The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Their wordsThe God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction

Their wordsI am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they have been or will be invented.

Their wordsFaith is an evil precisely because it requires no justification and brooks no argument.

Their wordsDo you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment?

Their wordsYou can be an atheist who is happy, balanced, moral, and intellectually fulfilled.

Their wordsif you hear anybody speak of a 'Catholic child', stop them and politely point out that children are too young to know where they stand on such issues

Their wordsAdmissions of ignorance and temporary mystification are vital to good science.

Their wordsEven without physical abduction, isn't it always a form of child abuse to label children as possessors of beliefs that they are too young to have thought about?

Their words'the God Hypothesis' is a scientific hypothesis about the universe, which should be analysed as sceptically as any other.

Their wordsI am persuaded that the phrase 'child abuse' is no exaggeration when used to describe what teachers and priests are doing to children whom they encourage to believe in something like the punishment of unshriven mortal sins in an eternal hell.

Their wordswe do not need God in order to be good - or evil.

Their wordsMorality, indeed, probably predated religion.

Their wordsBeing an atheist is nothing to be apologetic about. On the contrary, it is something to be proud of, standing tall to face the far horizon