"He had expected to suffer a crisis of faith after she died. He had steeled himself for it, and was surprised when it did not immediately come. The fact was that he had known their reunion must be painfully brief, and he was overwhelmingly grateful that it had happened at all. And certainly the pain of this second separation would have been far worse had it been compounded with loss of faith in both God and in an eventual reunion with her, but it was more than painful enough anyway. The dull agony of separation had been so long, and the reunion so brief—little more than a coda. But it had been beyond price. And then, just when he’d accepted that the crisis would not come, it came. Feeling had returned. And if God is love, then where love had been was now only void."
"I kneeled down in the waiting room and I prayed. I prayed so hard to God I went purple. I was certain she would pull through because I had always believed in the power of prayer and I felt the presence of God, I felt His breath on my face and I was sure... I was sure he would breathe her to life and there's people running in and out and then my Aunt Nancy, with a line down her face and her black coat over her arm... she is standing there and at first I thought she was gonna say "Mum is fine, she is okay and we're gonna take her home" and I thought thank you God thank you for this and then I saw her face. Her eyes, like her pupils these large black holes; and then I knew; I knew I was stupid, simple to think Mum would make it out of there alive and in that moment I wondered, Marie, if there is any God at all."
— Patsy, Perfect Pie
"Even in my darkest hour, I can turn to the Good Book for- [shouting] Son of a gun-diddilly-un! [looks at cut finger] Those gilded edges smart. [slams the Bible shut] Why me, Lord? Where have I gone wrong? I've always been nice to people. I don't drink or dance or swear. I've even kept kosher just to be on the safe side. I've done everything the Bible says! Even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff! What more could I do? [stammering] I feel like I'm coming apart here. I want to yell out, but I just can't dang-diddily-do-dang, do-dang-diddily-darn do it! l-l-l- [sighs]"
— Ned Flanders, The Simpsons, "Hurricane Neddy"
"Sometimes I think God does it on purpose. It's like He gives you a hundred reasons to believe, and then He just drops one or two for you not to believe. So that you can choose, to see if you really want to believe."
— Elder Banks, God's Army
All of a tremble
I stand on the edge of confusion
Who is to save me
If into the darkness I fall?
Now that I need more than ever my god to be near me
Do you hear when I call?
Are you there after all?
I stand on the edge of confusion
Who is to save me
If into the darkness I fall?
Now that I need more than ever my god to be near me
Do you hear when I call?
Are you there after all?
— Kristina singing "You Have to Be There" in Kristina från Duvemåla, the musical adaptation of The Emigrants
"You wanna know why our generation's leaving the church? It's because the whole world knows what the church is against, but it's getting harder and harder to know what it's for."
— Keaton Young, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness
"Lily looked up from her prayers, still shivering in fear. She was back there again, tied to the wooden post as demons crawled over her body.
'No... no... I'm not there anymore...' She tried to block out the laughing demons from her head, but it was useless. The memories assailed her without mercy. Lily started sobbing as she lowered her head to the ground, pulling her hair.
The nun could still hear her friends' screams, see their empty eyes as the Black Dogs took turns using them for entertainment. Why did this happen to them? Why did the Goddess abandon them? Why? Why? Why? The questions keep coming, even as the tears continued to fall."
