Could a government dare to set out with happiness as its goal? Now that there are accepted scientific proofs, it would be easy to audit the progress of national happiness annually, just as we monitor money and GDP.

How do you make any sense of history, art or literature without knowing the stories and iconography of your own culture and all the world's main religions?

People want the right to die at a time of their own choosing. Too many families have watched helplessly as a relative dies slowly, longing for death.

The strongest predictor of unhappiness is anyone who has had a mental illness in the last 10 years. It is an even stronger predictor of unhappiness than poverty - which also ranks highly.

This is indeed a clash of civilisations, not between Islam and Christendom but between reason and superstition.

The best care on earth cannot prevent us all dying in the end.

But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.