"The Bible has to be translated into the meaning of everyday life, and Christian witness has to have impact on the social, political, economic and cultural life of our day."

"When you have a feeling deep down that what you're doing is right, then you develop a sense of stability, calmness, a capacity to be unpopular at times, even when you don't care to be unpopular."

"There are events surging around all over the world. Here are all these human needs -- hunger, cruelty, murder -- that need to be addressed. To stand up and bore people, especially if you have an education and an opportunity, it's more than an embarrassment. It's almost blasphemy."

In one of his last editorial opinion columns in The News & Observer, Finlator last year called on the United States to renounce what he called its imperial urge in Iraq and elsewhere. In another missive, he wrote, "We are never more truly patriotic than when alone or in company we ask, nay demand, that our government keep its promises, honor its commitment and obey its own laws."

"I would rather have a non-religious person president who understands profoundly the Bill of Rights and the Constitution than to have a very ardent churchman who feels casual about it. Anyone who has a deep religious conviction will know that he is under almost a divine obligation to participate in the government of this country."