I can't prove that God doesn't exist, but I'd much rather live in a universe without one.

[The writers of the holy books] did not even know the earth revolves around the sun. Why are we listening?

For many, to live in a universe that may have no purpose, and no creator, is unthinkable.

If our species is to survive, our future will probably require outposts beyond our own planet.

The root cause of the looming energy problem - and the key to easing environmental, economic and religious tensions while improving public health - is to address the unending, and unequal, growth of the human population. And the one proven way to reduce fertility rates is to empower young women by educating them.

For the record: Quantum mechanics does not deny the existence of objective reality. Nor does it imply that mere thoughts can change external events. Effects still require causes, so if you want to change the universe, you need to act on it.

Occam's razor suggests that, if some event is physically plausible, we don't need recourse to more extraordinary claims for its being. Surely the requirement of an all-powerful deity who somehow exists outside of our universe, or multiverse, while at the same time governing what goes on inside it, is one such claim. It should thus be a claim of last, rather than first, resort.