Sacred spaces can be created in any environment.

I think life is sacred whether it's abortion or the death penalty.

My dad taught me from my youngest childhood memories through these connections with Aboriginal and tribal people that you must always protect people's sacred status regardless of the pest.

The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture because it seeks to turn other ideas - uncertainty progress change - into crimes.

It bothers me when I hear it in a car commercial or some such. But for the most part it's better than seeing sacred music relegated to the scrap heap.

That's the beauty of music. You can take a theme from a Bach sacred chorale and improvise. It doesn't make any difference where the theme comes from the treatment of it can be jazz.

What is sacred among one people may be ridiculous in another and what is despised or rejected by one cultural group may in a different environment become the cornerstone for a great edifice of strange grandeur and beauty.

Becoming an author changes your attitude too. Once you see where books come from and how they're made they never seem quite as sacred again.

Were I called on to define very briefly the term Art I should call it 'the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.' The mere imitation however accurate of what is in Nature entitles no man to the sacred name of 'Artist.'

This year as we celebrate the 230th anniversary of America's independence please remember the symbols that are sacred to this country. Fly Old Glory high and show your respect and admiration for this great nation and the values we hold dear.