rest of our lives, we are a little more like the author of that great book.

"The Heart of a Moralist: Dan Savage’s 'American Savage'”

John Shore:

... showing the kind of honesty and integrity it takes to come out sets a great and encouraging example to others. It sends a very positive message to everyone that they, too, should be, and can be, brave about being who they are. That’s such an [sic] vital message to send. It’s what makes life work: we all get our strength from the strength, goodness, and bravery of others.

"61, gay, and closeted: is it too late for him?"

John Shore:

The idea of a God who would condemn all non-Christians and/or homosexuals to hell forever is logically, diametrically opposed to the idea of a God who loves mankind.  It would mean that God himself is not obeying the very law about which God said there is none greater.

Unfair, p. 38

John Shore:

If the Bible were perfectly clear on where God stands on gays and hell, the question of homosexuality wouldn't be dividing Christendom in two, and no Christians would take seriously Rob Bell's book, Love Wins.  But it is.  And they/we are.

Unfair, p. 37

John Shore:

That's one of its great miracles: in so many ways, and about so many things, the Bible insists that we arrive at our own conclusions.

Unfair, p. 37

John Shore:

Asking the fundamentalist to apply logic to his or her belief system is like asking a cat to fetch your slippers.  Not going to happen.

"Fundamentalists: Problem solved!"

John Shore:

It's typical to think that theology is static and permanent.  It's not, though.  What's true instead is that theology follows sociology.  And slowly but surely we are all becoming members of one big society.  At the very least media generally, and the Internet in particular, has made world travelers, and culture tourists, of us all.

The world is rapidly changing.  And as surely as one day follows the next, Christian theology, as it always has (slavery, anyone?) will change right along with it.  As our world grows smaller, our Christianity will grow larger, broader, and more inclusive.

"The Inevitability of the Rise of Liberal Christianity"

John Shore:

I refuse to relinquish the name "Christian" to people who can't tell the message of Christ from the sound of their own farts.

John Shore:

That shame—the great, burning inner shame that every gay and lesbian person is forced to overcome if he or she is ever to claim for themselves the same righteous pride of self that straight people so easily accept as their birthright—should be the shame of everyone who is not today working toward full LGBT acceptance and affirmation. And that holds especially true for Christians, who for far too long have used the Good News of the Gospels to bring nothing but terrible news to homosexuals, who, just like them, want nothing more, and nothing less, than to be loved for who they are.

"Republican Politician Caught with His Gay Pants Down: Whose Shame Is It?"

John Shore:

I think keeping the afterlife a complete mystery is God’s way of telling us to pay maximum attention to the life we have on this side of the door. That the ever-fluid now of our life is where the action is. As clearly as he possibly can, I think he’s telling us to with full and focused consciousness be in our lives. To love our lives. To believe in our lives. To trust that within every single moment of our lives is virtually everything that we could ever want to know.

"Is Hell Real? What Are We, Six?"

John Shore:

Don't undermine your art by failing to master your craft.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

Write to find out who you are, what you think, what you feel.  Trust that if you're terribly honest about articulating your personal, richest truths, then what you say will resonate with others, because at that point you'll be ringing the common bell.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

Write what you write for you, period.  If others like it, yay.  If not, love them, wave good-bye to them, and get back to your work.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

Don't think of yourself as a writer.  Think of yourself as an artist whose principal medium is words.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

Believe that you have to offer a new perspective, a new modality of perception, a whole new paradigm.  Don't be afraid.  Think boldly.  Write passionately.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

Say what you know other people are thinking -- sometimes before they even know they're thinking it.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

Be insanely brave. Real writing is no place for people-pleasers and/or congenital followers.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

John Shore:

The extent to which we fail to take personally the persecution of others is the extent to which we fail as Christians.

John Shore:

Believe you’re a genius. Hey, someone’s gotta be. Why not you? And it’s surely not your goal to be a mediocre writer, is it? Believe you’ve got a unique, valuable, indispensable, irreplaceable voice. Because you do.

"My Last, Best 10 Tips on How to Make It as a Writer," JohnShore.com

John Shore:

Get an agent. Trying to publish a book with one of the larger, mainstream book publishers without an agent is like trying to fly without wings.

"My Last, Best 10 Tips on How to Make It as a Writer," JohnShore.com