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Index
A for Andromeda (Hoyle), 97
Aaron, 277
Abbott, Edwin, 417
Abimelech, King of Gerar, 274
abortion, 83, 329-36
Abraham, 57, 274-5, 284, 300
absolutism, 266, 323-6, 332-3
abuse: mental, 355-66, 366, 379;
physical, 354-7, 361
Achilles and the tortoise, 105--6
Adam and Eve, 284-6
Adams, Douglas, 16, 42, 130, 141-2,
408
Adams, John, 61, 64-5, 67, 123
Adolf Hitler: The Definitive
Biography (Toland), 311
advertising, 191
Affirmations (Kurtz), 404
Afghanistan, 324-5
Agnew, L. R., 338
agnosticism, 24, 69-77, 136
AIDS, 326, 327, 328, 329
Alberts, Bruce, 127
Alexander, Cecil Frances, 52
Allah, 52, 217, 244
Allen, Woody, 144
altruism, 247-53
American Heart Journal, 87
American Theocracy (Phillips), 324
Amish, 370-2
Amnesty International, 366
Ampleforth, Abbot of, 398
Angier, Natalie, 65
Animal Liberation (Singer), 308
Annunciation (Raphael), III
Anselm of Canterbury, 104-8
Anstey, F., 209
'Answers in Genesis', 127
anthropic principle: cosmological
version, 169-80; planetary
version, 162-9
Antonelli, Cardinal, 35 I
Antrim, Earls of, 296
apostasy, 325
Aquinas, Thomas, 14, 100-3, 134,
179, 360
argument, author's central, 187-9
arguments for the existence of God:
Aquinas' 'proofs', 100-3, 134;
Bayesian, 132--6; comical, 109-10;
cosmological, 101; from admired
religious scientists, 123-30; from
beauty, 110-12; from degree, 102;
from design, 103, 134; from
personal 'experience', 112-17;
from personal incredulity, 155;
from scripture, 117-23;
ontological, 103-10, 134; Pascal's
wager, 130-2
Arian heresy, 54
Army of God, 333
art, 232n
astronomers, 79-80
atheism: attitudes to death, 400n;
George Bush Sr.'s view of, 65;
consciousness-raising messages,
23--6; conversion to, 27-8;
Founding Fathers, 60, 65;
fundamentalist, 319; Hitler and
Stalin, 308-16; hostility to
religion, 318-19; numbers of
atheists, 27; pride in, 26; view of
God's existence, 73, 136
Atheism: A Very Short Introduction
(Baggini), 34
Atheist Universe (Mills), 66, 109
Atkins, Peter, 89, 143
atonement, 286, 287
Atran, Scott, 57, 206, 214
Attenborough, David, 144, 234-8,
377
Augustine, 159, 285
Augustus Caesar, 119
Aunger, Robert, 228
Australian aboriginal tribes, 193
Australopithecus afarensis, 340
Baal, 52, 77, 131, 276, 278
babblers, 250-1
bacteria: flagellar motor, 156-8;
TTSS, 158-9
Badawi, Zaki, 48
Baggini, Julian. 34
baptism, 349-54
barchan, 415-16
Baring, Maurice, 337, 338
Barker, Dan, 365
Barrett, James, 333
Barrett, Justin, 214
Barrow, John, 162
Barth, Bob, 90
bats, 248, 417, 418
Baudouin I, King of the Belgians, 83
Bayes' Theorem, 132-6
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 110, 135,
337-40
Behe, Michael, 156-7, 158, 159
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin, 126, 128
beliefs, false, 398
Bell, Paul, 129
Belloc, Hilaire, 337
Benedict XVI, Pope, 401 n
Benson, Herbert, 87, 90
Bentham, Jeremy, 266, 335
Berlinerblau, Jacques, 121
Bethea, Charles, 88
Bethlehem, 118, 119
Betjeman, John, 32n, 63, 297[dth]
Bhagavad Gita, 397
Bible, 81, 268-9, 367, 383-7; see also
New Testament, Old Testament
Bible Literacy Report, 386
Bierce, Ambrose, 84
'big crunch', 174
bin Laden, Osama, 15, 343, 345
Binker, 389-92, 404
Biophilia (Wilson), 404
Black Gang, The ('Sapper'), 301
black holes, 174-5
Blackmore, Susan, 224, 228
Blair, Tony, 343, 372, 375, 377, 378
Blaker, Kimberly, 326
Blank Slate, The (Pinker), 260
blasphemy, 324-6
Bletchley Park, 327
Blind Watchmaker, The (Dawkins),
417
Bloom, Paul, 209, 210, 213, 214
Boeing 747: 137, 148, 167, 169, 180,
187
Bohr, Niels, 409n
Bondi, Hermann, 318
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 151
Bouquet, A. c., 305
Bowen, Charles, 385
Boyd, Robert, 228
Boyer, Pascal, 57, 206-7, 214
Boykin, William G., 326
Brahma, 53, 244
brain: evolution of, 208-9, 411,
416-7; 'god centre' in, 196-7
Bray, Michael, 270, 333-4, 335
Breaking the Spell (Dennett), 13,
263, 394
Brer Rabbit, 93-4
Brief History of Time, A (Hawking),
34
Brights campaign, 380
Britton, John, 333, 334, 335
Brockman, John, 182
Brodie, Richard, 228
Brown, Andrew, 374
Brown, Dan, 123
Bruce, Lenny, 285
Bryan, William Jennings, 321
Bryan College, 321
Buckman, Robert, 238, 245
Buckner, Ed, 61
Buddhism, 59, 232, 443
Bullock, Alan, 309
Bunting, Madeleine, 93-4
Bufiuel, Luis, 266
Burger, Warren, 371
Burnell, Jocelyn Bell, 97
Bush, George (Senior), 65
Bush, George W., 112, 329-30, 342
Bush, Jeb, 334
Cairns-Smith, A. G., 156
Caligula, 304, 305, 308
Cambrian Explosion, 153
Camp Quest, 76 •.
