If superstition could contradict science, the world may as well be on the back of a turtle. But giving into turtle worship was a bridge too far.

Science is the language God speaks. The better we know how things work, the closer we are to the divine.

We half-eat cookies and drink the milk, we leave notes, all so kids will believe in something that isn’t true. Kids try their best to scientifically determine whether Santa's real and our whole culture feeds them false evidence. We dupe them.

Having had a transcendental experience as a teenager with the assistance of a hallucinogen, Madeline remains certain that the universe is too vast and beautiful to bother with gods.