I never said they were at odds
I said religion was pointless and stupid. Not because it's in opposition to science but because it's pointless and stupid. Apart from the aforementioned art, I see nothing in the world that is better because of the existence of religion. I'm pretty sure there's not even any evidence that believers are either morally better or happier than non-believers (anyone that knows of decent studies to the contrary, I'd be interested to hear of them).

As for Mendel, sure, many if not most scientists through history have been devoutly religious, but Mendel's (and Newton's, and all the others') great contribution to the world was science, not religion. I'd even argue that the valuable contribution of religious thinkers (Jesus, Buddha etc) was moral philosophy, not religion.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Sat 17 Oct 2009, 16:55, Reply)