Reductionism is a dirty word, and a kind of 'holistier than thou' self-righteousness has become fashionable.

Creationists are possibly gaining more political power. In the U.S., you are constantly hearing stories of school boards harassing teachers and trying to get textbooks banned.

I mean, in a way, I feel that one of the reasons for learning about Darwinian evolution is as an object lesson in how not to set up our values and social lives.

More poignant for us, at Laetoli in Tanzania are the companionable footprints of three real hominids, probably Australopithecus afarensis, walking together 3.6 million years ago in what was then fresh volcanic ash. Who does not wonder what these individuals were to each other, whether they held hands or even talked, and what forgotten errand they shared in a Pliocene dawn?

You can never be absolutely certain that anything doesn't exist. But you can show that it's unlikely.

I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden

I've never heard of William Craig. A debate with him might look good on his resume, but it wouldn't look good on mine!