# What is this "agenda" scientists have against religion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246 "2013-05-01T19:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/61 "2013-05-07T06:43:47Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They tend to be inferior scientists - the higher up you go in terms of accomplishments, the more of them are atheists. Inferior as in bad scientist or inferior in that they aren’t as good as Stephen Hawking? If it’s the latter, well, we’ve just demonstrated that you can be a religious person and be a scientist. > [@](#): > > That was then, this is now. If he’d live in modern times he’d probably have burned his results and abandoned science. His (Gregor Mendel’s) work was done in the 19th century. What makes you think he’d have burned his works if he had lived in modern times? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/62 "2013-05-07T06:45:50Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Yes, some Christians are scientists. Some atheists aren’t. What’s your point? That being religious is automatically a hindrance to being a scientist? I’m sure you knew that though. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/63 "2013-05-07T06:46:31Z")
Most scientists I know are religious ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/64 "2013-05-07T08:20:24Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Most scientists I know are religious If you were a scientist you might know that an anecdote doesn’t equal data. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/65 "2013-05-07T08:39:24Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > If you were a scientist you might know that an anecdote doesn’t equal data. Where’s the data that most scientists are atheists, especially “top scientists”? ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/66 "2013-05-07T15:35:28Z")
I don’t know about **most** scientists, but here’s some data: [Why are Most Scientists Atheists If There is Evidence for Belief in God?](http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/why_are_scientists_atheists.html) [Leading scientists still reject God](http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/news/file002.html) ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/67 "2013-05-07T15:41:51Z")
(missed edit window) > [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > [Why are Most Scientists Atheists If There is Evidence for Belief in God?](http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/why_are_scientists_atheists.html) I’m not a fan of that site, but they did summarize the numbers. [Here’s the original survey](http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~ehe/doc/Ecklund_SocialProblems_54_2.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/68 "2013-05-07T17:39:33Z")
The original survey seems to cover scientists from elite institutions, so we can’t say anything about scientists as a whole. If rate of disbelief is higher in those places that’s interesting in that religiosity might hold one back from scientific excellence. Your source does a lot of rationalization. Other conclusions we can draw (but would have to test) are that a secular upbringing leads to a successful scientific career far more often than a religious upbringing. As for the marriage factor, we’d have to see about the religiosity of the spouse, since that could drive a non-believer to church. All I can say is that at MIT, in grad school, and at Bell Labs the level of belief was far, far below national averages. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/69 "2013-05-07T19:18:25Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > What I guess I’m looking for is, what do crazy religious people think is going on? What part of “[lies straight from the pit of hell](http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/07/nation/la-na-nn-paul-broun-evolution-hell-20121007)” do you not understand? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/70 "2013-05-10T11:15:25Z")
There was nothing, ever said, taught , thought , or written, that wasn’t from another human being. Our beliefs are all really from them, no God or a God. Even the idea of God is part of evolution. Scientists that don’t believe in a god or God are not against it, that is a misconception… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/71 "2013-05-10T15:05:26Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > I don’t know about **most** scientists, but here’s some data: > > [Why are Most Scientists Atheists If There is Evidence for Belief in God?](http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/why_are_scientists_atheists.html) Objection: Assumes facts not in evidence. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/72 "2013-05-11T11:43:15Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Is it for the DIRTY money? > > Seriously, why is it whenever I hear a scientist dismiss some religious claim, people think they have an agenda? > > When Stephen Hawking said something like; “The Big Bang Didn’t Need God”, some people actually thought he was mad at god because of his disability. > > Are there any theories why most scientist are “anti-god”? There’s no motive so far as I can see. > > What I guess I’m looking for is, what do crazy religious people think is going on? What’s the conspiracy? Science is based on fact, trying for truth, Religion is based on faith and belief from other humans. Science doesn’t call something Fact until it is proven. They are not against Religion that is a fallacy! ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/73 "2013-05-11T11:49:59Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > We’re taking fundamentalists of course, not everyone. Science contradicts the truth of the Bible. Saying scientists think the Bible is wrong because they are stupid doesn’t work very well, given what science has given us. So, if don’t contradict the bible because they are too stupid to know better, it must be because they are evil. > > Same kind of thing as theists saying atheists are atheists because we hate god. They can’t let themselves even consider the alternative. The thing about the Bible is the fact that ii is called the word of God, inspired by God and that is just the idea of some humans passed on through the years, no one can truthfully say it is of God. It can be proven that it was written and called the word of some humans. How can someone Hate someone or something if they don’t believe it exists? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/74 "2013-05-11T12:51:32Z")
This is more information on this one site than I ever dreamed. This is about the scientists who are also Christian. And as one of them said, “No compartmentalization is needed.” (Paraphrased sentence.) I don’t believe in the same beliefs as some of these scientists. But this was a breath of fresh air from the ignorance of some of the posts that I read at the SDMB. May it give a little light to those who think it’s either/or for science and religion: [http://www.tektonics.org/scim/sciencemony.htm](http://www.tektonics.org/scim/sciencemony.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/75 "2013-05-11T13:03:01Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > And as one of them said, “No compartmentalization is needed.” (Paraphrased sentence.) Yes, there is. Science and religion contradict each other both in what they claim and in the type of thinking required for them. A scientist who says that is either lying about what they believe or lying (or deluding themselves) about not compartmentalizing. Nearly all religious people compartmentalize; they _have_ to, to function in the real world. If they don’t they’ll start doing extraordinarily irrational things that will likely get themselves or someone else killed, due to religion being so totally false and blatantly crazy. And since neither reality nor logic is going to change no matter how hard they believe, they have to use some kind of coping mechanism like compartmentalization. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/76 "2013-05-11T13:50:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Objection: Assumes facts not in evidence. That site is amazing…it makes up answers for what they can’t explain, just like mythology ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/77 "2013-05-11T13:52:27Z")
Most scientists are logical and in order to believe in religion you have to suspend all logic ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/78 "2013-05-12T12:37:17Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > This is more information on this one site than I ever dreamed. This is about the scientists who are also Christian. And as one of them said, “No compartmentalization is needed.” (Paraphrased sentence.) > > I don’t believe in the same beliefs as some of these scientists. But this was a breath of fresh air from the ignorance of some of the posts that I read at the SDMB. May it give a little light to those who think it’s either/or for science and religion: > > [http://www.tektonics.org/scim/sciencemony.htm](http://www.tektonics.org/scim/sciencemony.htm) Of course Scientists can believe in God or a god, but there is a big gap between belief and Fact. One can believe anything, but until belief can be proven it is just that Belief. Be it religion or anything else. Science looks for truth and doesn’t claim anything is true until proven, Religions state something is true, and don’t seem to want the facts. Many even read the Bible, but don’t stop and think about if it is true or not. Religion to me is a tool many use to get through life. Each person sees it in a different light, hence the many religions and concepts of God or a God. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/79 "2013-05-12T17:04:01Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They tend to be inferior scientists - > > That was then, this is now. If he’d live in modern times he’d probably have burned his results and abandoned science. Even [this guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre)? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246/80 "2013-05-12T17:41:47Z")
The “agenda” is called “inference to the best explanation.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-agenda-scientists-have-against-religion/657246.md?page=5)