A very readable article in NY Times on Science and Religion. Here's something that I find inane that touches upon meaning and purpose of life.
"There are six billion people in the world," said Francisco J. Ayala, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Irvine, and a former Roman Catholic priest. "If we think that we are going to persuade them to live a rational life based on scientific knowledge, we are not only dreaming -- it is like believing in the fairy godmother.""People need to find meaning and purpose in life," he said. "I don't think we want to take that away from them."
Religion, contrary to what is said above, does not give hope but takes it away. A believer will have to invoke God as the ultimate explanation and that is an act of hopelessness.
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The conference site for the meeting discussed in the
above-quoted NY Times article seems to be:
http://beyondbelief2006.org/
The Edge, http://www.edge.org/
seems to list some other reports on it
(From New Scientist, Sunday Times...)