Religion As Morality: Is This the Way Forward in the Science-Religion Debate?

"Accommodationism" is the word used today to speak of the position that believes science and religion can exist together harmoniously, or at least without conflict. It is disliked strongly both by the New Atheists, who loathe religion, and by the fundamentalists, who reject science. Expectedly, it is a position much favored by liberal Christians and other such believers. People like Francis Collins, head of the National Institute of Health, are deeply committed Christians and strong supporters of modern science.

Is there a place under the accommodationism canvas for the non-believer? I think there is for I aspire to be one such person. As explained in an earlier blog and argued at length in my book Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in the Age of Science, I believe that one can argue for all of modern science and yet agree that there are certain questions that science leaves unanswered: Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the ultimate ground of morality?

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