Theres no tradition of scientists knocking down the Sunday school door, telling the preacher what to teach. Theres no tradition of scientists picketing outside of churches nor should there be some [emergent] tradition of religious fundamentalists trying to change the curriculum in the science classroom. Theres been a happy coexistence for centuries. And for that to change now would be unfortunate. Because Ive seen this happen in other nations and the other states where the consequences are that you just basically recede back to the cave because thats where you land when you undermine the scientific and technological innovations that come about when youre a properly trained scientist or technologist. Consider also that in America, 40% of American scientists are religious. So this notion that theres some... that if youre a scientist, youre an atheist or if youre religious, youre not a scientist, thats just empirically false. Its an empirically false statement. And what I mean by religious is that you can pose the question in a way that is unambiguous. You dont ask, well, do you go to church every Sunday cause plenty of people go to church, like, just for the pie, you know, or the social scene after the service. You ask people, do you pray to [a person or] God. If you say yes to that, youre religious by, presumably, anybodys standards of your conduct. And its the yes to that question that applies to 40% of scientists. So, therere plenty of atheists who are scientists or not scientists. There maybe a conflict but many people in this country coexist in both worlds. ---Neil deGrasse Tyson
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:33:46 +0000
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