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

The Voice of Faith 33throughout the career life-course for this cohort of elite scientists, it could indicatean overall shift in attitude toward religion among those in the academy. 8Other insights from sociology are helpful here. Those who study religionlabel an individual “religious” based on three types of criteria. One of those isthe major religious body with which she identifies. Does she consider herselfJewish, Unitarian, or fundamentalist? Another facet of studying religious peopleis examining what an individual believes: Does he believe that God exists?Does he believe that his religion is the only true religion? Scholars also describedegrees of faith through examining the practices religious people use to displayand maintain their faith. Does an individual attend a house of worship or spendtime meditating at home instead? And how are these practices connected to herbeliefs and identities?Perhaps unsurprisingly, scientists in general are much less likely than aremembers of the general population to identify as part of a traditional religion.As the figure below shows, over 50 percent of the scientists I surveyed had noreligious affiliation.9Compare this to only about 16 percent of those in thegeneral population who have no religious affiliation.But to pay attention only to those who do not avow a faith would be toignore the nearly 50 percent of elite scientists who do identify with a religioustradition. Of these, the highest proportion are Jewish (about 16 percent), butmany of these identify as Jewish as an ethnicity, not in terms of an active religiousfaith. About 14 percent of the elite scientists—and 13 percent of Americans—identifywith one of the major mainline Protestant traditions (such asMethodist or Episcopalian). And 9 percent of elite scientists see themselves asCatholic, as do 27 percent of general Americans. In the future, might we lookfor more Catholic spokespersons for science?The differences in how U.S. religions are represented among university scientistsare most stark when comparing Jews and evangelicals. Roughly eightScientistsU.S. Population54%2%28%14%13%0%8%9%27%16%2%7%6%16%EvangelicalProtestantMainlineProtestantBlackProtestantCatholic Jewish Other NoneFIGURE 3.1. Religious Traditions: Elite Scientists Compared to the U.S.Population. Sources: Religion Among Academic Scientists Survey 2005, GeneralSocial Survey 2006.