The main reason I mention the Dalai Lama’s book is that he’s a religious leader who’s willing to change his beliefs when science brings clearer understanding. I admire his ability to do that, when many fundamentalists refuse to change their beliefs in the face of strong scientific evidence, and even attempt to create their own version of science, which only serves to delude a lot of people. But then we see the same thing in business, when studies are held back or misrepresented in order to get a product approved, out of greed.

Susan mentioned in a comment to her post that skepticism is required on both sides. I agree with that.

My way of merging both is in creativity. We do it especially well in fiction, when we take facts as we know them and create a story around those facts based on what might be true, or could be true.

If the myths of the world arose from people’s need to explain things through story, that would explain why story continues to be so important to us today, because in spite of the advances of science, we still have holes to fill in, in our understanding of the world and life.

But no, I don’t think religion should be allowed to override scientific fact, or be mingled in any organized way. Each has its place in (or outside) government and education.