Last weekend the Council for Secular Humanism held their 30th anniversary conference in Los Angeles, and it was attended by many of the greatest minds in the humanist & skeptical movement. One of the headlining events of the conference was a panel on the topic of religion – titled “Science and Religion: Confrontation or Accommodation?” – and it has subsequently generated a great deal of discussion within the skeptical community.
The panel included such illuminaries as Jennifer Michael Hecht, PZ Myers, Eugenie Scott, Chris Mooney, and Victor Stenger. Essentially, the entire discussion – which can be can be watched on U-Stream (part 1 and part 2) – revolved around one question:
How should secular humanists respond to science and religion? If we champion science, must we oppose faith? How best to approach flashpoints like evolution education?
There have been a couple of interesting things I’ve read and/or listened to on this question…
PZ Myers’ Pharyngula blog – Confrontation all the way
Point of Inquiry’s episode – New Atheism or Accommodation?
… and I’ve either read online discussions about this or had personal conversations about it with other skeptics. Thus, since it is now a focal point for discussion, I’d like to include my thoughts on this whole issue, because I think that in large part the skeptical/humanist/non-religious communities are missing the forest through the trees…
The Skeptical Teacher 