A wooden gavel lies on a hand mirror surrounded by grey paper shapes.

Original artwork, not a still

Lily Tomlin

It’s not whether God is on our side or whether we’re doing God’s will, it’s being so narcissistic as to think that God is telling you what to do.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker dismisses the usual debate over whether God backs us or whether we serve divine will. The real problem, in this view, is vanity: assuming that God is personally giving orders to you is narcissism, treating your own convictions as heavenly instruction.

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