Famed geneticist Francis Collins recently said on NPR that about 40 percent of scientists believe in God. He didn’t cite the source of that figure, but made it clear that he’s among the devout. As Collins, a Christian, has often said, “I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.”
His remarks raised a question in my mind: What percentage of scientists, engineers and mathematicians in Orange County believe in God or some other supreme religious creator/being? My curiosity led me to e-mail more than 400 local scholars and ask them to participate in an anonymous online survey, which asked if they are believers, nonbelievers, agnostic, atheist or undecided. The survey received 203 responses. The results are presented below, along with more information about the survey, and a sample of comments from some of the participants.
Do you believe in God or a supreme religious creator/being?
| Answer | Number of votes | Percentage of all votes |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 77 | 38 percent |
| No | 46 | 23 percent |
| I’m agnostic | 40 | 20 percent |
| I’m an atheist | 33 | 16 percent |
| I’m undecided | 7 | 3 percent |
Well, Collins said that about 40 percent of scientists believe in God, and my unscientific survey generally agrees, putting the figure at 38 percent. But I’m not suggesting that my survey confirms whatever poll Collins cited. My respondents include dozens of engineers and mathematicians. Engineering doesn’t exist in the absence of science. And science and engineering don’t exist in the absence of math. So I included all three. Virtually all of the participants work at Orange County colleges and universities, and they were drawn from fields as different as anthropology, evolutionary biology, civil engineering, psychology, political science, sociology, organic chemistry and materials science.
I didn’t vote in the survey. But in the name of full disclosure, I’m letting you know that I’m agnostic. Enough about me. Here’s a sample of comments from survey participants who agreed to talk publicly about their beliefs. Some remarks have been edited for space.
“I do, indeed, believe in God. Proof is irrelevant; faith is all there is. It is this faith that guides my life and gives it purpose. I would have it no other way. My faith is not only a blessing to me, it is, more importantly, a blessing to my family.” Philip Schwartz, neural stem cell researcher, Children’s Hospital of Orange County
“I answered your survey but you have missed a key concept. A belief in the presence of the divine is not necessarily a belief in personage. Divine force is not a God and many folks have a belief in the Divine but not in one God. Divinity can express itself in many ways.” Paul Apodaca, sociologist, Chapman University
“I consider myself an agnostic because I don’t know whether or not there is a God, although I suspect there is. Indeed, I don’t think anyone can know, so it is not clear to me why everyone is not agnostic. Atheism is as logically indefensible as is theism.” Larry Cahill, neurobiologist, UC Irvine
I grew up in a very religious household; my mother still wonders what went wrong! However, as early as high school I was finding religious beliefs difficult to reconcile with scientific evidence about things ranging from the age of the universe to quantum mechanics to the age of the earth to evolution. Oddly enough, the clincher for me was a college class in thermodynamics – it really brought home to me that “god” would violate all of the laws of thermodynamics. So while god(s) might exist, there is no way it/they could interact with our universe. Dave Bowman, geoscientist, Cal State Fullerton
The question is hard to answer because there are many concepts of “God.” Do you mean the God who answers prayers? Or the God that controls the fine details of life; “Yet not one of them (sparrows) will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.” And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:29
Or do you mean something incomprehensible to humans that governs the nature of the universe (the creator?). Bill Parker, physicist, UC Irvine
After many, many years of studies and research, I have come to realize how ignorant I really am, and how much more there is which is unknown to me. However, there must be someone at work to make this universe work as beautifully and as flawlessly as it does. That someone, to me, is God. Satya Atluri, mechanical and aerospace engineer, UC Irvine
Man created god, god did not create man. It means that god(s) is a product of the human imagination, a basic anthropological idea. Humans are very adept at developing very elaborate belief systems, especially those with spirits of various kinds, engaging in various types of practices, and reflecting the morals and power relations of the societies and cultures from which they sprang. Leo Chavez, anthropologist, UC Irvine
No (I don’t believe in God). At least, not the kind of god promoted by fundamentalist Christians. Perhaps a more pointed question is how many scientists agree with the literal interpretations of the Bible, the Koran, etc. Derek Van Vranken, chemist, UC Irvine
READER COMMENTS: Please e-mail comments to grobbins@ocregister.com and include your full name and the city you live in.
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Without seeing who responded how, I would surmise most of the non-believers were in the education field. Conversely, most of the believers were likely not teachers. Furthermore, as to non-believers, I would also venture to say that most of those same individuals are or consider themselves to be liberal. The bad part - they’re teaching their personal values to young, impressionable students.
NOTE FROM SCIENCEDUDE: All 203 respondents were teacher-researchers. All but one of the respondents worked for a college or university, which means that people who do and don’t believe in God come from the broad field of higher education. Gary
Any religion that doubts or condemns the beliefs of others is false and frightening.
And faith requires no proof.
The universe is yet beyond our mundane comprehension. We are arrogant to think we know.
I think religion is used to silence our fear that our existence is brief and meaningless. So make art, science and make today matter.
I know shut up and go back to making pasta.
I would suggest a survey that branches beyond the education sector. Colleges and universities are known to be more politically liberal than the rest of society. There are plenty of scientists that work in other arenas, Id be interested to see if a wider net brings you a different outcome.
I think it’s an important distinction to make, Many people have been told that an atheist is someone who flat out denies the possibility of any gods existing. This is patently untrue. Some do, some don’t. The point is that if you combine your atheist and agnostic numbers, then the amount of non believers becomes significantly larger.
My only problem with this survey is that the way the data was collected is sloppy. Atheists, pretty much by definition, are non believers. Why the division? The question should have had three responses: yes, no, undecided. And that’s it. By giving the “wiggle” room in the responses, you skew the unbeliever responses lower (should be 39 percent).
Chuck is right, No = atheist, they are the same. though I believe this was unintentional on the surveyor’s behalf.
I saw a highly respected scientific author (sorry, don’t have the name) speak on tv one day last week. the book he was talking about was at least tangently related to anthropology. before even speaking, he prefaced it by saying, there is no god, period, scientists know this to be fact. I was quite taken back and had to scratch my head. I wondered, what was even the point of this statement? furthermore, I knew there were numerous scientists that did not share this viewpoint. thanks for bringing it to light.