There should be some kind of Constitutional amendment that puts up a wall between science and religion, just like the First Amendment that puts up a wall between government and religion. The incursion of religion into science is never helpful, and is often harmful. It has, for example, led to creationism. (I don’t object so much to the reverse incursion, since science has often disproven assertions of believers (creationism, Adam and Eve, the Exodus out of Egypt, and so on.) Maybe there should be a membrane that allows a one-way leakage of science into religion but prevents the reverse movement.,)
Here’s a new letter in Nature (click headline to access) noting not only the large difference in methodology between seeking “truth” in science vs. religion, but also using the high proportion of nonbelieving scientists (compared to the general public) as evidence for the incompatibility of the two areas. (Matthew sent me this to “cheer me up”.)
The link to the Conlon article is here, and that to the NAS survey is here.
I discuss in Faith Versus Fact how the more accomplished a scientist is, the more likely they are to be nonbelievers. For example, here’s a quote from page 12 of my book:
Finally, if religion and science get along so well, why are so many scientists nonbelievers? The difference in religiosity between the American public and American scientists is profound, persistent, and well documented. Further, the more accomplished the scientist, the greater the likelihood that he or she is a nonbeliever. Surveying American scientists as a whole, Pew Research found 33% who admitted belief in God, while 41% were atheists (the rest either didn’t answer, didn’t know, or believed in a “universal spirit or higher power”). In contrast, belief in God among the general public ran at 83% and atheism at only 4%. In other words, scientists are ten times more likely to be atheistic than other Americans. This disparity has persisted for over eighty years of polling
When one moves to scientists working at a group of “elite” research universities, the difference is even more dramatic, with just over 62% being either atheist or agnostic, and only 23% who believed in God—a degree of nonbelief more than fifteenfold higher than the general public.
Sitting at the top tier of American science are the members of the National Academy of Sciences, an honorary organization that chooses only the most accomplished scientists in the United States. And here nonbelief is the rule: 93% of the members are atheists or agnostics, with only the remaining 7% believing in a personal God. This is almost the reverse of the data for “average” Americans.
I then go on to discuss why accomplishment as a scientist is negatively correlated with religiosity. Two explanations immediately stick out, and I think both are at play in these results. But I’ll let readers think up their own reasons.
By the way, the same pattern is seen in UK scientists. A fuil 87% of the members of The Royal Society are atheists or agnostics, while about 49% of Brits believe in God. But I think that 50% would be quite a bit higher if you added Brits who “believe in a higher power”.