Changing direction a bit, but staying with is science the answer, I've been meaning to post this for a few days. Comment from the University of Auckland Alumni magazine. Deals specifically with NZ situation but I'm sure the same prevails elsewhere. In fact her comments are relevant to the influence of religion generally. Author is Dr. Elizabeth Rata, principal lecturer in education. The article is critical of the lack of criticism of traditional beliefs.

"Traditional cultures and neotraditionalist groups within modern societies turn their answers into sacred knowledge. This serves a number of purposes: as the group's social cement, as a means for the spiritual well-being of individuals who identify with the group, and in the case of neotraditionalist groups, the sacralisation of knowledge is used to justify strategies promoting political and economic interests.

"Science, on the other hand, is skeptical, refusing to accept the latest answer as the final say on the matter. It doubts, investigates, overturns and attempts new answers, ones that will stand only until the next challenger. Both forms of knowledge are important. But only science has a place in the work of a university.

"Mataurangi Maori and kaupapa Maori have the status of science in our universities yet, unlike science, are protected from critical scrutiny. How this came about is itself a matter for inquiry".