Honoring religion and science

The Rev. Henry G. Brinton, a Presbyterian pastor from Fairfax, Va., has a commentary in this morning’s USA Today in which he argues that science and religion not only can co-exist, but do.

“Science,” he writes, “answers the questions of how life has evolved on earth, while religion answers the questions of why there is life.”

Troubles arise, Brinton says, when people try to conflate the two. He cites the example of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., where displays show humans living alongside dinosaurs.

“This kind of mash-up raises more questions than it answers, and doesn’t honor either religion or science.”