Overheard

I'm agnostic . . . . I believe in the state.

Michelle Bachelet
Chile's first female head of state?
Washington Post, Dec. 10, 2005

On October 4, 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted in a resolution exhorting member states to guarantee the separation of Church and State, so that women would not be subject to policies and laws inspired by religion.

Michele Vianes
"A Shield for Women"
Le Monde, Dec. 1, 2005

I'm proud to be an atheist.

Paul Provenza, director
The Aristocrats
The Ruminator (St. Paul), Oct/Nov 05

[What do you think is the single worst idea in history?] Without question, ethical monotheism. The idea of one true god. The idea that our life and ethical conduct on earth determines how we will go in the next world. This has been responsible for most of the wars and bigotry in history.

I lead a perfectly healthy, satisfactory life without being religious. And I think more people should try it.

Peter Watson, author
Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention
New York Times Magazine, Dec. 11, 2005

Like the ratings-driven right's cynically fantasized "war on Christmas"--imagine, those stone atheists at the Postal Service only sell Madonna and Child stamps for a few crummy weeks each year--I have my suspicions that this lawsuit [Christian schools suing the University of California] may be, at bottom, about shopping for a fight. It's an ingenious technique: The adherents of creationism, and its not-so-extreme makeover "intelligent design," demand that public schools must "teach the controversy" after they themselves contrive the controversy.

Patt Morrison
"God & Admission Requirements"
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 2005

Some people want to think of humans as the product of a special creation, separate from other living things. I am not among them; I am glad it is not so.

For me, the knowledge that we evolved is a source of solace and hope. I find it a relief that plagues and cancers and wasp larvae that eat caterpillars alive are the result of the impartial--and comprehensible--forces of evolution rather than the caprices of a deity.

British biologist Olivia Judson
"Why I'm Happy I Evolved"
New York Times, Jan. 1, 2006