Science, Religion and the Teaching of Evolution

The orthodox view of the relationship between science and religion, exemplified by Stephen Gould’s “nonoverlapping magisteria” (NOMA) principle 1 is that they are fully compatible and thus can peacefully coexist. This view is exemplified by a National Academy of Sciences pamphlet on Science Evolution and Creationism and a related book by one of its leading authors 3 and it is also eloquently expressed by a pronouncement of Pope John Paul II which lends religious authority to the NOMA principle. Nevertheless, apart from the proponents of creationism or intelligent design, who should not be taken seriously (see below), there are dissenting voices on both the science and the non-science sides. In the former category I would cite Richard Dawkins, who considers NOMA to be at best a misguided form of appeasement. On the other side I will cite Thomas Nagel, who has criticized Dawkins’s views on religion and, more to the point, has also criticized the Dover decision on the teaching of evolution in the schools as implying that evolutionary theory cannot be taught in an intellectually responsible way.