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

God on the Quad 113about these connections in broader university contexts. Because they studyhuman behavior, the social scientists are more likely than are their naturalsciencepeers to think that religion ought to be part of their particular discipline.A political scientist 19 who is a Catholic said, for example, that religionoften has an impact on the kinds of phenomena examined in her discipline.She goes to a Catholic church about once a month and is more attached to theoverall values and community of the church than its biblical tenets. In heropinion, religion “should be discussed . . . . As social scientists, we’re talkingabout how individuals interact and how societies form, how politics work, andreligion is a defining force.” This view echoes the ideas of historian GeorgeMarsden, who in his somewhat controversial The Outrageous Idea of ChristianScholarship argues that faith-informed scholarship should have more of a placeat the table of dialogue within the American university. Marsden urges Christianscholars to take bold initiative in connecting their beliefs to their specificdisciplines while at the same time playing by the rules of their particular guilds.While a few of the social scientists I talked with struggled with what it mightlook like to follow Marsden’s suggestion, it was nearly impossible for the naturalscientists to figure out what it would mean to have their faith traditionsor ideas about spirituality influence what they do as scientists. (Those whosaid their faith influences their science or the transmission of their sciencewere adamant that they do not have different ideas than their nonreligiouscolleagues about the scientific method.) But a plurality of scientists thinkreligion might be helpful in dealing with complex ethical issues, citing examplesthat ranged from avoiding misrepresentation of data to human geneticengineering.20Ethan21is a biologist. I talked with him in his office in a cancer researchcenter attached to a hospital on his campus. Filling the building of elaboratecorridors and stark white walls were people in hospital scrubs and white labcoats. Ethan had the door to his office open, and I could see him typing on hiscomputer. As I knocked and entered, he quickly stood up and reached out toshake my hand. I was immediately struck by how casually Ethan was dressed,given all of the white coats I had just seen. He was wearing khaki shorts, a batikprintshirt, and fisherman sandals. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail.Taped to the wall directly above his computer were three postcard-sizepictures of Jesus Christ. One was of a painting of the Christ child, another wasChrist with the disciples, and another was Christ with Mary. Children’s artworkwas also taped on the walls, and several works of fiction—includingThe Brothers Karamazov —had found a place amid lab notebooks and biologytexts. Ethan had a somewhat cynical and reticent tone at the beginning of theinterview, but as we talked, he loosened up considerably.