We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. 'Mimeme' comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene'. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to 'memory', or to the French word même. It should be pronounced to rhyme with 'cream'.

Most people, I believe, think that you need a God to explain the existence of the world, and especially the existence of life. They are wrong, but our education system is such that many people don't know it.

You can't understand European history at all other than through religion, or English literature either if you can't recognise biblical allusions.

The book is true, and if evidence seems to condtradict it, it is the evidence that must be thrown out not the book.

Many people want to send their children to faith schools because they get good exam results, but they're not foolish enough to believe that it's because of faith that they get good exam results.

Two religions cannot both be right, because they contradict each other, yet they can both be wrong.

Sometimes in life it is a good idea to stop,sometimes it is a good idea to go on. The trick is to decide when to stop