I remember reading Stephan Jay Gould writing about multiple magisteria - science and religion. That you shouldn't use one in the domain of the other. It struc

I remember reading Stephan Jay Gould writing about multiple magisteria - science and religion. That you shouldn't use one in the domain of the other. It struck me as idealistic because there's another magisteria that he didn't mention. Politics. Politics looks at science and religion and sees a precious and innocent teenager. It smiles and nods and knows that it can grab either or both, hand it a gun and it will happily run out to do whatever it's manipulated into doing. My personal definition of politics is "help your friends and hurt your enemies." Anytime I read an argument from a disinterested source - science or religion - and the end result is one or both of those things I get suspicious. It's not to say I don't agree with it. Frequently you need to one, the other or both but once it's a question of politics you have to think about the issue in political terms. You have to consider about compromises that have nothing to do with science or religion.