Secular Humanists may derive more hindrance than help from scientists when they debate issues akin to “How many angels can dance on the point of a pin?”.

In November 2006 ‘The Science Network’ organised a conference at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, to debate just such intractable questions: Should science do away with religion? What would science put in religion's place? Can we be good without God? By and large atheistic views won the day.

The second such conference held in November 2007 was called, “Beyond Belief II: Enlightenment 2.0”. Now atheists were less strident and God believing ‘scientists’ were out in force .

Many millions of people throughout the world hold non-rational religious beliefs. Many scientists do also - usually claiming there is no serious conflict. Debate easily degenerates into a bawdy shouting match - so it is not surprising to find that an open public debate by scientists on religious matters is as likely to swing one way as the other. So, in 2006, atheists shouted down the god believers and in 2007 things went into reverse. Whatever your views, it is certainly not necessary to take the La Jolla conference too seriously - it is only a debate!

When scientists deliberate on serious scientific matters they are usually seriously rational. At other times they, like everyone else, can lose their rationality and certainly their ‘cool’. This year’s loud religious voice was softened somewhat by strong atheistic views.

One scientist declared that, no matter how far science advances, there will be aspects of nature that remain unknowable. His arguments were flimsy but, in any case, if an aspect of nature is not known to science, is it therefore any better known to religion?

Another scientist said that, given time and persistence, science will conquer all of nature’s mysteries. His was little more than a rallying call for atheists in the audience. Daniel Dennett with typical over-optimism wryly commented that a firm introduction of reason into the world’s classrooms could over time purge them of religion.

Religious belief is so far removed from rational thought that the scientific community might be better advised to adopt an attitude of indifference. Devoting a whole conference to the subject only confuses matters: rational conclusions can hardly be drawn from such irrational questions. The La Jolla type of debate contributes little to all the sound good work done by science in understanding nature - nor does it endorse the hard work done by serious religious believers trying to bring together the disparate thoughts, old fashioned piety and criminal extremism of religion.

See New Scientist 10/11/2007 for a fuller report on the 2007 La Jolla conference.