Campaign for Real Education, 382
Can We Be Good Without God?
(Buckman), 238, 245
caprylic acid, 417
cargo cults, 234-9
Carlin, George, 317
Carlson, Tucker, 329-30
Carr, Peter, 64
Carter, Brandon, 162
Catherine the Great, 109
Catholic Community Forum, 55
Catholic Encyclopedia, 52, 54-5,
403
Catholics for Christian Political
Action, 328
Cattolico, II, 352
cause: first, 185; uncaused, 100-1
Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao
do Vegetal, 44
Chagnon, Napoleon, 198
Challenging Nature: The Clash of
Science and Spirituality at the New
Frontiers of Life (Silver), 434
Changing Faces of Jesus, The
(Vermes), 284
Chesterton, G. K., 337
children: abuse of, 354-66, 361;
adoption of, 252, 253; creationist
beliefs of, 210; defence of, 366-72;
dualist beliefs of, 209, 210;
education of, 296, 347-8, 370-2,
372-9; gullibility of, 203-6, 208,
218-19; imaginary friends,
389-94; intentional stance of,
212-13; labelling by religion, 296,
379-83
Chinese junk: drawing, 226-7;
origami, 224-6
Chinese Whispers (Telephone), 225,
227
Christian Brothers, 356
Christian Coalition, 328
Christian Institute, 374
Christian Life City Church, 373
Christianity: adaptation for
Gentiles, 120; 'American Taliban',
325-6, 327, 330; beliefs, 208;
conversion to, 324; foundation,
58, 244; fundamentalist, 121; in
US, 61-5, 298, 358-9; religious
education, 25, 346, 347-8; under
Hitler, 313-14
Christians: attacked in Nigeria, 47;
correspondence with author, 245;
evangelical, 27, 53, 270;
fundamentalist, 298, 378; lawsuits
in US, 45; 'rapture', 341; violent,
341
Christmas story, 118-19
Church of England, 30n, 63
Churchill, Randolph, 51
Churchill, Winston, 92, 327
circumcision, female, see genital
mutilation
Civilta Cattolica, 350
Clarke, Arthur c., 97, 235
cleaner fish, and reputation, 250n
Climbing Mount Improbable
(Dawkins), 147-8, 150
Collins, Francis, 125
colours, 417-18
Comte, Auguste, 70-1, 96
Confucianism, 59
Conniff, Richard, 246n
conquistadores, 351
consequential ism, 266, 267, 331-2
consolation, 394-404; by discovery
of a previously unappreciated
fact, 396-7; direct physical, 396;
theory, 196
Constantine, Emperor, 54, 58
Contact (Sagan), 97
Copenhagen interpretation, 409,
410
Cornwell, R. Elisabeth, 128
cosmological argument, 101
Coulter, Ann, 326, 360n
Counterfeit World (Galouye), 98
Coyne, Jerry, 92, 160
'cranes', 24, 99, 185, 187, 188
Cranmer, Thomas, 353
Creation (Haydn), III
Creation: Life and How to Make It
(Grand), 415
Creation Revisited (Atkins), 143
creationism: argument from
improbability, 138, 148; debates
with creationists declined, 316;
defences against, 91; idea of
'irreducible complexity', 156-60;
innate predisposition to, 210;
worship of gaps, 151-5
Creationism's Trojan Horse (Forrest
and Gross), 241
Cretaceous extinction, 70, 73
Crick, Francis, 126
Crumboblious Cutlets, 102
Crusades, 23, 351
cuckoos, 252
Culture and the Evolutionary Process
(Boyd and Richerson), 228
Curie, Marie and Pierre, 125
Da Vinci Code, The (Brown), 123
Dahl, Roald, 338
Daily Telegraph, 374
Darrow, Clarence, 76
Darwin, Charles: achievement, 144,
147-8, 411; attacks on, 244;
career, 34; Darwinian
explanations, 196-7; Darwinian
imperative, 190-4; destruction of
argument from design, 103, 138;
influence on religious belief, 123;
natural selection, 138, 141-2, 168,
185-9, 199-200, 212, 222;on
theory of descent with
modification, 148-9, 151; Origin
of Species, 32, 148-9
Darwin, George, 124
Darwin's Cathedral (Wilson), 198
David, King, 118, 120
Davies, Paul, 40, 95
Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes and
the Origin of Life (McGrath), 78
de la Bedoyere, Quentin, 69
death: attitudes to, 396-9; life after,
400
