This article deals with the dialogue between science and religion through the lens of contemporary theories of democracy. Can religion, along with science, make valuable contributions to the public debate? Should scientific community respect this contribution, and if yes, then why? The article analyzes the two general considerations in favor of religious contributions. One is normative, connected with contemporary theories of democracy. Another one is epistemological, which, in turn, exists in two versions: weak or "modern", represented by Jürgen Habermas and implying the necessity of "translation" of religious contribution into the language of universal secular rationality; and "strong" or postmodern, implying epistemological equalization of religion and science. Then the article considers concrete historical details of Russian culture (most importantly, its internal binary oppositions), which stipulate the social projection of the dialogue between science and religion in the Russian context.