are religion and science complementary

I have been impressed by the depth of thoughtfulness exhibited on some of the previous threads and would like to tap into the collective wisdom on this particular topic.

It would be greatly appreciated if quoting was kept to a minimum only because partial quotes tend to only be partial truths.

For me it's not possible for something to be scientifically false and religiously true. Conflict and discord occur because people believe there is opposition between science and religion, that scientific truth contradicts religion and you have to choose between being religious or scientific in your reasoning.

Is this really the case? If I was a scientist I believe it would lead me towards a belief in a Higher Power. I think distortions build up in religion over long periods until it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish these distortions from the original message.

Anyway, if this thread gets off the ground I have a short quote I found that really made a lot of sense to me and I'll be interested in your comments on it.