death penalty, 329-30
deism, 39-40, 60, 63-4, 68
Demon-Haunted World, The
(Sagan), 410
Denmark, Muhammad cartoon
issue, 46-8
Dennett, Daniel: by-product
explanation of religion, 214;
classification of 'stances', 211-13;
on argument from improbability,
187; on belief, 35, 394-5; on
cranes and skyhooks, 99; on
intelligent design, 93; on
morality, 263; on religious rituals,
192-3; on Templeton Prize, 183;
on trickle-down theory of
creation, 142
deontology, 265-6
Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio),
III
design, appearance of, 24, 103, 138,
141, 146-7, 188
design stance, 211-12
Deuteronomy, book of, 279, 280
Deutsch, David, 409
Devil's Chaplain, A (Dawkins), 316,
397
Dickinson, Emily, 404
Did Jesus Exist? (Wells), 122
Diderot, Denis, 39, 109
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective
Agency (Adams), 130
Distin, Kate, 228
DNA, 164-5, 222, 223, 404
Dobson, James, 206
doctors, 195
dodos, 303
dogs, 417-18
Doing Away with God? (Stannard),
317
Dolittle, Doctor, 34
Dominion Theology, 358
Donne, John, 253
Dornan, Bob, 326
Dostoevsky, Feodor, 259
Douglas, Stephen A., 302
Douglas, William 0., 371
Downey, Margaret, 67
Drake Equation, 95-6
Dreams of a Final Theory
(Weinberg), 33
Drummond, Bulldog, 301-2
Duns Scotus, 14
dualism, 209-11, 212
Dutchman's Pipe, 145
Dyson, Freeman, 173, 182
Earth, orbit of, 163-4
Edge website, 182
education: Amish, 370-2;
creationist, 372-9; religious,
383-7; segregated, 296; teaching
that faith is a virtue, 347-8
Ehrman, Bart, 120-1
Einstein, Albert: mask of, 114; on
morality, 259; on personal God,
31, 35-6; on purpose of life, 241;
religious views, 34, 35-41
Eisenhower, Dwight, 327
Electric Meme, The (Aunger), 228
electrons, 177, 407
Elizabeth II, Queen, 238-9
embryos, human, 329-37, 340
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 51
Emmanuel College, Gateshead,
372-9
End of Faith, The (Harris), 113, 316
Engel, Gerhard, 311
Enigma code, 327
Eriugena, 14
eucaryotic cell, 168
Euler, Leonhard, 109
euthanasia, 331, 357-8
evidence, 319-20
evil, existence of, 135
evolution: belief in, 319-20;
continuity, 340; design and, 85,
103, 188; evolved organs, 156,
161; process of, 147-8, 161
Evolution vs Creationism (Scott), 91
Exclusive Brethren, the, 361
Existence of God, The (Swinburne),
89n
Extended Phenotype, The (Dawkins),
192
eyes, 149-50, 167, 208
Fabric of Reality, The (Deutsch), 409
faith, 347-8
Falwell', Jerry, 327
Faraday, Michael, 124
Fatima vision (1917), 116-17
Faulhaber, Michael, 314
Female of the Species, The ('Sapper'),
301
feminism, 140-1
Feynman, Richard, 409
Finding Darwin's God (Miller), 158
Fisher, Helen, 214-15
Flatland (Abbott), 417
Flemming, Brian, 242
Flew, Antony, 106n
'Flood geology', 375-6
Flying Spaghetti Monster, 15, 76, 77,
78
Flynn, Tom, 66n, 119
Forrest, Barbara, 241
fossil record, 153-4
Founding Fathers, 60-8
Franklin, Benjamin, 64
Fraser, Giles, 62-3
Fraunhofer, Joseph von, 71
Frayn, Michael, 213
Frazer, James, 57, 219
Free Inquiry, 29, 66n, 119, 122n
Freedom From Religion Foundation
(FFRF), 243
Freethinkers: A History of American
Secularism (Jacoby), 59
Freethought Society of Greater
Philadelphia, 67
Freethought Today, 243
French, Peter, 378
Frisch, Karl von, 212
Frum, John, 236-9
fundamentalism, 319-23
Fundamentals of Extremism, The
(Blaker), 326
Galileo, 414
Galouye, Daniel F., 98
Galton, Francis, 85-6
Gandhi, Mohandas, 67, 283, 307
gaps, worship of, 151-60
Gaunilo, 107
Gaylor, Anne, 444
Gell-Mann, Murray, 175
gene, selfish, 246-7
gene cartels, 229-30
generosity, 249-50, 251, 253
genes, 222, 223, 228-9
Genes, Memes and Human History
(Shennan), 228
Genesis, book of, 269, 271, 272,
376
genetic drift, 220
