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

What Scientists Are Doing Wrong That They Could Be Doing Right 129biology at his university mentioned that religion generally has not come upmuch in his field. But with the increase in debate around intelligent design andother public issues related to religion and science, scientists have started to talkabout religion a lot more. In his words, for religion to come up, it has “to beprompted by something, so recently there’s been a flurry around the intelligentdesign issue.” He does not think that religion will “ever go away.” He continuesto find this disconcerting in some ways, because for him and other scientists,“who are just astonished at the progress of science and how much we learnevery day about science, to see that there’s basically been no movement in thegeneral population in this country is disconcerting. It says we’re doing somethingwrong.”Scientists generally discussed the public impact of religion on science inunfavorable terms. Many hope that they will develop workable strategies not toengage science with religion but to protect science from it. I asked anotherpsychologist,4who was raised Jewish although is not currently an observantJew, what he thinks about the place of science in American society and whetherhe sees religion as generally a negative or positive force. His response was automatic:“I think negative.” Another psychologist 5 said that religion seems tostifle free inquiry and be a serious impediment to the advancement of science.He also mentioned that those in his department have similar views: “You knowwe’re the sort of standard godless bunch.” Moving on to his perception of theimpact that religion has on the advancement of science, he said, “One exampleis the stunning resistance to science that you find in many Americans.” Hethinks that such controversies move well beyond debates about earth origins,remarking that there is actually a “serious percentage of people in the UnitedStates who believe the sun revolves around the earth.” He is concerned thatmany nonscientists do not seem to “take science as a serious force.” Instead, helamented, “they are socially cued into believing in matters of faith. And scienceis just nothing to them.” Conversations about intelligent design seemed tomake scientists feel downtrodden about their efforts to reach a broader publicwith science and about science education. Intelligent design and other controversieshave made them much more hostile to the idea of religion rearing itshead in any public setting. 6As scientists become more afraid of religion in the public sphere, theybecome insecure about their abilities to reach out to a religious public. Forthose like a biologist 7 who teaches at a private school (in a state where themajority of the citizens go to church more than once per month), it can be difficultto know how to respond well to religious challenges to science. He seeshimself as an atheist, mentioning that there is “constant debate amongst all ofus who are fighting creationism. It is true that most evolutionists, at least at the