The query of whether or not science and faith are at odds or usually appropriate has lengthy been a subject of curiosity to philosophers, theologians and scientists, amongst others.
Within the Non secular Panorama Examine (RLS), we requested respondents whether or not science and faith are “principally in battle” or “principally appropriate,” and People are mainly break up on this subject. Half of U.S. adults say that science and faith are principally in battle, whereas 47% say that science and faith are principally appropriate.
The extra non secular they’re, the extra possible People are to say science and faith are principally appropriate. The much less non secular they’re, the extra possible they’re to see battle between science and faith.
Amongst People with low ranges of non secular engagement, 73% say science and faith are principally in battle, roughly twice the share of extremely non secular People who take the identical place (35%).
The survey additionally finds that People of all non secular backgrounds usually tend to view science as useful than as dangerous for American society. About half of U.S. adults (52%) say science does “extra good than hurt.”
Simply 7% of People general say that science does “extra hurt than good.”
In the meantime, 39% say science does “equal quantities of excellent and hurt.”
On the similar time, most People don’t count on science to have solutions to every thing. Almost seven-in-ten U.S. adults say “there are some issues that science can not probably clarify.” About three-in-ten say “there’s a scientific clarification for every thing, even when we don’t perceive how every thing works.”
Even most People with optimistic views about science’s impression imagine that science can not clarify every thing. About six-in-ten who say science does extra good than hurt additionally say there are some issues that science can not probably clarify.
Learn extra about how non secular teams reply questions on:
Views on compatibility of science and faith
Religiously unaffiliated People – individuals who establish as atheist, agnostic or “nothing particularly” – are extra possible than U.S. adults who establish with a faith to say that faith and science are principally in battle (68% vs. 42%).
And, among the many unaffiliated, atheists (83%) are extra possible than agnostics (69%) and people who describe their faith as “nothing particularly” (64%) to suppose that science and faith battle.
Wanting simply at Christian subgroups, 74% of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (broadly generally known as Mormons) say that science and faith are principally appropriate, as do 56% of Protestants and 52% of Catholics.
Two-thirds of Muslims additionally see science and faith as appropriate, whereas 56% of Buddhists say science and faith are in battle.
Views on whether or not science does extra good or hurt in American society
Almost half of People who establish with a faith say science does extra good than hurt (48%), whereas 8% say it does extra hurt than good. The remaining 43% say it does equal quantities of excellent and hurt.
Amongst Christian subgroups, there are some variations on this query. About half or extra of Orthodox Christians (58%), mainline Protestants (55%), Latter-day Saints (55%) and Catholics (51%) see science as doing extra good than hurt, in contrast with 40% of members of the traditionally Black Protestant custom and 39% of evangelical Protestants.
In the meantime, a majority of U.S. adults of non-Christian religions (62%) say science does extra good than hurt, greater than the 46% of Christians general who take this stance.
Amongst religiously unaffiliated People, 63% say science does extra good than hurt. This consists of:
- 85% of atheists;
- 77% of agnostics; and
- 54% of those that describe their faith as “nothing particularly.”
Views on whether or not science can clarify every thing
Religiously unaffiliated People are much more possible than U.S. adults who establish with a faith to say there’s a scientific clarification for every thing (49% vs. 21%). They’re so much much less more likely to say that there are some issues that science can not probably clarify (49% vs. 77%).
Among the many unaffiliated, 81% of atheists see science as holding the solutions to every thing, in contrast with 61% of agnostics and 38% of those that describe their faith as “nothing particularly.”
In the meantime, majorities of almost each religiously affiliated group analyzed say “there are some issues science can not probably clarify.”
Jewish People are an exception among the many religiously affiliated, with 51% saying there are some issues science can not clarify and 48% saying there’s a scientific clarification for every thing.
