EarlyBird:

I am still dumbfounded by this idea that belief in God is at odds with scientific rigor and reason.

EarlyBird,

I second your comments. As bad, from my point of view, New Atheists have used everything you describe as a springboard for racheting up the level of non-civil discord. I read PZ Myers more than most other people, but there's no question in my mind that science has been put in a worse light due to hostile attacks, however well founded, on religious issues people have become attached to (like what happened in Dover, for example).