"One can love religion like anything else in life: sports, science, stamp collecting. One can love it for its own sake without relation to God or the world or life," wrote Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann in his journals.

"Religion fascinates; it is entertaining. It has everything that is sought after by a certain type of person: aesthetics, mystery, the sacred, a feeling of one's importance and exclusive depth, etc. That kind of religion is not necessarily faith."