Saturday, January 24, 2015

Are Most Scientists Really Atheists?

You may have read the articles which claim that most scientists do not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being who is as superior to humans as humans are superior to human creations. This is my restatement of what I think is meant when they say that most scientists are atheists or do not believe in God or the idea of a God. I think that the scientific evidence says otherwise. What I believe is true is that most scientists make the claim that they do not believe in a Supreme Being. How do I know that to be true? I think the evidence is convincing.

If you go through the scientific literature you will find a staggering list of different areas of scientific research. There are scientific and research journals devoted to a wide range of subjects. Everything that humans have ever discovered is the subject of scientific research. Everything, that is, except the most important scientific discovery of all. There is not one single journal that is devoted to the study of anything related to the study of the behavior of the human species. Let us be clear. This does not mean that there are no studies of humans. You will find research on human groups and organizations. You will find studies on the behavior of humans as individuals. But you will not find one study on the behavior of humans as a species. This is true even though it is documented in the literature that this behavior has changed over time. We know about the growth and development of the bodies of human beings than we do about the growth and development of our species. What does that have to do with a belief in God? Let me make the connection.

If scientists refuse to study the human race from a scientific perspective by studying it as a species, it can only be because they are leaving this task up to a superior being. I am not suggesting that the idea is the same as that now held by theists, neither is there any reason to believe that current theistic thinking on the subject is correct. But scientists cannot continue to pretend that an entity called the human race does not exist, which is what the current approach implies, while claiming that theists recognize a God who does not exist. Such a stance is scientifically and intellectually irresponsible.