Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths… all faiths… are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. The church consists of a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control.

I will not write a lame follow-up. It could take me 20 years. But I will never turn in a book that I'm not happy with.

Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.

Books make great gifts because they can unveil hidden secrets.

But who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power?

Life is filled with secrets. You can't learn them all at once.

Faith does not protect you. Medicine and airbags... Those are the things that protect you. God does not protect you. Intelligence protects you. Enlightenment. Put your faith in something with tangible results. How long has it been since someone walked on water? Modern miracles belong to science. Computers, vaccines, space stations... Even the divine miracle of creation. Matter from nothing... In a lab. Who needs God? No! Science is God!