I've always gone for the prescription that Faith and Religion are two separate but entwined beasts. Faith is the emotion that is shaped and controlled by the political/social/cultural construct of Religion. I find it insulting that this is so often disregarded by learned speakers such as Richard Dawkins.

I'm looking forward to giving this a thorough read, I always loved DA and his method of communicating some deeply philosophical and scientific ideas with the right amount of scepticism and curiosity to make something uniquely human of it. As Boris Pasternak would say, DA incorporates his knowledge in Myth - a master storyteller.

Adams is using "God" to encompass all supernatural beings and entities. The speech would have been twice as long if he had been completely politically correct throughout. You know what he means; saying simply "God != Religion" is a non-argument.