In his insightful summary, Brockman mentions the most foundational belief of neism: Everything in the universe is the product of blind evolutionary processes. As Richard Dawkins explained in answering last year’s question, “I believe, but I cannot prove, that all life, all intelligence, all creativity and all 'design' anywhere in the universe, is the direct or indirect product of Darwinian natural selection.” This is the core of their mystical faith system; everything rests on this claim being indubitable.

Just as the resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity, natural selection is the pillar on which neism stands. That is why neists have an apoplectic fit over Intelligent Design. The heretical notion does not just question a theory, it denys the foundation of their religious beliefs. Some even claim that their belief system must destroy other religions.

Is philosophical materialism--undergirded by Darwinism--a religion? Go read the remarks Joe excerpts, or better yet, read the full essays. And do, please, read Joe's post as well.

Coming at the same issue from a different angle, physicist David Heddle notes:

Prominent scientists are asking the community to accept their String Theory work even though it doesn’t conform to what we have traditionally (and now judicially) defined as the standard for science.

He then unpacks a new Nature article by Geoff Brumfiel called, "Our Universe: Outrageous Fortune," which reveals some disputes among scientists about String Theory. Heddle explains:

According to Benard Carr, then, Gross sees the megaverse of the String Theory landscape, which is gaining wider and wider acceptance in that juicy intersection of cosmology and high energy physics, as religion.

A criticism that the theory amounts to religion—does that sound familiar?