RELIGION, like science, helps people understand a complex and uncertain world. Like science, it helps people define priorities and choose lifestyles. And like science, it is full of competing claims made by sincere people struggling to interpret basic truths.
Science and religion have not always made easy partners, as exemplified today by Christian fundamentalists opposing the teaching of evolution and research into stem cells. It is, therefore, significant that the US National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), an umbrella group that encompasses 45,000 churches, 40 per cent of the Republican Party and has power to influence US Supreme Court nominations, considers…
