language evolution, 189, 198

Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 46n

Larson, Edward J., 100-1, 102

Latimer, Hugh, 314

Laughing Gas (Wodehouse), 180

Lawrence, Raymond J., 65

Layfield, Stephen, 332-6

Lear, Edward, 78

leaves, 139

Lennon, John, 1

Leslie, John, 144

Letter to a Christian Nation (Harris), 229-30, 252, 302

Letting Go of God (Sweeney), 250, 323-4

Leviticus, book of, 248

Lewis, C.S., 92

Lewontin, Richard, 164

LGM (Little Green Men) signal, 71-2

Liberty University, 289

life, origin of, 137-41

Life — How Did It Get Here? 119

Life of Brian, The (Monty Python), 202

Life of the Cosmos, The (Smolin), 146

Life Science, The (Medawar), 298

light, visible, 362-3

Lincoln, Abraham, 266-7

linkage, 197

Lofting, Hugh, 13

Loftus, Elizabeth, 316

London bombings (July 2005), 1, 303, 306

Lords of the Golden Horn (Barber), 272

Los Angeles Times, 23

Losing Faith in Faith (Barker), 325

Lot, 239-40

love, irrational, 184-6

Luke, gospel of, 93-4, 95

Luther, Martin, 190, 200, 275, 285-6

lying, 231

McGrath, Alister, 54-5

Mackie, J. L., 82-3

McQuoid, Nigel, 332, 334, 336

Madison, James, 43, 45

Madrid bombings, 306

Magdalene Asylums, 317

Magdalene Sisters, The, 317

magic, homoeopathic, 188

Maimonides, Moses, 254, 256-7

Malallah, Sadiq Abdul Karim, 287

Malcolm, Norman, 83

Malcolm, Wayne, 332, 334

Manx Shearwater, 87

Mark, gospel of, 96, 320, 352

marriage, 261-2

martyrdom, 171, 305, 308

Marx, Karl, 276

Mary, see Virgin Mary

Masih, Augustine Ashiq 'Kingri', 287

Matthew, gospel of, 93, 94, 95, 275, 343

Maxwell, James Clerk, 98

Meaning of Life, The (Monty Python), 300

Medawar, Jean, 298, 299-300

Medawar, Peter, 154, 298, 299-300

Mein Kampf (Hitler), 273, 275

Meme Machine, The (Blackmore), 193, 196

memeplexes, 196-7, 198-200

memes, 191–201; religious, 199-200

Men Who Stare at Goats, The (Ronson), 368

Mencken, H. L., 27, 228, 230n, 331

Mendel, Gregor, 99

Mendel's Demon (Ridley), 140

Mensa Magazine, 103

Micah's prophecy, 93, 94

Michelangelo, 86

Middle World, 367-8, 369-70, 373-4

Midianites, 245

Mill, James, 232

Mill, John Stuart, 4, 232

Miller, Kenneth, 131

Mills, David, 44, 84-5

Mind of God, The (Davies), 19

Miracle of Theism, The (Mackie), 83

miracles, 58–60, 61

Missionary Position, The (Hitchens), 292

Mona Lisa, 89

'Monkey Trial' (1925), 284

monotheism, 37-8

Montreal police strike, 228-9

Mooney, C, 396

Moore's Law, 272

moral dilemmas, 222-6

Moral Minds (Hauser), 214, 222

morality, 206-7, 211-33

Morisi, Anna, 311

Mormonism, 36, 201

Morris, Henry, 334

Mortara, Edgardo, 311-15

Moses, 73, 244-8, 255, 341

moths, 172-4

motive to be good, 231

mover, unmoved, 77

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 86

Mueller, Andrew, 25-6, 52

Muhammad: cartoons depicting, 24-7; foundation of Islam, 37, 287

Mullan, Peter, 317

Mulligan, Geoffrey, 204

multiverse theory, 145-7

mutation rate, 192

Myers, P. Z., 69, 319n

Mytton,Jill, 321-2, 325

Nambas, 204-5

Napoleon, 46n, 276

National Academy of Sciences, 100-1

National Center for Science Education (NCSE), 66-7

natural selection: altruism favoured by, 217, 221; as a consciousness-raiser, 2, 114-19, 134, 143-4; as 'crane', 73, 140, 158; chance and, 113, 140; children's view of, 180; favouring rules of thumb, 220-1; genetic, 201; improbability and, 113-14; replicators, 191; versus design, 2, 79, 114, 141

