by Frank L. Pasquale, Research Associate at ISSSC<\/p>\n
\u201cScience\u201d and \u201creligion\u201d 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 \u201cpackaged variables.\u201d As such, they are meaningful generalizations, but also misleading and sometimes counterproductive ones, rather than homogeneous realities. They are particularly counterproductive in the form, \u201creligion versus science.\u201d Upon close scrutiny it becomes apparent that\u2014depending upon the defnitions of \u201creligion(s)\u201d or \u201cthe sciences\u201d being employed\u2014there is no necessary or wholesale confict between something called \u201creligion\u201d and something called \u201cscience.\u201d There are, rather, particular \u201creligious\u201d 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.<\/p>\n