Anyways here is an Easter homily for you, courtesy of Stephen Jay Gould, from Bully for Brontosaurus:
But no battle exists between science and religion- the two most separate spheres of human need. A titanic struggle occurs, always has, always will, between questioning and authority, free inquiry and frozen dogma- but the institutions representing these poles are not science and religion. These struggles occur within each field, not primarily across disciplines. The general ethic of science leads to greater openness, but we have our fossils , often in positions of great power. Organized religion, as an arm of state power so frequently in history, has tended to rigidity- but theologies have also spearheaded social revolution.
SJG was a great man, co-author of the paper that introduced the idea of punctuated equilibrium in evolution. He also championed a pet idea in his essays and lectures- that science and religion comprise "non-interfering magisteria". I admire his effort to bring peace between the two, but I don't quite buy into the idea that these are two areas of human endeavor that have nothing to do with each other. But anyways, happy Easter! I'm off to work!
