This is a great article on atheism in The New York Times by Susan Jacoby, the author of the forthcoming book “The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought.”

The recent incident in Newtown is just another reminder of theodicy, probably the most prominent obstacle most nonbelievers have to religion.

How fundamentalists get over and explain it without doubt both confounds and amuses me.

They can accept this tragedy but have difficulty accepting evolution and global warming. 

Why do science when wishful thinking is more convenient?