"Is God something that exists 'out there," beyond, and independent of us?
 Or is God merely the product of an inherited human perception, the
 manifestation of an evolutionary adaptation, a coping mechanism that
 emerged in our species in order to enable us to survive our unique and
 otherwise debilitating awareness of death?"
         [Matthew Alper, "The God Part of the Brain", Rogue
          Press, Brooklyn NY, 1999, on the back cover]