Genghis Khan, 304-5
genital mutilation, female, 369-70
Gershwin, Ira, 120
ghosts, II5-16
Gillooly, Robert, 119
Glenn, Norval D., 297
Glover, Jonathan, 315, 442
God, Chance and Necessity (Ward),
178-9
'god centre' in brain, 196-7
God Hypothesis: argument from
improbability, 138; definition, 52,
59, 83, 96-7; goodness issue, 135;
invulnerability to science, 90-1;
probability of, 68, 138; simplicity,
179; untenable, 189; versions,
51-2
God Who Wasn't There, The
(Flemming), 242
Goebbels, Josef, 314
Goering, Hermann, 310
Golden Bough, The (Frazer), 57, 219
golden calf, 277
Goldilocks zone, 163-5, 171-2, 176
Goldwater, Barry, 60
Golgi Apparatus, 320-1, 322
Good Samaritan, 246, 252
Goodenough, Ursula, 34
Goodwin, Jan, 341
gospels, II 7-23, 182
Gott, John William, 325
Gould, Stephen Jay, 778, 81, 84, 96,
321
Graham, Billy, 121
Grand, Steve, 415, 416
Graves, Robert, 286
Gray, Muriel, 343, 442
Grayling, A. c., 14, 269n, 442
Great Beethoven Fallacy, 337-40
Great Vowel Shift, 220, 230
Greer, Germaine, 47
Gregory, Richard, 439
Gregory the Miracle Worker, 54-5
Grey, William, citing Douglas
Gasking, 107-8
Gross, Paul, 241
group selection, 198-200
Guardian, 62, 161, 332, 372
HADD (hyperactive agent detection
device), 214
Haggard, Ted ('Pastor Ted'), 358, 360
Haitian Voodoo, 366
Haldane, J. B. S., 154, 408, 417, 418
Halley's Comet, 163
hallucinations, 112-13, 184, 391-3
Hamilton, W. D., 247
Hari, Johann, 282n, 341
Harries, Richard, 377
Harris, Sam: on bin Laden, 343; on
end-of-world beliefs, 341; on
nakedness, 285-6; on religion and
crime, 262; on religion and sanity,
113; on religion and war, 316; on
suicide bomber, 343, 344
Hartung, John, 288, 288-lj), 292-3
Has Science Found God? (Stenger),
143
Hassan, Nasra, 344
Haught, James, 123
Hauser, Marc, 245, 254-8
Hawking, Stephen, 14, 34, 35, 40
Haydn, Josef, III
HealthFreedomUSA, 414
hell, 359-62
Hell Houses, 359
Helms, Jesse, 327
Herod, King, 118, 119
Hess, Rudolf, 310
Hill, Paul, 333-4, 334-6
Hinde, Robert, 206, 214, 245, 265,
383
Hinduism, 53, 295
Hiroshima, 89n
His Dark Materials (Pullman), 156n
Hitchcock, Alfred, 357
Hitchens, Christopher, 64, 330, 396
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The
(Adams), 408
Hitler, Adolf: atheist or not, 182,
308-16; birth, 339; Catholicism,
308-16; evil actions, 133, 264,
304-5; fight against, 92; Jewish
policy, 37; morality, 264, 280;
Zeitgeist of his time, 306
Holloway, Richard, 269
Holocaust, 89
homosexuality: Darwinian
approach, 194; religious attitudes,
45-6, 270, 281-2, 326-9; US
attitudes, 45-6, 270, 326, 326-9
Horgan, John, 180-3
How the Mind Works (Pinker), 196
How We Believe (Shermer), 129, 196
Hoyle, Fred, 97, 137, 143, 148, 171
Hugo, Victor, 349
Human Genome Project, 125
Hume, Basil, 398, 401
Hume, David, 107, 110, 116, 139, 187
Humphrey, Nicholas, 366-7, 367-71
Huxley, Aldous, 108, 110
Huxley, Julian, 179
Huxley, T. H.: agnosticism, 71-3, 77,
96; misquoted, 244; position in
moral Zeitgeist, 307; racial
perspective, 302-3
hydrogen, 170-1
Idolatry (Halbertal and Margalit),
276n
ignorance, 151-2
illusions, optical, 114-15, 184
imaginary friends, 389-92
immune system, 162
In Gods We Trust (Atran), 57, 206
Inca religion, 367-9
Independent, 43, 75n, 282, 341, 374,
379, 382
India, partition, 23, 68, 295
indulgences, 401
Inquisition, 351
inspiration, 404-5
intelligent design (10), 85, 106n,
138, ISO-I, 152, 157-61
intentional stance, 211-12
IQ and religiosity, 129
Iran, rule of ayatollahs, 341
Iraq: invasion of, 43, 304, 342;
sectarian conflict, 43, 294-5
Ireland, education, 356-7
irreducible complexity (IC), 148,
156, 157-8
Is There a God? (Swinburne), 82,
176
Isaac, 274-5, 284, 300
Ishmael, 274
