Is science the new religion?

This question wasn’t my invention. It’s actually the title of a panel discussion at QEDcon. A fellow member of the Boston Atheists Meetup group sent me a link to panelist Robin Ince’s blog account of the discussion.

In the blog, Robin answers the title question thus: “The answer to ‘is science the new religion?’ is obviously yes, so long as you redefine religion as ‘a self-correcting, evidence based system of exploring the universe which attempts to unearth the least wrong laws and theories that can explain what exists or might exist whilst accepting that room must always be left for doubt and further enquiry’.”

So the question, “Is science the new religion?” Yes, no, maybe so. Please expound on your answer.