"Pete is defending his own viewpoint - a positive point of view that he holds sacred, whether it be right or wrong.

Steve's whole program is merely to attack religion."

Hmmm! I'm going to have to choose my words carefully here. As I've said before, my default position is to treat everyone I meet with respect. I think that this attitude has paid off because I know that in my own community people respect me and that, in turn, gives me a strong sense of belonging. I believe that earning the respect of my friends and neighbours is one of my life's achievements that I am most proud of. Then along comes Pete and ruins it because I can't respect him, no matter how hard I try. I can't respect his absolutism, his credulity and ignorance and his disrespect for science - which is, quite simply, one of our species' greatest achievements.

You see, I was trained as a scientist and earned my living as a scientist for over 40 years. True, I worked in the consumer products industry - which was hardly 'cutting edge' - but, still, I gained a perspective on the world around me which, perhaps, non-scientists don't have. A key thing that I learned is that there are few absolutes or certainties - for a start, all of my results and conclusions had probability estimates attached to them. In addition the constant striving for objectivity and the elimination of bias was something which impressed me deeply and changed the way that I think. I know that the scientists whose work Pete derides think in much the same way - and implying that they don't is like implying that a fish can't swim!

As for religious faith, here's something which you might like to ponder, Joe (perhaps also think about in your dealings with Steve?). I was brought up in the 'wishy-washy' Church of England. The religious instruction that I received might be described as 'lite' and made little impression on me. But now I live in a great Northern English city. The Catholic church is very strong here and many people were raised as Catholics. Many of my friends and acquaintances were so raised - but most of those are now 'lapsed'. Nevertheless, I can't help noticing that their view of life tends to be different from mine. For a start, they often have a tendency to see things in 'black-and-white' and also have a tendency towards absolutism. In discussions and arguments they also have a tendency to immediately seize the 'moral high ground' and reject anything which doesn't fit with their 'black and white' view of morality - even when it may not be appropriate to do so.

I think that it's very telling that recently I was discussing the state of the environment with a local woman who is a lapsed Catholic (and a non-scientist). Her view was that we shouldn't worry because science will eventually solve all of our problems (!). I suddenly realised that she was telling me that she has FAITH that science will solve all of our problems. I'm still thinking through the implications of that! As a scientist myself, I'm more sanguine. I think that it's unlikely that science will be able to solve all of our environmental problems and we've all got to work together to solve our environmental problems (if they're even solvable). If that lady's response stems from her Catholic upbringing (I suspect that it's highly likely) has she been equipped with the tools necessary to deal with a changing world?