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

24Crossing the Picket Lines: The Personal Faith of ScientistsLeaving or Retaining Religion Brings CriticismThe decision to not believe in God or to raise one’s children without religion isnot without public consequence. Indeed one study finds that Americans dislikeatheists more than almost any other group of people, including various ethnicand religious groups, and shows that “increasing acceptance of religious diversitydoes not extend to the nonreligious.” 28 Pollsters find that among a range of typesof potential candidates, Americans say they are the least likely to vote for an atheistfor President. This tension sometimes came out keenly in my one-on-one discussionswith scientists. A biologist 29 I talked with said that dealing with the topicof religion in her broader life has been especially difficult because “people in oursociety are so religious, and that makes me feel like there’s something wrong withme.” Most acutely she struggled with how to raise her children. Because she andher husband did not share the same religious beliefs, they brought their childrenup without religion. Although her children are now adults, religion is still, as sheput it, a “thorn in my side.” She said, “I try to console myself by saying that mostpeople don’t get to see what I do in my work, into the inner workings of things theway I do in my work.” The beauty she sees and the meaning she gets through herwork as a scientist lead her to feel somewhat at peace without having a religion,even though much of the world outside her scientific haven is religious.Scientists who do practice religion can face intense pressure to give it up asthey are sometimes harshly judged by their secular peers. They might be viewedas not fully engaging the scientific part of their brains, simply putting their reasonon hold to find comfort in religion. A chemist 30 who has been in the field for yearsremarked that if you are a scientist, you “cannot believe in things that are supernatural,because that’s a total cop-out. That’s really antiscience. The whole purposeof doing science is to figure out how nature works. And as soon as you . . .say, ‘Ah-ha, I’m going to push the supernatural button,’ then you’re just abdicatingyourself as a scientist.” For some, like this one, believing in God actually putsresearch at incredible risk. That is why, for the sake of the profession, they thinkother scientists should give up religion. Believing is the opposite of exploring; itmeans to leave questions unanswered that are simply too difficult to ask.REASON THREE: BECAUSE RELIGION ISFOREIGN OR UNIMPORTANTFrederick William Faber was born June 28, 1814, in West Yorkshire, England.His hymn “Faith of Our Fathers” has the following chorus: “Faith of our fathers,