Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an epic saga about who we are, where we came from and where we are going.

Scientific prayer makes God a celestial lab rat, leading to bad science and worse religion.

People believe in God because we are pattern-seeking, storytelling, mythmaking, religious, moral animals.

Science is not a thing. It's a verb. It's a way of thinking about things. It's a way of looking for natural explanations for all phenomena.

I just witnessed an event so mysterious that it shook my skepticism.

Play hard, work hard, love hard. . . .The bottom line for me is to live life to the fullest in the here-and-now instead of a hoped-for hereafter, and make every day count in some meaningful way and do something-no matter how small it is-to make the world a better place.

Either the soul survives death or it does not, and there is no scientific evidence that it does.