51% of scientists believe in God/higher power

[darkendless]

I would like to know how many scientists believe the Earth is flat? The point being made, I am assuming, is that many scientists are indeed theists. If those who specialize in the field of empirical study hold such a belief, then it should be reasoned that there isn't anything that specifically contradicts those beliefs. As in, spirituality and science are two mutually exclusive realms of study and the condescending attitude that I have seen many atheists adopt with a supposed scientific backing and refutation of theism is flawed in the eyes of those that they hold as bastions of reason.

Mutually exclusive? Many discussions here have centred on people trying to justify religious texts as authorative with respect to science.

One of the most common is debating Noah's flood. Its hard not to be condescending when people ignore your arguements and post scripture consistently.

Another i remember was from spamming members posting from an Islamic website about how mountains hold the earth together and how humans are made from clay. After 30 pages nothing was achieved

These are just a couple of examples of how attempts are made by some to try and provide a link between science and religion. What i find strange is how people knowing wander into the realms of science and then complain when their religiously fueled arguements get shot down.

 

[Starsoul]

Well I experience love rather directly, unlike God. That would be largest gap in your metaphor.

Thats exactly my point. The largest 'gap' that you probably feel between logic to God is actually the largest 'amount' of faith a believing person embraces when he believes in God, and he feels that kind of love for God directly too. More poignant and ever growing.

 

[Starsoul]

There's a huge difference; first of all I know the person I love exists. I don't see how you're making a comparison between having faith in someone that demonstrably exists will be there for you (which is more induction than faith)... compared to having faith that some thingy called God or Allah exists.

Well not really! First of all i know too that Allah exists, His visual absences doesn't make me deny His Powers and Almightiness, or diminish my love for Him, i live to see it everyday, it all comes down to how you see things in the end. The same old half glass empty or half glass full of liquid analogy, where different people look at things differently, even if you say that the half glass is empty, is it really empty? well no, it has air in it ,so what if it isn't visible? I know its there. (ok this is going way off topic but had to say what i had in mind)

And as for Love based around the fact that the loved one will be there for you, how sure can you be that that will always be the case? Don't people die un-expectedly? don't people break up all the time even if they love each other to death? wouldn't that make a person highly insecure/emotionally unstable about being loved if he/she got dumped several times and would commence a vicious cycle of self pity and self destruction that we see every other day?

The point is that Allah never leaves a person (and thats what belief is all about) and thats His way of love , the ONLY unconditional form of love that can exist. just a simple example, He gives to all, whether you believe in Him or not, you'd have all the things life has to offer, He just deliberately creates a few miseries in a person's life to make him evaluate the possibility of eternal love , the real love which is ever lasting, ever growing and ever giving, the only condition being true acknowledgment.

And for that, a stark comparison has to be kept infront of man's eyes so that he learns his way to a real Love which is Always by his side, no matter how flawed the person, or limited he is in his physical capabilities. I doubt a person will love you , care for you or buy you stuff if are a nuisance to them , love is going to vanish like thin air in that case. How can a 'mortal love' substitute for everlasting love when that is what most humans crave for at some point in their life and yet fail to grasp?

 

[chinu]

I wonder, How beatutiful a percentage 51%
Thank god you are preasent on the earth.

 

[gnomon]

I wonder, How beatutiful a percentage 51%
Thank god you are preasent on the earth.

Yes. Percentages are a beautiful thing.

Like the scant percentage of winning the lottery or the equivalent chance of Shaq hitting a free throw.

 

[logician]

I ran across this while surfing. Its a 2009 survey, fairly recent. Something I read often here seems to be that scientists and educated people don't have much use for God and religion. This survey doesn't support that claim. This survey says 51% of scientists believe in God or a higher power and breaks it down further. What 'ca think?

Scientists and Belief - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Very smart people can believe very strange things. That's because belief many times is not based upon intellect at all, but family tradition, emotion, etc. Practically my whole extended family (except my own family) are very conservative Christians, and most are very intelligent (engineers, doctors, lawyers, writers, etc.). Belief is not necessarily correlated with intelligence. Bobby Fischer, probably the best chess player of all time, was a member of a very off-the-wall religion.

 

[AxisMundi]

haha - how true. But serious for a second, if half of the people who spend their lives and careers pursuing knowledge and understanding (truth) of the sciences believe there is a god, it says something. You can't just dismiss it with a joke. These are not the stupid people so often characterized as believers by athiests. And I understand that scientists are not science - maybe the point is that the people doing science aren't as anti-god as some who merely believe in science as the end-all be-all. If nothing else, it punches a hole in the intellectual superiority impied by some athiests.

Firstly, it merely shows the power of indoctrinating youth, and illustrates why religion has no place in public school curriculum.

Secondly, you are misrepresenting the findings. Only 33% of the respondents, all members of one specific scientific organization, claimed to believe in your god, the remainder are agnostic. (This is of course ignoring Pew's habit of biased methodology for the moment)

Thirdly, your survey doesn't mention how many of those believers attempt to use science to prove their god. I believe this number to be less than one percent and are represented among the YECer pseudo-scientists. Less than one percent of 33% is hardly news to write home about.

 

[sandandfoam]

. What 'ca think?

100% of RF's stephenw's believe in God.
Says something about stephenw's and nothing about God

 

[Meow Mix]

Well not really! First of all i know too that Allah exists...

Before I respond to the rest... how do you know Allah exists?

 

[Kerr]

I ran across this while surfing. Its a 2009 survey, fairly recent. Something I read often here seems to be that scientists and educated people don't have much use for God and religion. This survey doesn't support that claim. This survey says 51% of scientists believe in God or a higher power and breaks it down further. What 'ca think?

