Science vs. religion : what scientists really think - File PDF

44Crossing the Picket Lines: The Personal Faith of Scientistsgoing to be more successful. Intense ties foster cooperation and therefore higheconomic performance.But what about when organizational goals are not economic in nature?What if the desired outcome is expanded understanding? Or the spread ofknowledge? Is a strong culture that suppresses discussion of religion the bestone for an academic science department?One characteristic of this strong culture is that it is generally considered betternot to discuss religion than to discuss it. When religion unavoidably comesup, such as when discussing news events, the conversation ends abruptly. Oreveryone—religious and nonreligious alike—tacitly agrees that religion is generallynegative and has a negative relationship to science, or at least that thesubject is delicate and is best avoided. The hallmark of a strong culture is thatthere is widespread public agreement about certain issues—in this case, theissue of suppressing religion—even in the context of individual dissent. 35 Mostrelevant here, strong departmental cultures related to religion made religiousscientists feel as if they could not talk openly about being religious because theymight face negative sanctions from their colleagues. When religious individualsparticipated in and upheld the strong culture surrounding religion in their particulardepartments, they perpetuated a closeted faith.Janice 36 is an example of a scientist who feels trapped in a closeted faith.A physicist, she landed a job early in her career at a prestigious university onthe East Coast. And of all the physicists at the elite research universitieswhere I interviewed scientists, only 9 percent are women. So Janice feelsmarginalized in the world of physics as a woman, as a young person, and—most germane to our discussion here—as a religious person. When I askedJanice to describe her particular religious beliefs, her long silence becameuncomfortable. She later explained just how difficult it is for her to talkabout religious topics in the academic setting. Janice knows of a few othersin her department or broader university who are religious but said that theytalk about their faith only occasionally and then only “off line,” as she putit—her shorthand way of explaining that these conversations simply do notoccur in the work environment.Janice said that the recent controversies over intelligent design have madeher even more reticent, reluctant to discuss religion with science colleagues.She explained, “I think academia is not always a very accepting environment.And intelligent design has made it a lot worse. Intelligent design has madeit really hard to be a religious academic, because they have polarized thepublic opinion such that you’re either religious or you’re a scientist!” Janicewent on to say that to let others know that you are religious might underminehow colleagues view your academic work. When I asked her if she personally