Science v. Religion

There's an episode of The Simpsons that involves an alleged angel and an dispute between the forces of science (Lisa and Steven Jay Gould) and religion (everybody else) that winds up in court. After everybody leaves the court, the judge continues on anyway to issue a restraining order keeping science and religion 500 yards apart at all times.

Sometimes I think that such an arrangement would be a very good thing. Science and religion have separate areas of "expertise," if you will and should be able to peacefully coexist. Unfortunately, with the rise of the Religious Right, religious dogma has forced itself into the public arena when it comes to issues such as stem cell research or creationism in an attempt to take on science on its own turf. The long-time detente that's existed between the two sides appears to be crumbling because the scientists are starting to fight back. Some scientists think that it's no longer sufficient to simply be accommodating of religious beliefs, but rather expose them to the same scrutiny as other empirical claims. While that might make for interesting debates, I'm not sure it will do the public good in the long run.

As for the "evangelistic" scientists, one wonders if they've seen a couple of recent South Park episodes and will heed their warnings.