There's real poetry in the real world. Science is the poetry of reality - Richard Dawkins

Science is the poetry of reality.

Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let's now stop being so damned respectful!

We no longer have to resort to superstition when faced with the deep problems: Is there a meaning to life? What are we for? What is man?

Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are all born selfish.