Overheard

Yes, I am an atheist, and probably Briony is, too [character in Atonement]. Atheists have as much conscience, possibly more, than people with deep religious conviction, and they still have the same problem of how they reconcile themselves to a bad deed in the past.

Author Ian McEwan
New York Times Magazine
Dec. 2, 2007

The logic that convinces us that evolution is a fact is the same logic we use to say smoking is hazardous to your health or we have serious energy policy issues because of global warming.

I would worry that a president who didn't believe in the evolution arguments wouldn't believe in those other arguments either. This is a way of leading our country to ruin.

University of Michigan professor Gilbert Omenn
Book launch forScience, Evolution and Creationism
Washington, D.C.
Agence French-Presse, Jan. 4, 2008

. . . I think it would be really nice if, for the rest of this campaign, we gave God and Jesus a break, and let them focus on other things. I don't think Jesus is going to be voting in the Iowa caucus. I'm not a believer. I'm not a religious person. I was left a bit cold by the comment that freedom requires religion. I don't think that's so. I would really like to have somebody focus on things like taxes and health care and so on, and leave God and Jesus alone. . . .

Deroy Murdock
The National Review columnist
Chris Matthew's Hardball, MSNBC
Dec. 6, 2007

We don't teach astrology as an alternative to astronomy, or witchcraft as an alternative to medicine. We must understand the difference between what is and is not science. We must not teach creationism as an alternative to evolution.

Prof. Francisco Ayala
University of California, Irvine
Agence French-Presse, Jan. 4, 2008

[House Resolution 888, see back page article] is an insidious attempt by the radical Christian right to rewrite American history, to turn the founding fathers from deists into Christian fundamentalists, to proclaim us officially to be a Christian nation.

The resolution is staggering for its sheer volume of falsehoods about our history, our system of government and our democracy.

Chris Hedges The Nation, Jan. 10, 2008

Pharmacists who cannot bring themselves to fill a prescription for moral or religious reasons should find a new profession.

San Jose Mercury News editorial
"Pharmacists' duty to patient, not pope"
Oct. 31, 2007

Trite is trite, platitudes are dull however they're polished, and the Dalai Lama's words contain as much insight as the average inspirational poster.

Columnist Dan Bardner
CanWest News Service
Vancouver Sun, Nov. 7, 2007

Obama strongly chastised people who objected to the religiosity that has become the norm in American politics. "Secularists," he insisted, "are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square." But "believers" are equally wrong to refuse to answer questions of their beliefs once they cross that political river Jordan and begin to proselytize for the presidency. After all, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, the faithful are instructed to "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves." Perhaps, by testing the politically pious, we can all hope for a degree of enlightenment in this election.

Law Prof. Jonathan Turley
George Washington University
USA Today, Nov. 19, 2007

The most obvious problem with the pledge is the phrase "under God." Added in 1954 in a surge of religious and patriotic fervor and intended as a misguided antidote to communist leanings, it has no place in a statement about allegiance to the United States. The First Amendment is violated every time every schoolchild is compelled to say it.

Columnist Thomas Zachek
Retired teacher
"Reciting pledge in schools is mindless practice"
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Jan. 11, 2008