Islam: as memeplex, 232-3; Danish
cartoon issue, 46-8; foundation,
58, 324; Indian partition, 295; law
on intermarriage, 324; power of
scripture, 275; religious
education, 25, 346; status of
women, 341
Israel: Palestinian conflict, 23, 341;
schoolchildren's view of Joshua,
289-92
IVF (in vitro fertilization), 332
Jacoby, Susan, 59
Jammer, Max, 37
Javers, R., 443
Jaynes, Julian, 392-3
Jefferson, Thomas: religious views,
64-5, 67, 100, 123, 137; support
for Paine, 59; view of death,
396-7; view of God, 51; view of
Jesus' birth, 121; view of Trinity,
55
Jephthah, 275-6
Jericho, battle of, 280, 289-92, 296
Jerry Springer, the Opera, 325
Jesus: accounts of life, 121-3, 239;
atonement for sin, 285-7; birth,
118-20, 122-3; divine status, 117;
ethics, 283-4; Jewish background,
291, 313; miracles, 82, 98, 134;
parentage, 83; persona, 52; power,
244
Jesus (Wilson), 119, 122n
Jews: Arab anti-Jewish cartoons, 49;
children's loyalty to Judaism,
289-92; Christian anti-semitism,
224, 311; Einstein, 37-8;
electability in US, 26; Hitler's
policy towards, 37; 311;
Holocaust, 89; lobby in US, 27,
65; Mortara kidnap case, 349-54;
religious beliefs, 35, 58, 76,
293-4; religious homogamy,
297
John, gospel of, 118
John Paul II, Pope, 56, 92
Johnson, Phillip E., 27-8, 106n
Jones, John E., 151, 158-9
Joseph, 118-19, 120, 122n
Joshua, 280, 289-91, 292
Joshua, book of, 280
Judaism, see Jews
Judas lscariot, 286
Judges, book of, 272, 276, 289
Juergensmeyer, Mark, 333
Jung, Carl Gustav, 73, 74
Jupiter, planet, 163
Just Six Numbers (Rees), 170
Jyllands-Posten, 46, 47
kamikazes, 342
Kaminer, Wendy, 26
Kant, Immanuel, 107, 256, 264-5,
267
Karzai, Hamid, 325
Katrina, hurricane, 270
Keleman, Deborah, 210, 214
Kelvin, William Thomson, Lord,
124-5
Kenny, Anthony, 216
Ken's Guide to the Bible, 292
Kertzer, David I., 349
Khomeini, Ayatollah, 326
Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, The
(Kertzer), 349
Kilduff, M., 443
kindness, 249-50, 253
King, Coretta Scott, 328
King, Karen, 286n
King, Martin Luther, 283, 307, 328
King Jesus (Graves), 286
kinship, 247, 249, 251-2
Kohn, Marek, 190
Koran, see Qur'an
KPFT-FM, radio station, 381
Kurtz, Paul, 404
Ladman, Cathy, 195
Lady Chatterley's Lover (Lawrence),
304
Lane, B., 442
Lane Fox, Robin, 119, 121
language evolution, 220, 230-1
Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 68n
Larson, Edward J., 126-7, 128
Latimer, Hugh, 353
Laughing Gas (Wodehouse), 209
Lawrence, Raymond J., 89
Layfield, Stephen, 373-8
Lear, Edward, 102
leaves, 167
Lennon, John, 23
Leslie, John, 173
Letter to a Christian Nation
(Harris), 262, 286, 341
Letting Go of God (Sweeney), 284,
363-5
Leviticus, book of, 281
Lewis, C. S., 13, 117
Lewontin, Richard, 191-2
LGM (Little Green Men) signal, 97
Liberty University, 327
life, origin of, 164-9
Life - How Did It Get Here?, 144
Life of Brian, The (Monty Python),
234
Life of the Cosmos, The (Smolin),
174
Life Science, The (Medawar), 337
light, visible, 406-7
Limbo, 401n
Limits of Science, the (Medawar),
395, 432
Lincoln, Abraham, 302-3
linkage, 228-9
Lofting, Hugh, 34
Loftus, Elizabeth, 355-6
London bombings (July 2005), 23,
342, 346
Lords of the Golden Horn (Barber),
308
Los Angeles Times, 45
Losing Faith in Faith (Barker), 365
Lot, 271-3
love, irrational, 214-17
Luke, gospel of, 118-19
Luther, Martin, 221, 232, 311, 323
lying, 265
McGrath, Alister, 78
Mackie, J. 1., 107
McQuoid, Nigel, 373, 376, 378-9
Madison, James, 64, 67
Madrid bombings, 346
Magdalene Asylums, 356
Magdalene Sisters, The, 356
magic, homoeopathic, 219
Maimonides, Moses, 288, 291
Malallah, Sadiq Abdul Karim, 325
Malcolm, Norman, 107
Malcolm, Wayne, 373, 376
Manx Shearwater, 112 .
