by Frank L. Pasquale, Research Associate at ISSSC

“Science” and “religion” are foundational concepts in Western thought. They are widely spoken of, and conceived of, as monolithic and adversarial phenomena. They are both, however, in the words of anthropologist Beatrice Whiting, incredibly complex “packaged variables.” As such, they are meaningful generalizations, but also misleading and sometimes counterproductive ones, rather than homogeneous realities. They are particularly counterproductive in the form, “religion versus science.” Upon close scrutiny it becomes apparent that—depending upon the defnitions of “religion(s)” or “the sciences” being employed—there is no necessary or wholesale confict between something called “religion” and something called “science.” There are, rather, particular “religious” ideas and ideologies of time, place, and culture that have conficted with particular facts, fndings, or theories emerging from the natural sciences on particular subjects.

The Cultural Particularity of Conflict between “Religion” and “Science” in a Global Context

by Austin Dacey, contributing editor with Skeptical Inquirer magazine and a representative to the United Nations for the Center for Inquiry

Dawkins wrote The God Delusion, a 400-page polemic on the irrationality of supernatural theism, and the absurdity and immorality of much traditional religion. Perhaps it should not surprise that the most commercially successful book by Dawkins is also the book worst received by his colleagues in science and science education. Although many reviewers spoke admiringly of his intellectual integrity, they criticized him for what they regarded as a confrontational, combative stance on religion.

Evolution Education and the Science-Religion Conflict: Dispatches from a Philosophical Correspondent

by Ariela Keysar, Associate Research Professor of Public Policy and Law and the Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC) at Trinity College, Hartford & Barry A. Kosmin, Founding Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture and Research Professor, Public Policy and Law Program at Trinity College, Hartford

As this book went to press in early 2008, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board was weighing a request by a Bible-based creationist institute to offer online master’s degrees in science education. The Institute for Creation Research aims to challenge the standard teachings of evolution and (according to its website) “equip current and future Christian leaders with practical tools to effectively influence their world with the truths of Scripture.” Its goal is to staff classrooms with science teachers sympathetic to religious fundamentalism, educators who believe in the Biblical account of the world’s creation. This is an open challenge to the normative model of Western science, which is based on the secular principles of free inquiry and empiricism.

Introduction: Secularism and Science in the 21st Century