Scientists and Belief - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Assuming the number is correct... Thought it would be higher then 51% to be honest. But I fail to see the relevance.

 

[Kerr]

haha - how true. But serious for a second, if half of the people who spend their lives and careers pursuing knowledge and understanding (truth) of the sciences believe there is a god, it says something. You can't just dismiss it with a joke. These are not the stupid people so often characterized as believers by athiests. And I understand that scientists are not science - maybe the point is that the people doing science aren't as anti-god as some who merely believe in science as the end-all be-all. If nothing else, it punches a hole in the intellectual superiority impied by some athiests.

67% don´t believe in the Abrahamic god. According to your own logic, that would maybe be a good argument against Christianity. But it is not.

By the way, I am an atheist and I do not think theists are stupid.

 

[stlekee]

Hey, I just a lnk to a survey and expressed my opinion as to what it reveals. I never claimed the survey was about christianity or Abrahamic religious tradition. I simply added up the numbers -51% believe in God or a higher power.

Personally, I don't consider myself a 'christian', I don't believe a bunch of 4th century theology. I have a hunch Jesus wouldn't have bought those ideas either. I do think (I said think) that Jesus had/has a profound message of human potential which was not understood then or now by most people.

I don't think God can be 'captured' by any religion - 'its all here in our church or book or bottle or back pocket - everything about God' That would not be God.

Bottom line - ya either believe there is a god or you don't. If you believe in god, how big is that god? My God is too big to be captured. But that's just me.

 

[PolyHedral]

That's what I'm really puzzled by... I don't get how someone can DO that.

I assume you've never read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Doublethink is surprisingly common.

 

[Midnight Pete]

I wonder how the religious beliefs of scientists affect the kind of work they do. I wonder if the scientists who experiment on animals, torture them, multilate and kill them have any belief in God.

 

[Sunstone]

I wonder how the religious beliefs of scientists affect the kind of work they do. I wonder if the scientists who experiment on animals, torture them, multilate and kill them have any belief in God.

Given the history of the Spanish Inquisition, I presume you mean to imply that those scientists who conduct painful experiments with animals that amount to torturing the animals are, like the Inquisitors, Christian?

 

[Midnight Pete]

Given the history of the Spanish Inquisition, I presume you mean to imply that those scientists who conduct painful experiments with animals that amount to torturing the animals are, like the Inquisitors, Christian?

The medieval torturers and modern scientists have that in common: sadism and cruelty. The Inquisitors weren't testing beauty products on the people they captured and when modern scientists attach electrodes to the animals it's not to force a confession of heresy out of them.

That's a very compelling parallel you've drawn there.

 

[Amill]

I ran across this while surfing. Its a 2009 survey, fairly recent. Something I read often here seems to be that scientists and educated people don't have much use for God and religion. This survey doesn't support that claim. This survey says 51% of scientists believe in God or a higher power and breaks it down further. What 'ca think?

Scientists and Belief - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

I think it's actually important for theists to realize this fact more than atheists. So many look at science and theories as being "anti-religious" or going against god. If they realize that all these scientists have varying beliefs about the Universe and are from very different backgrounds, maybe they wouldn't be so harsh and biased against the scientific theories such as evolution. Even though these scientists all hold different beliefs that can lead to biased research, science still works.

 

[Midnight Pete]

Even though these scientists all hold different beliefs that can lead to biased research, science still works.

No one is suggesting otherwise.

 

[Kerr]

Hey, I just a lnk to a survey and expressed my opinion as to what it reveals. I never claimed the survey was about christianity or Abrahamic religious tradition. I simply added up the numbers -51% believe in God or a higher power.

Personally, I don't consider myself a 'christian', I don't believe a bunch of 4th century theology. I have a hunch Jesus wouldn't have bought those ideas either. I do think (I said think) that Jesus had/has a profound message of human potential which was not understood then or now by most people.

I don't think God can be 'captured' by any religion - 'its all here in our church or book or bottle or back pocket - everything about God' That would not be God.

Bottom line - ya either believe there is a god or you don't. If you believe in god, how big is that god? My God is too big to be captured. But that's just me.

Sorry if I misunderstood you, it seemed to me like you where trying to make a point about smart people believing in God and that it should mean God exists . I actually think there is nothing wrong or stupid about a faith in a higher power, it is just not my path and it is to be honest something I do not understand.

And the "christian" example was just an example to illustrate how you can twist numbers in different directions depending on what suits you (not saying you did, I am saying that numbers aren´t that reliable because of this factor). I did not mean to imply anything about your beliefs.

 

[Starsoul]

Before I respond to the rest... how do you know Allah exists?

How do you know love exists , isn't just a hormone surge and isn't just a mutual relationship based on give and take?

I know Allah exists for many bigger reasons and smaller simple ones too. All i have to do to is wish for something and it comes right infront of me in the most unexpected of ways, without me having to try for it. Like just a few days ago, i had this craving for a nice dark fudge, a good cupa coffee and some condiment that we have in our region. The moment i open the door outside, my friend( who just came back from another city) was standing outside and invited me in , just out of the blue, with ALL these things that i had just 'wished' of having that day but hadn't contemplated to be happening so quickly infront of my eyes.

Ofcorse you will name it coincidence, but I feel that Allah listens to me and my thoughts more closely than anyone can. This happens to me a LOT of times and makes one think that somebody out there is there for you, can overwhelm you with joy in so many ways, listen to you closely and know all your deepest wishes that you don't really even tell anyone about. Makes one fall in love with him over and over again ( ahh the molten fudge *faints* )