Mark, gospel of, 122, 360, 394
marriage, 296
martyrdom, 199, 344-5, 348
Marx, Karl, 313
Mary, see Virgin Mary
Masih, Augustine Ashiq 'Kingri', 324
Matthew, gospel of, 118, 119, 120,
312, 386
Maxwell, James Clerk, 124
Meaning of Life, The (Monty
Python), 339
Medawar, Jean, 337, 338-9
Medawar, Peter, 183, 337, 338-9,
395
Mein Kampf(Hitler), 310, 312
Meme Machine, The (Blackmore),
224, 228
memeplexes, 228-30, 230-1
memes, 222-34; religious, 231-3
Men Who Stare at Goats, The
(Ronson), 413
Mencken, H. 1., 50, 261, 263n, 373
Mendel, Gregor, 125
Mendel's Demon (Ridley), 168
Mensa Magazine, 129
Micah's prophecy, 118, 119
Michelangelo, 110
Middle World, 412, 414-15, 418-20
Midianites, 278
Mill, James, 263
Mill, John Stuart, 26, 263
Miller, Kenneth, 158
Mills, David, 66, 109
Mind of God, The (Davies), 40
Miracle of Theism, The (Mackie),
107
miracles, 82-4, 85
Missionary Position, The (Hitchens),
330
Mona Lisa, 114
'Monkey Trial' (1925), 321
monotheism, 58-9
Montreal police strike, 260-1
Mooney, c., 445
Moore's Law, 308
moral dilemmas, 254-8
Moral Minds (Hauser), 245, 254
morality, 240, 241-{)7
Morisi, Anna, 350
Mormonism, 57, 234
Morris, Henry, 375
Mortara, Edgardo, 349-54
Moses, 98, 276-81, 289, 383
moths, 201-2
motive to be good, 264
mover, unmoved, 100
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 110
Mueller, Andrew, 48-9, 76
Muhammad: cartoons depicting,
46-9; foundation of Islam, 58,
324
Mullan, Peter, 356
Mulligan, Geoffrey, 237
multiverse theory, 174-6
mutation rate, 222-3
Myers, P. Z., 14-15, 94, 359n
Mytton, Jill, 361-2, 365-6
1984 (Orwell), 323, 325
Nambas, 237-8
Napoleon, 68n, 313
National Academy of Sciences,
126-7
National Center for Science
Education (NCSE), 91
natural selection: altruism favoured
by, 249, 252-3; as a
consciousness-raiser, 24, 139-41,
161, 172; as 'crane', 99, 168, 188;
chance and, 139, 168; children's
view of, 209; favouring rules of
thumb, 252; genetic, 233;
improbability and, 138;
replicators, 222; versus design, 24,
103, 139, 169
Natural Theology (Paley), 103
Nature, 126, 127
Naughtie, James, 378
Nautilus, 150
Necker Cube, 113
Nehru, Jawaharlal, 67-8
New College, Oxford, 402
New Orleans, 270-1
New Republic, 305-6
New Statesman, 44
New Testament, 283-8
New York Times, 50n, 65, 89, 93n,
288, 327
New Yorker, 344
Newhart, Bob, 86, 88
News of the World, 354, 355
Newsday, 288
Newton, Isaac, 123, 147
nineteenth century, 186
Nixon, James, 45
Noah, 269-70, 375-6
Nobel Prize, 126, 130, 171, 183, 330
NOMA (non-overlapping
magisterial, 77-85, 127, 183n
Northern Ireland: names of
factions, 43, 381-2; religious
culture, 194; sectarian conflict,
24, 294; segregated education, 296
Not By Genes Alone (Richerson and
Boyd), 228
nuclear fusion, 170-1
nucleus, atomic, 170
Numbers, book of, 277-8
obedience, 203-5
Observer, 317
O'Casey, Sean, 268
OFSTED, 377
Old Testament, 51, 59, 135, 269-83,
285, 324; God of, see Yahweh
omnipotence, 101
omniscience, 101
On the Jews and their Lies (Luther),
311 •.
Onion, 326, 359n
Operation Rescue, 330, 333
Optimism: The Biology of Hope
(Tiger), 218
Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, The
(Waugh), 392
origami, 22~
Origin of Consciousness in the
Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind,
The (Jaynes), 392
Origin of Species, The (Darwin), 32,
124, 138-9
original sin, 285
Origins of Virtue, The (Ridley), 250
Orwell, George, 325
Our Cosmic Habitat (Rees), 79
Owens, Jesse, 307
Owens, Karen, 101
Oxford Companion to Philosophy,
135
pacifism, 43
Pagels, Elaine, 286n
pain, 197
Paine, Thomas, 59
Pakistan: Danish cartoon issue,
46-7, 49; penalty for blasphemy,
324
Pale Blue Dot (Sagan), 32, 404
Paley, William, 103
Palin, Michael, 339
pantheism, 39-41
PAP (Permanent Agnosticism in
Principle), 70, 73-4, 81
Papua New Guinea, aboriginal
peoples, 193
Parfitt, Derek, 448
particles, 176-7
Pascal, Blaise, 130-2, 283
Pascal's Wager, 130-2
patriotism, 266-7
Paul, Gregory 5., 262-3
Paul of Tarsus, 58, 118, 286, 287,
292, 313
peacock, tail of, 191
Peacocke, Arthur, 125, 180
Pearson, F. 5., 222n
pedomorphosis, 391-2
pedophilia, 354-5
Penn and Teller, 155
Permian extinction, 69, 73
Persinger, Michael, 196
personal incredulity, argument
from, 155
Pharaoh, 274
Phelps, Fred, 328-9
Philip, Prince, 238-9
Phillips, Kevin, 324
