Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.

The faith of religion is belief on insufficient evidence.

I know of no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too desirous of evidence in support of their core beliefs.

If premarital sex is a sin, who is the victim?

Man is manifestly not the measure of all things. This universe is shot through with mystery. The very fact of its being, and of our own, is a mystery absolute, and the only miracle worthy of the name.

There is no reason whatsoever to think that Buddhism can compete successfully with the relentless evangelizing of Christianity and Islam. Nor should it try to.

People who harbor strong convictions without evidence belong at the margins of our societies, not in our halls of power.