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A fractal-like prayer rugMy
post on March 19, 2006, described the
Templeton Foundation, whose mission is to
"pursue new insights at the boundary between theology and science through a rigorous, open-minded and empirically focused methodology."
The Templeton Foundation appears to do a creditable job in following their mission. But what happens when scientific methodology meets faith-based belief and science wins (or appears to win)? The clash between religion and science, most recently in full view during the Dover
evolution vs. intelligent design imbroglio, is much more subtle, but still inescapably present.
A case in point is the recent "rigorous, open-minded and empirically focused study" funded by the Foundation attempting to find the effect of prayer on healing. Titled STEP (Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer) , researchers studied the effects of prayer on 1,800 patients recovering from heart bypass surgery. The
results, published in March 2006 and published in the American Heart Journal did not find any statistically significant effects.
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