physical stance, 211
Pinker, Steven, 196, 260
Pirsig, Robert M., 28
Pius X, Pope, 401
Pius XII, Pope, 314
placebo effect, 195
planets, numbers of, 163-4
Point Counter Point (Huxley), 108,
110
Poitier, Sidney, 307
Polkinghorne, John, 125, 176, 179
polytheism, 52-7
Potlatch Effect, 250-1
Potter, Gary, 328
prayer, 87-8
pre-Cambrian, fossil rabbits in, 154
Price of Honour (Goodwin), 341
Probability of God, The (Unwin), 132
'pro-life' campaigns, 359
'proofs' of God's existence, 109-10
Providence, 314
psychology, evolutionary, 208
Pullman, Philip, 156n
pulsars, 97
purgatory, 401-2
quantum theory, 407
Quest in Paradise (Attenborough),
234
Quirinius, governor of Syria, 119
Qur'an, 58, 347, 387
race, attitudes to, 301-2
Rahman, Abdul, 324
Rahner, Karl, 14
Raphael, III
'Rapture Ready', 288
Rawls, John, 299
Reading Judas (Pagels and King),
286n
Reagan, Ronald, 326
reciprocation, 247-9, 250
Reconstructionists, 358
redwood, giant, 146
Rees, Martin, 35, 79, 170-4, 185
regress, 100
religion: as a by-product of
something else, 200-8; cargo
cults, 234-5; the Darwinian '
imperative, 190-4; direct
advantages of, 194-7; group
selection, 198-200; meme theory,
222-34; psychologically primed
for, 208-22; survival value of, 200
Religion Explained (Boyer), 57, 206
Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice, 336n
Renfrew, Colin, 198
replicators, 222, 223
reputation, 249-50
Revelation, book of, 292, 341
Richard Dawkins Foundation for
Reason and Science (RDFRS), 30
Richerson, Peter, 228
Ridley, Mark, 168
Ridley, Matt, 151, 250
Ridley, Nicholas, 353
RNA, 164
Roberts, Keenan, 359-60
Roberts, Oral, 52
Robertson, Pat, 270, 338
Robeson, Paul, 307
Robinson, Jackie, 307
Rocks of Ages (Gould), 78, 81
Roman Catholic Church: abortion
policy, 83-4, 329; abuse of
children, 355-6, 361; as
memeplex, 231; doctrine of
purgatory, 401-3; Hitler's
religion, 310-11; marriage policy,
296; miracle policy, 83-4;
Mortara kidnap case, 349-54;
polytheism of, 52-3; role of guilt,
195
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare), 253,
254
Ronson, Jon, 413
Roosevelt, Franklin, 92
Root of All Evil? (Channel Four), 23,
29, 358
Rothschild, Eric, 160
Rothschild, Lionel, 351
Royal Institution Christmas
Lectures, 407n
Royal Society, 128, 318, 377
Rumsfeld, Donald, 304
Ruse, Michael, 91-4
Rushdie, Salman, 44, 48, 295
Ruskin, John, 143
Russell, Bertrand: briefly convinced
by ontological argument, 105-7;
courageous views, 131; on death
from belief, 345; on outward
belief in religion, 123; teapot
parable, 74-6, 76, 77, 94; view of
death, 397
Russian Orthodox Church, 309
Sacranie, Iqbal, 48, 325
Sacred Depths of Nature, The
(Goodenough), 34
sacrifice, human, 367-9
Saddam Hussein, 133, 280, 309
Sagan, Carl: Contact, 97; Demon-haunted
World, 410; on life
elsewhere in universe, 69, 94-5;
on love of science, 404; on
religion and the Universe, 32-3;
on views of God, 40-1; Pale Blue
Dot, 32-3, 404
St Matthew Passion (Bach), III
Salmon of Doubt, The (Adams), 141
Sanhedrin, 289 4
Sarah, 274
Satan, 28, 116, 135, 344
Saudi Arabia: status of women, 341;
Wahhabism, 282, 326
Scarborough, Rick, 45-6
Schrodinger, Erwin, 409
Schubert, Franz, 110, III
Science and Christian Belief
(Polkinghorne), 179
Science of Good and Evil, The
(Shermer), 245, 259
Scientology, 234
Scopes, John, 321
Scott, Eugenie, 91
Seaton, Nick, 382
Secular Bible, The (Berlinerblau),
121
secularism, 60-8
self-deception, 217-18
Selfish Gene, The (Dawkins), 228,
246n
Selfish Meme, The (Distin), 228
Seneca the Younger, 313
SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence), 95, 96, 97, 98, 166
Seven Clues to the Origin of Life
(Cairns-Smith), 156
sexual behaviour, 194, 197, 2545
Shaheen, Naseeb, 386
Shaikh, Younis, 324
Shakespeare, William, 110, Ill, 254,
276, 386
Shaw, George Bernard, 194
Sheen, Fulton J., 41
Shennan, Stephen, 228
Sherman, Robert, 65
Shermer, Michael, 129, 296, 214,
245, 259, 388, 404
Shorter Oxford Dictionary, 395--{)
Shulevitz, Judith, 93n
Silver, 1.M., 434, 445
sin, 284--{)
Singer, Peter, 258, 208, 442
Sins of Scripture, The (Spong), 269
Sistine Chapel, III
Six Impossible Things Before
Breakfast (Wolpert), 217
Skilling, Jeff, 246n
'skyhooks', 99, 185, 187, 188
slavery, 197, 300, 307
slippery slope arguments, 331-2
Smith, Joseph, 234
