Religion vs Science - Gloves Come Off

i just read an article in the NYT today, about scientists coming out and taking stabs at religion now... it's a fight that's been a long time coming...

although i sometimes find the points raised by religious fundamentalists quite laughable, i'm not quite ready yet to dump religion altogether... but maybe that's only because i'm a religious atheist... since i do not believe in any "creator" anyway (religiously and scientifically).. maybe that's why i have a less difficult time in reconciling the two...

i have a friend who believes in god, and hasn't any difficulty reconciling the two either.. although, most of the time, i find his reasons quite tenuous.. however, he has faith... and i'm in no position to question his faith... and i do not wish to question anyone else's faith... i can respect that... and i expect people to treat me the same way as well... (they rarely do)...

however, i do believe that humans need more than just hard facts of science... science is hard... it's built upon solid foundations and made up of facts that are fairly difficult to dispute... it needs to be supported by the soft... however, everyone should just be careful.. and learn to draw the line between fact and fiction...

the problems only occur when people are unable to draw the line, and take fiction as fact, even when all evidence points to the contrary... and when this is coupled with blind faith, it becomes impossible to talk sense... as long as one can separate the two, it should be quite simple to carry on with life in harmony...

what's the solution?? teach people how to reconcile the two.. fact and fiction... make them understand that the belief in science, is based on evidence... and the belief in religion is based on faith... there is space for both... do not confuse faith as evidence... science is not absolute and neither is religion perfect... both are subject to interpretation and adaptation from time to time...

from where i come from, this thing can actually be made worse.. simply because there's a further line to draw.. between religious belief and cultural beliefs... religion and culture are different things that often get assimilated together when a religion spreads... all this can be solved with proper knowledge/information... everyone should receive proper education in science and religion... maybe, therein lies the problem.. proper education...