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

Shattering Myths, Toward Dialogue 155In fact, many grants from the federal government now require that scientistsdevote part of their funding to public science—that is, engaging the Americanpublic with their research. And to communicate well with this public, scientistsneed to be able to speak their religious language.All evangelical Christians are against science . Scholars are also finding thatevangelicalism is not as detrimental to gaining scientific knowledge as theyonce thought. Evangelical Christians—those who believe in the authority ofthe Bible and salvation in Jesus Christ alone—are quickly catching up to andsurpassing other religious groups in terms of education levels. Evangelicals andmembers of other traditional religions now graduate from college at the samerate as most other groups of Americans. And those who call themselves “evangelical”come from a variety of Christian denominations, most of which are notadvocates of all aspects of a “religious right” political agenda. 13 Further, thereare several scientists, such as Francis Collins, who are engaged in massive publicefforts to help a Christian constituency understand that they don’t have tochoose between their faith commitments and science. 14 Secular scientists mightnot agree with the religious premises of such arguments, but they can sharewith their religious peers the larger goal of transmitting science to as broad anaudience as possible. And to this end, they might draw on the resources of thereligious scientists in their midst.Philip E. Hockberger and Richard Miller are engaged in exciting and novelefforts at Northwestern University through a course on science and societythey teach to biology graduate students. Among other topics, the course providesa brief overview of the historical debates between religion and science, thelives of religious and nonreligious scientists, public challenges to science, andhow to discuss science with a believing American public.More than 60 Northwestern University graduate students attended an eventwhere Hockberger presented findings from my study about approaches to faithamong university scientists. This relatively high attendance at a nonrequired lectureshows the interest in these issues among students pursuing advanced degrees.The next day, I led a roundtable discussion with some of the students who hadattended the lecture. We talked about why religion persists given what we knowabout science, about various ways that religion might influence science ethics,how to translate science to a largely religious American public, and a host ofother issues. Courses and events like these would be a popular addition to socialand natural science curricula in undergraduate and graduate programs. Althoughsuch courses are already being taught in some science-studies departments, theywould be just as relevant to the fields of biology, physics, and chemistry.Well-trained young scientists who can lead thoughtful religious dialoguemight well be our nation’s next great science breakthrough.