The highly visible conflict between evolutionary biology and creationism has stimulated much com- mentary in the scientific press about the relationship between science and religion. The Scientist Science, Nature, and many other journals have given much space to tbe issue. Even the National Academy of Sciences has issued a statement on science and religion.
A clear consensus emerges from this outpouring of literature. Scientists vigorously claim that no conflict exists between science and “reasonable” religion (of course excluding fundamentalism, whether Islamic or Christian). The implications of modern science, however, are clearly inconsistent with most religious traditions.
No purposive principles exist in nature. Organic evolution has occurred by various combinations of random genetic drift, natural selection, Mendelian heredity, and many other purposeless mechanisms. Humans are complex organic machines that die completely with no survival of soul or psyche. Humans and other animals make choices frequently, but these are determined by the ...
