It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly
Also, a majority of American scientists do not believe in God. Biologists, physicists, and astronomers, who should have the best tools for deciding such a question, believe even less frequently than do other scientists. In 1998, Nature published a study, in which it looked at scientists overall and scientists who are members of the National Academy of Sciences. Mirroring a 1914 study which showed similar results, they picked the NAS scientists as being the "greater" scientists and surveyed them to see how they believed.
7% believed in a personal God. 72.2% disbelieved in God. 20.8% had "doubt or agnosticism."
Of the group of all scientists (not just "greater" ones) 60.7% expressed disbelief or doubt. Even if you don't buy the "greater" scientist methodology, you're still left with a definite majority of scientists who disbelieve.
So, please don't quote me scientists as justification for your belief in God. Also, unless you're an accomplished scientist, please don't talk about how the Universe (or homo sapiens) is so complex that there must be a Designer, since the people who actually know what they're talking about disagree with you.
4 comments:
On the flipside, you also should not use scientists as a reason not to believe in God.
You should also note that the Nature study asked specifically about a personal God and asked all sorts of scientists, not just naturalists. That means it asked social socientists too.
So whether the majority of scientists do or do not believe in some sort of God, that I don't know. Or even if they believe in a Designer. I don't think there has ever been such a study.
You should also note that the Nature study asked specifically about a personal God...
Yes, but I'm talking about Orthodox Jews, for whom a Deistic "God" isn't relevant. The people who are saying "Einstein believed in God!" aren't arguing for Deism, they're arguing for the Orthodox Jewish God.
...and asked all sorts of scientists, not just naturalists. That means it asked social socientists too.
I'm not sure why that's relevant, but here's the info from the linked article: "Disbelief in God and immortality among NAS biological scientists was 65.2% and 69.0%, respectively, and among NAS physical scientists it was 79.0% and 76.3%. Most of the rest were agnostics on both issues, with few believers. We found the highest percentage of belief among NAS mathematicians (14.3% in God, 15.0% in immortality). Biological scientists had the lowest rate of belief (5.5% in God, 7.1% in immortality), with physicists and astronomers slightly higher (7.5% in God, 7.5% in immortality)."
So whether the majority of scientists do or do not believe in some sort of God, that I don't know.
I think it's clear that the majority of scientists do not believe in the sort of God that Orthodox and Conservative Jews or mainstream Christians or Muslims or Hindus mean when they say "God." That some impersonal Designer could be referred to as "God" as well is just semantic. It's not the same concept of "God."
The hope is that you are not talking about me:
http://www.curiousjew.modblog.com/?show=blogview&blog_id=607757
Are you? I tried to make that clear.
I'm not, Chana. :)
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