Religions place in society should not be dismissed

The science versus religion debate has been reignited by legendary scientist Steven Hawking’s recent claim that God does not exist.
Hawking believes that it is unnecessary to "invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going".
His faith in science is understandable because the man is a genius.
But to dismiss religion completely and purely rely on scientific evidence is arrogance in my opinion.
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK today for the first time in 28 years has highlighted the split in public opinion in this country regarding the role of religion in the 21st century.
However it is important to remember that around 3.4 billion people worldwide are followers of a religion.
So there must be a reason for this level of belief.
Religion plays a vital role in these peoples lives and provides them with comfort and joy, especially in times of need. So to completely reject a concept that so much of the world’s population believe and rely on is naïve.
It’s probably fair to say that religion is seen as somewhat old fashioned these days, especially by the younger generation of Britain. But religious believers are not stupid, uneducated people and science has been proven wrong before.
The classic (also quite funny) arguments about once thinking the atom was the smallest object to exist and the world being flat spring to mind. Indeed I’m sure that in a thousand years time people will look back at ideas we believed to be fact and laugh.
Therefore, when talking to The Guardian, Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks described Hawking’s argument as an "elementary fallacy" of logic.
“There is more to wisdom than science. It cannot tell us why we are here or how we should live. Science masquerading as religion is as unseemly as religion masquerading as science,” Lord Sacks explained.
The two are evidently not compatible.
It is important to recognize that the development in science over recent decades has been amazing and the work of scientists like Steven Hawking is unparalleled.
But science does not have all the answers and therefore religion will continue to have its followers and a pivotal place in society.
Therefore with issues like the creation of the universe and the existence of God continually debated, the gap between religion and science will inevitably remain.

Image from theguardian.co.uk