posted on Feb, 17 2010 @ 06:00 AM
Not all physicists are atheists...it's hard to get data because they aren't subject to polls on beliefs! I know several 'militant' atheists on ATS
are adamant that science and faith cannot exist together. They ridicule the concept and the scientist. The views are didactic and extreme, just like
the creationists and hardcore Christians around here.
From my point of view, a hard scientist has greater skills of critical thinking than most. If some physicists come to a conclusion that supports, in
their eyes, a God...fair enough.
I've looked for a couple of examples...
John Polkinghorne worked on quantum physics in the first part of his career, but then took up a different line of work: he was ordained an Anglican
priest. For him, science and religion are entirely compatible....
John Polkinghorne.
Brian Swimme is a cosmologist, and with the theologian Thomas Berry, wrote a book called The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the
Ecozoic Era. Swimme believes that "the universe is attempting to be felt", which makes him a pantheist, someone who believes the cosmos in its
entirety can be called God.
Brian Swimme
There's an interesting article....
God and Physics: A New
Dialogue. It's two years old and involves 30 physicists at Cambridge Uni discussing God...some are believers and some are atheist.
A series of intriguing Gallup Polls from the past 20 years show the difference between Joe Public's beliefs and scientists. 5% of scientists have a
creationist view compared to 44% of everyone (I'd love to see what field of science these guys are in !! )
Results of public opinion polls on evolution and creation science
Scroll down the link because they are genuinely interesting results over the years...
[edit on 17-2-2010 by Kandinsky]