What a lovely guy and what lovely quotes to be used by our lot.

He (and the Vatican) accepts the whole of science but just tacks God onto the first nano-second of creation (note the small C) and adds the soul onto humans - neither of which can be disproved (only because you can't prove a negative, not because the beliefs have any merit).

Politically (with a small P, in the sense of suasion and argument) we should clutch Fr. Coyne to our breasts rather than picking on his supernatural fallacies: Dawkins's handling of the interview shows us the way - and must be contrasted with his visible disgust in another interview with a raving Muslim who told him he should cover his women.

Our American fellows here should note that this wishy-washy version of religion is very characteristic of Europe in general, especially the Roman Catholic church and the Church of England: we have very few Christian fundamentalists (alas, a growing number, however) although we have plenty of Islamists (actually a small number but of great impact). J.Mills appears to disagree but I would not nit-pick on the basis of his brief comment about "grass-roots believers."