Principles
PRINCIPLES ARE WHAT people have instead of God.
To be a Christian means among other things to be willing
if necessary to sacrifice even your highest principles for
God's or your neighbor's sake the way a Christian pacifist
must be willing to pick up a baseball bat if there's no other way to stop a man from savagely beating a child.
Jesus didn't forgive his executioners on principle but because in some unimaginable way he was able to love them.
"Principle" is an even duller word than "Religion."