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Religion and Science

Scientists and God; not so incompatible as first thought



Being raised in a Christian home was a blessing to me, and never did it seem to hinder my life. When I grew in to adulthood, this changed – mostly – but in one area it remained the same.

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My love of history, of science, of everything around me, was only enhanced by the fact that I knew God made it. I now sit here, a reporter who spends much of his time covering physics, evolution, astronomy, and many other sciences, with more belief than when I started. In other words, Christianity – or any religion – does not need to be incompatible with science. For me, it enhances it. Who am I to say that God had to create the universe in seven days, or using the big bang? Theological discussion aside, why isn’t God smart enough to have used what we know as “scientific finding” as his method? And, according to a new survey by University of Buffalo sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund, it seems that I’m not the only one who manages this apparent dichotomy. After interviewing 1,646 faculty members at elite research universities, asking 36 questions about belief and spiritual practices, Ecklund found some surprising results. In general, two thirds of scientists (studied) believed in God. In addition, adding further to the mystery is the fact that those in the social sciences – those predicted to view God less favorable – in fact are those who believe more. According to the study nearly 38% of natural scientists – physics, chemistry, biology, etc – said they did not believe in God, and only 21% of social scientists do not believe. "Based on previous research, we thought that social scientists would be less likely to practice religion than natural scientists are, but our data showed just the opposite," Ecklund said. "Now we must examine the nature of these differences," Ecklund said today. "Many scientists see themselves as having a spirituality not attached to a particular religious tradition. Some scientists who don't believe in God see themselves as very spiritual people. They have a way outside of themselves that they use to understand the meaning of life." A separate study, to be released in June, conducted at the University of Chicago, shows that 76% of doctors said that they believed in God, and 50% believed in an afterlife. Ecklund and her colleagues are now following up with their participants to conduct longer interviews, in an attempt to figure out why who believes what. A Geek’s-Geek from Melbourne, Australia, Josh is an aspiring author with dreams of publishing his epic fantasy, currently in the works, sometime in the next 5 years. A techie, nerd, sci-fi nut and bookworm


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Guest Column Joshua Hill -- Bio and Archives

Items of notes and interest from the web.


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