I’VE LONG thought of myself as a no-frills, straight-down-the-line atheist.
Don’t believe in God or other supernatural beings, don’t believe the Universe
has some ineffable purpose, don’t believe we pass through this vale of tears as
a prelude to existence on a higher plane. Straightforward enough: but as
scientists we ought to find ways of testing our assumptions.
So it was with cool investigative interest that I came across Belief-O-Matic
(www.beliefnet.com), an Internet quiz with 20 questions about deities, morality
and the nature of the Universe, all with multiple-choice answers. After a
grilling, it presents you with belief categories ranked…
