Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
A. When they have kids.
...researchers [Sociologists Elaine Ecklund (Rice University) and Kristen Lee (University of Buffalo, SUNY)] found that agnostics attend religious services (e.g., church) at about the same rate regardless of whether they have any children. By contrast, the attendance rate of atheists with children jumps 70% compared to those without. Children constitute a statistically significant factor in atheists attending religious services and joining religious communities. It should be noted that the atheists and agnostics in this study are all top-tier scientists, so these findings may not hold for atheists in general.
But why would atheists go to church? I mean, what's that all about?
First, scientists feel that having a scientific mindset means being able to make choices for oneself. Even if the scientist parent does not believe in God, this does not mean that the parent should impose that decision on his or her children—the children should think for themselves. Many scientists interviewed explicitly stated that they did not want to indoctrinate their children into atheism and so exposed their children to a diversity of religious communities.
Second – the most dominant reason – many of the scientists had a religious spouse who had a strong influence on how to raise their children. While this naturally required some negotiation, most of the scientists came from religious upbringings themselves and did not oppose a religious upbringing for their children.
In many circumstances they favored a religious upbringing because, third, they believed it would provide children with moral orientation. One scientist, who does not have children, said he would raise his children in the Catholic Church because he was raised Catholic and believes Catholicism teaches children important values.
Finally, atheist scientists raise their children in a religious setting because of the community it provides. Religious communities have a strong moral outlook and allow for intimate relationships.
I don't buy the first reason. I think it's cover. And the last three reasons seem more like one big reason -- church is good for moral development and family peace. But there's probably another reason, harder to quantify:
People want to believe. Even scientists and atheists. Maybe especially scientists and atheists.
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Jun '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
As a scientist and believer, I find agnosticism more common than atheism or strong belief among colleagues. The scientific mindset is humble about asserting anything without proof, hence the agnosticism. I have a friend and colleague who is an in your face atheist, a la Dawkins. I call him an "evangelical atheist," because of his certainty and to poke a little fun.
It is interesting note his politics. He is basically anti-religion. He voted for Bush because at the time he believed radical Muslims were the biggest threat. Now, he believes evangelical Christians are too much of an threat to freedom, so he voted for Obama.
May '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
People want to believe. Even scientists and atheists. Maybe especially scientists and atheists.
Over the years, I have had many discussions about faith and my burden of skepticism with a priest who is a true friend. He attempts to reassure me by stating that all saints were agnostics or atheists (in some fashion) before they were saints.
Aug '12
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
I can’t speak for either atheists or scientists, but I think science absolutely depends on reason, on the congruence of an observation and a consequence or a pattern, for which a scientist seeks a cause. A materialist is up against a major problem when he looks for a reason or cause, because random non-teleological events must be either undecipherable or nonsense. So how do you get kids to look for reason, or persuade them there is such a thing?
Mar '12
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Why even scientists? My father was only the second scientist from Nebraska to be inducted into the National Academy of Science. He was a strong believer in God and highly active in the pro-life movement.
There is a stereotype of scientists as being non-believers. Possibly that is the case nowadays, but it hasn't been so for most of history. My first reaction was to feel that an attitude of wonderment toward the idea that scientists could be believers was a slur on scientists. On the other hand maybe that stereotype is not so far off the mark at this point in history. Hmmmm.
Assuming that the stereotype is justified we need to ask ourselves "what is wrong with believers today, that they cannot justify their faith rationally to people trained in critical thinking" instead of asking what is wrong with scientists.
Jan '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
A guy I know was worried about his church - there was so much infighting over the type of service to have, which hymns to sing, all this king of minor stuff that produced terrible divisions and enmity. He actually had to strike a "truth and reconciliation council" to deal with this. Churches must strive above all to provide a sense of community - where everyone is accepted, and feels welcome and safe, and will not be ostracized if they have a slightly different opinion than others. Who doesn't want to be part of a community, where when you walk in the door you shed all preconceptions about skin color, net worth, and all those other things that tend to divide us? Reminds me of a discussion that could take place about a certain political party that I am familiar with.....
Nov '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Interesting, Rob...Looking forward to seeing many "poinsettia" [only attend at Christmas] family members at Mass tomorrow night. By the way, how does one get into the spirit of the Season in sunny/rainy California?
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Rob, to judge from my own experience, I would say that children give one a reason to pray. They focus the attention of their parents on the future, and the future is always a worry. