How Do Scientists View Religion?

In 2005, two court cases—dealing with how science and religion intersect in the public domain—erupted in the United States, one in Georgia and the other in Pennsylvania. In Georgia’s Cobb County School District, a disclaimer sticker was slapped on public school biology textbooks saying evolution was only a theory. In Pennsylvania, a handful of parents were advocating teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes.    

Prof. Elaine Howard Ecklund, the founding director of Rice Univ.’s Religion and Public Life Program and the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, watched these scenes unfold. As someone who frequented religious circles due to nature of her academic work, Ecklund had heard religious people express the opinion that scientists negatively viewed them.

“I just had never really thought of these things as an inherent conflict myself, but I realized that a lot of people do,” Ecklund said in an interview with R&D Magazine. “A lot of people think, kind of, scientists are out to get them…especially particular Christian communities in the U.S.” 

Ecklund’s intellectual curiosity led her to conduct a global survey regarding how scientists view religion. Data collection, which started in 2011, lasted for four years. Her results indicate the perceived conflict between science and religion may not be as prevalent as society believes, and is challenging the assumption that the majority of scientists are atheists.

The survey

Working with over 100 people in the Rice Univ. community, Ecklund collected a list of 61,020 physicists and biologists who were eligible for the study. The focus on these disciplines was partly due to their historic interfaces with religion, biology posing questions about humanity and physics posing questions regarding the origin of the universe. The list was whittled down to a random sample of 22,525. Of that number, 9,422 scientists—who came France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Taiwan, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S.—responded. The regions were selected due to their distinctive religious characteristics.

Belief in a higher power among scientists varied depending on region. Turkey, India and Taiwan boasted the highest percentages, with 85%, 79% and 74% expressing “at least some belief in a Higher Power.” In Italy and Honk Kong, the percentages were 57% and 54%. The U.S. and U.K. were 36% and 35%. French scientists expressed the lowest levels of belief with 24%.

Agnosticism was highest among U.S. and U.K. scientists at 29% and 25%, respectively.

“Generally, in each region, scientists are less likely than members of the general public to claim a religious affiliation,” Ecklund and fellow researchers reported in their summary of the survey. “The largest divide in religious affiliation between scientists and the general public is in the U.S. (where there is a 27% difference), followed by Italy and Taiwan (both with a 25% difference), and Turkey (24% difference).”

Another interesting find was the percentage of scientists who believe “there is no God compared with the general population.” In France, 17% of the general population expressed no belief in God, while 51% of scientists held that view. In Honk Kong, the percentages were 55% and 26% for the general population and scientists, respectively.

Still, only a minority of scientists reported believing there was a conflict between science and religion. In the U.K., “only 32% of scientists characterized the science-faith interface as one of conflict,” reported Rice Univ. “In the U.S., this number was only 29%. And 25% of Honk Kong scientists, 27% of Indian scientists and 23% of Taiwanese scientists believed science and religion can coexist and be used to help each other.” 

Assumptions regarding religion and science

So what led to the prevailing assumption that science and religion can’t mix? Ecklund believes it’s a case of the loudest voices deafening the largest voices. “People who think there is a conflict are especially vocal,” but also “I’ve come to think that this is a little bit manufactured by the media. Conflict does sell,” she said.

It’s a mistake to see the conflict as numerically prevalent, she added.  

However, “the religions where there is a potential for conflict are more concentrated in the West,” she said.

After receiving the surveys, the researchers followed up with in-depth interviews for 609 of the responding scientists.

“Something that’s fascinating about this study is the way scientists talk about religion in their personal lives,” Ecklund said. While there are many ways of being religious, Ecklund found there are a myriad of ways of being an atheist too. One finds atheists who attend church because they think it might have some moral training for their children, she said as an example.

In the U.K., scientists are increasingly working with scientists who are religious. “Muslim immigrants have brought a more serious level of religiosity to the region as a whole and the scientific community in particular,” the research team reported.

That’s a way religion can come into the scientific workplace even for secular scientists, Ecklund said. The U.K. is very accommodating when it comes to the relationship between secular and religious scientists, she added.

It’s a great juxtaposition to scientists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, both vocal critics of religion. On the opposite end of the spectrum, one can’t forget evangelical Christians, who are vocal in their opposition to human embryonic stem cell research and the teachings of evolution. “The general public tends to think these people speak for everyone and I think that’s a mischaracterization,” Ecklund said.

Of the 77 survey questions asked, Ecklund has only analyzed seven. More academic papers and potentially books, both academic and popular, are forthcoming. “It’s an academic study, but we think it could have some interesting practical social consequences too,” she said.