Freedom and idiots make a volatile mix. And the sad truth is that the idiocy quotient in the general population is alarmingly high. - Jack McDevitt

Charlie was not a believer. He did not expect to be called to account and assigned a score for what he had done or left undone. His parents had believed in a mechanical world, a place of evolving hardware and software, no deities need apply. We just haven’t figured it all out yet, his father was fond of saying. Things get more complex and we don’t know why. But that doesn’t mean we have to ascribe it to divine providence.

Defend your opinion only if it can be shown to be true, not because it is your opinion.

And because she so desperately wanted it to be true, she knew she could not manage an objective judgment.