Subject: [SciPol 486] Scientists' Belief in God Varies Starkly by Discipline

From: "MsRedSonya" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:15:24 -0000

The article is a little older, but it does possess a demographic
discipline breakdown.

Scientists' Belief in God Varies Starkly by Discipline
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 11 August 2005
http://www.livescience.com/othernews/050811_scientists_god.html

About two-thirds of scientists believe in God, according to a new
survey that uncovered stark differences based on the type of research
they do.

The study, along with another one released in June, would appear to
debunk the oft-held notion that science is incompatible with religion.

Those in the social sciences are more likely to believe in God and
attend religious services than researchers in the natural sciences,
the study found.

The opposite had been expected.

Nearly 38 percent of natural scientists -- people in disciplines like
physics, chemistry and biology -- said they do not believe in God.
Only 31 percent of the social scientists do not believe.

In the new study, Rice University sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund
surveyed 1,646 faculty members at elite research universities, asking
36 questions about belief and spiritual practices.

"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.

Some stand-out stats: 41 percent of the biologists don't believe,
while that figure is just 27 percent among political scientists.

In separate work at the University of Chicago, released in June, 76
percent of doctors said they believed in God and 59 percent believe in
some sort of afterlife.

"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."

Ecklund and colleagues are now conducting longer interviews with some
of the participants to try and figure it all out.

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From: "Lloyd Davidson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 07:13:32 -0700

Scientists, after all, begin with the same prejudices and other such baggage
as anyone else in our society carries with them from birth and while the
ability to honestly reassess our preconceptions should be a part of every
scientist's training, that is not something that is normally taught and so
it is up to each individual to develop the necessary critical thinking
skills essential to this task.  Clearly, not everybody succeeds, especially
in the US, and considering that 90% of our population considers themselves
religious, it's hardly surprising that a significant fraction of scientiists
haven't kicked the habit. Much of Europe, e.g. France, Sweden and Denmark,
is far ahead of us in this regard.  Even Vietnam is made up of 80% or so
atheists.   None of these polls, of course, says anything about the truth or
falsity of religion, but obviously I have my own ideas about this.

L.