Eminent scientists reject the supernatural: A survey of the Fellows of the Royal Society

Citation

Stirrat M & Cornwell RE (2013) Eminent scientists reject the supernatural: A survey of the Fellows of the Royal Society. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 6 (1), Art. No.: 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/1936-6434-6-33

Abstract
Fellows of the Royal Society of London were invited to participate in a survey of attitudes toward religion. They were asked about their beliefs in a personal God, the existence of a supernatural entity, consciousness surviving death, and whether religion and science occupy non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA). Overwhelmingly the majority of Fellows affirmed strong opposition to the belief in a personal god, to the existence of a supernatural entity and to survival of death. On 'NOMA', the majority of Fellows indicated neither a strong disagreement nor strong agreement. We also found that while (surprisingly) childhood religious upbringing and age were not significantly related to current attitudes toward religion, scientific discipline played a small but significant influence: biological scientists are even less likely to be religious than physical scientists and were more likely to perceive conflict between science and religion.

Keywords
Religion and science; NOMA

Journal
Evolution: Education and Outreach: Volume 6, Issue 1