"In Michele Bachmann's home district, evangelicals have created an extreme anti-gay climate. After a rash of suicides, the kids are fighting back." This is depressing.

"Science fiction is almost the only way that recognition of this vast non-human reality impinges on literature and the arts. In mainstream fiction, unless the plot requires Australia, the Earth might as well be flat."

Christopher Hitchens on the KJB. "An unbeliever argues that our language and culture are incomplete without a 400-year-old book—the King James translation of the Bible. Spurned by the Establishment, it really represents a triumph for rebellion and dissent. Accept no substitutes!" A very good (and pretty quotable) read.

"Tom Rees has conducted research into religion and personal insecurity in 50 countries. He claims to have found evidence to show that the most religious societies are the most unequal, and concludes the inequality leads to religion." Complete with special reference to the US (and also comparing Ireland and Finland).

"kids are utterly, utterly obsessed with fairness." I don't know how much this is brought up when people talk about religion and the brain, but I think it has a lot to do with why humans created god(s): they're a means of kidding ourselves that the universe does care. (Also, I now slightly regret my off-the-cuff remark on one of the photos.)

"The Pope has said that "saving" humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforests." At least one of the two Catholics the BBC (bafflingly) chose to debate this nonsense is reasonably sane. Joanna Bogle, on the other hand, seems to have some sort of problem with a strawman version of science that believes there are no gender differences and that because men are women and vice versa we're dying. Please, keep her off the radio in future.

Another day, another bunch of fundamentalist idiots crop up. How can a point on the surface on a sphere be its centre? Throw in some bad science with magnetism and you've got perfect rant material. (Yes Greenwich is arbitrary; so's any meridian.)

"Oxford University should end its support for the homophobic, misogynist evangelicals at Wycliffe"

“I am convinced that rather than risk teaching a lie why teach anything?” Does Rep. Ben Bridges really want to have that on record?

Tagged to note variant URLs in Comment Is Free stories that also appear in the main paper (and the comment syncing).

Tagged mainly to note for Phil Gyford the fact that CiF articles also exist on the main Guardian sites, and the comments are syncronised between them. Why there's not a single URL I have no idea. Maybe Hammersley could explain.

In case Tom Coates thought the BBC News Magazine were the only people drawing Christ-Superman parallels ( http://del.icio.us/url/3b20e7db3428cdafdded4023cc369664 ) - they're not. Interesting points about the moral absolutes.