Smith, Ken, 292
Smolin, Lee, 174-5, 185
Smythies, John, 215
Snowflakes, 332
Social Evolution (Trivers), 217
Sodom and Gomorrah, 271-2
Sookhdeo, Patrick, 346-7
Soul of Science, The (Shermer), 404
Spectator, 346
spectrum of probabilities, 73-4
Spinoza, Benedict, 39
Spong, John Shelby, 269
Stalin, Joseph, 92, 133, 182, 308, 315
Stamp Dawkins, M., 445
stances, 211-12
Stannard, Russell, 86, 125, 176, 317
Stark, Pete, 67n
stars, 71, 95-6, 169, 170-1, 175
stem-tell research, 332
Stenger, Victor, 106n, 143, 170n
Sterelny, Kim, 193-4
Stevas, Norman St John, 337
Stirrat, Michael, 128
strong force, 170
Stubblebine, General, 414
suffering, 336
suicide: assisted, 399-400; bombers,
23, 344-5, 348
Sulloway, Frank, 129
Supreme Court, US, 44, 329, 370-2
Susskind, Leonard, 143, 173
Sutcliffe, Peter, 112
Sweeney, Julia, 26, 284, 363-5
Swinburne, Richard, 82, 88-9,
176-9
symbiosis, 248
Table Talk (Hitler), 312-13
Taliban: art appreciation, 23, 282;
punishment for homosexuality,
326; religious views, 279, 298,
325, 325-6; treatment of women,
328, 341
Tamarin, George, 289-92
Tamil Tigers, 346
Tanna, 236-9
Tanner Lectures, 29
TAP (Temporary Agnosticism in
Practice), 69-70, 74
Tasmanian wolf, 303
teapot, celestial, 74-5, 76, 77, 78
Teilhard de Chard in, Pierre, 183
teleological argument, 103, 210
Teller, Penn and, 155
Templeton Foundation, 40, 86, 87,
180-3, 386
Templeton Prize, 40, 106n, 123n,
125, 182-3, 322
Ten Commandments, 63, 268, 277,
279, 282; New, 298-9
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 204
Teresa of Avila, 216
Teresa of Calcutta, 330
Terror in the Mind of God
(Juergensmeyer), 333
terrorists, 343-4
Terry, Randall, 330-1, 333
theism, 39-40, 58, 73, 77, 136, 171
theocracy, American Christian, 324,
358-9
theodicy, 135
Thomas, gospel of Infant, 121-2
Thomas Jefferson: Author of America
(Hitchens), 64
Thomson, J. Anderson, 172
Tiger, Lionel, 218
Timonen, Josh, 13
Tin Men, The (Frayn), 213
Tipler, Frank, 162
Tit-for- Tat, 249
Toland, John, 311
Tonge, Jenny, 372
Trinity, 54-5, 182, 232
Trivers, Robert, 217, 248
Turing, Alan, 327
Twain, ~ark, 296, 399
2000 Years of Disbelief (Haught), 124
Type Three Secretory System
(TTSS), 158-9
Unauthorized Version, The (Lane
Fox), 119, 121
unicorn, 76
United States of America, 60-8
Unweaving the Rainbow (Dawkins),
245, 404
Unwin, Stephen, 132-5
utilitarianism, 266, 331
vampire bats, 248
Vanuatu, 236-8
Vardy, Peter, 373, 375, 378
Veblen, Thorstein, 250
Venter, Craig, 125n
Venus, 56
Venus' Flower Basket (Euplectella),
144-5
Vermes, Geza, 239, 284, 287
Vice Versa (Anstey), 209
Vidal, Gore, 58
Virgin Mary, 55, 56, 115, 116, 217
Virus of the Mind (Brodie), 228
viruses, mental, 216, 218-19
visions, 112, 113-14
Voltaire, 39, 59, 345
von Neumann, John, 326
Wace, Henry, 71
Wagner, Richard, 387
Wahhabism, 282, 326
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 143, 144
Ward, Keith, 179-80
Ward, Lalla, 23, 123n
Warraq, Ibn, 52, 122n, 346
Washington, George, 61, 67
Washington Post, 327
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
144-6
water, 164
Watson, James, 125-6
Watts, Isaac, 293
Waugh, Auberon, 186n
Waugh, Evelyn, 17, 51, 392
Weinberg, Steven, 33, 283
Wells, G. A., 122
Wells, H. G., 305-6
Whitcomb, John c., 375
White, Gilbert, 34
Why Gods Persist (Hinde), 206, 383
Why Good is Good (Hinde), 245
Why I Am Not a Muslim (Warraq),
52, 346
Why We Love (Fisher), 214
Wickramasinghe, Chandra, 137
Wilde, Oscar, 222
William of Wykeham, 402-3
Williamson, Hugh Ross, 69
Wilson, A. N., 119, 122n
Wilson, D. S., 198
Wilson, E. 0., 92, 389, 404
wings, 148-9, 167, 208
Winston, Robert, 35
Wise, Kurt, 321-3
Witham, Larry, 126-7, 128
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 411, 412
Wodehouse, P. G., 209, 386
Wolpert, Lewis, 217, 410
women, status of, 301, 307, 341
World Trade Center, 23, 342, 343
Wotan, 52, 56, 77
Wuthering Heights (Bronte), III
Yahweh (God of Old Testament):
deplorable character of, 52, 59,
281; existence of, 76; falling in
love with, 217; God of Old
Testament, 41; jealousy, 131, 275-9;
power of, 244; shocking role model,
274, 281-2; treatment of humans,
269-72, 275-6, 277, 279-80
Yugoslavia, former, 32
Zahavi, Amotz, 250-1
Zeitgeist, moral, 298-308, 342
Zeno, 105-6
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