Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely soley upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake.

The great thing about the United States and the historically magnetic effect it has had on a lot of people like me is its generosity, to put it simply.

There is no such thing as closure, and it wouldn't be worth having if it were available, because all it would mean is that something that was quite an important part of you had gone numb.

Most of the utopian community ideas actually are religious. They're based more on the idea of the monastery than the commune.

Religion is man-made. Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did.

What if I pulled through and the pious faction contentedly claimed that their prayers had been answered? That would somehow be irritating.

Primate and elephant and even pig societies show considerable evidence of care for others, parent-child bonding, solidarity in the face of danger, and so on.