My friend was having trouble reconciling the fact that I am both a scientist whom she respects and someone who calls himself a Christian. How do I tell my friend that being a Christian has not always been foundationally defined on belief, but a transformative way of newly living, a faith?

As neuroscientific research speeds forward into the future, we should be on the lookout for unwarranted and ill-informed assumptions about the role of religious beliefs, practices and experiences in people's lives.

Religion has always been a broad topic. Rather than simply being two sides of the same coin, a discussion on religion is an octagonal die, loaded with biases, experiences and deeply rooted beliefs. In the end, everyone must find their own, without treading on others.

Even if Hitchens would never have used the term "religion" in the positive sense in which I see it, he set an example by which the nuances behind such concepts can be evaluated on their own merits.

Doubt has many roles. We sometimes forget that God is mystery and a life of faith is one that is lived in the tension of never fully knowing.

The message that people do not need to choose between many religious beliefs and scientific understanding is not new -- but it has been spreading.

Such an initiative could be a forceful step toward waging peace on the science-and-religion battleground and advancing the transmission of science more effectively to people of faith.

Almost a quarter of Americans think scientists are hostile to religion. But what do we really know about how scientists think about morality, spirituality and faith?