Natural Theology (Paley), 79

Nature, 100, 101

Naughtie, James, 336

Nautilus, 124

Necker Cube, 89

Nehru, Jawaharlal, 45

New College, Oxford, 358-9

New Orleans, 238-9

New Republic, 269

New Statesman, 22

New Testament, 250-3

New York Times, 44, 65, 68n, 254, 290

New Yorker, 305

Newhart, Bob, 62, 64

News of the World, 315, 316

Newsday, 254

Newton, Isaac, 98, 122

1984 (Orwell), 286, 287

nineteenth century, 156-7

Nixon, James, 23

Noah, 237-8, 334

Nobel Prize, 100, 103, 142, 153, 292

NOMA (non-overlapping magisteria), 54–61, 101, 153n

Northern Ireland: names of factions, 21, 339; religious culture, 166; sectarian conflict, 1, 260; segregated education, 259

Not By Genes Alone (Richerson and Boyd), 196

nuclear fusion, 142

nucleus, atomic, 142

Numbers, book of, 245

obedience, 174-6

Observer, 281

O'Casey, Sean, 235

OFSTED, 335

Old Testament, 31, 38, 108, 237-50, 254, 286; God of, see Yahweh

omnipotence, 77-8

omniscience, 77-8

On the Jews and their Lies (Luther), 275

Onion, 288, 319n

Operation Rescue, 292, 294

Optimism: The Biology of Hope (Tiger), 187

Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, The (Waugh), 350

origami, 193-5

Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, The (Jaynes), 350

Origin of Species, The (Darwin), 11,98, 122-3

original sin, 252

Origins of Virtue, The (Ridley), 218

Orwell, George, 287

Our Cosmic Habitat (Rees), 55

Owens, Jesse, 271

Owens, Karen, 78

Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 108

pacifism, 21

paedomorphosis, 350

pain, 169

Paine, Thomas, 38

Pakistan: Danish cartoon issue, 24-5, 26; penalty for blasphemy, 286-7

Pale Blue Dot (Sagan), 12, 361

Paley, William, 79

Palin, Michael, 300

pantheism, 18-19

PAP (Permanent Agnosticism in Principle), 47-8, 51, 58

Papua New Guinea, aboriginal peoples, 166

Parfitt, Derek, 399

particles, 147

Pascal, Blaise, 103-5, 249

Pascal's Wager, 103-5

patriotism, 232-3

Paul of Tarsus, 37, 93, 252, 253, 257, 276

peacock, tail of, 163

Peacocke, Arthur, 99, 150

Pearson, F. S., 191n

pedophilia, 315-16

Penn and Teller, 128-9

Permian extinction, 47, 50

Persinger, Michael, 168

personal incredulity, argument from, 128, 129

Pharaoh, 242

Phelps, Fred, 290-1

Philip, Prince, 205-6

Phillips, Kevin, 286

physical stance, 181

Pinker, Steven, 168, 228

Pirsig, Robert M., 5

Pius X, Pope, 358

Pius XII, Pope, 277

placebo effect, 167-8

planets, numbers of, 137-8

Point Counter Point (Huxley), 84, 86

Poitier, Sidney, 271

Polkinghorne, John, 99, 147, 150

polytheism, 32-6

Potlatch Effect, 218-19

Potter, Gary, 290 prayer, 61-6

pre-Cambrian, fossil rabbits in, 128

Price of Honour (Goodwin), 302

Probability of God, The (Unwin), 105

'pro-life' campaigns, 300

proofs of God's existence, 85

Providence, 277

psychology, evolutionary, 179

Pullman, Philip, 130n

pulsars, 71-2

purgatory, 358-60

quantum theory, 364-5

Quest in Paradise (Attenborough), 202

Quirinius, governor of Syria, 93

Qur'an, 37, 307, 344

race, attitudes to, 265-7

Rahman, Abdul, 287

Raphael, 86

'Rapture Ready', 254

Rawls, John, 264

Reagan, Ronald, 288

reciprocation, 216-18, 220

Reconstructionists, 319

redwood, giant, 120

Rees, Martin, 14, 55-6, 141-5, 156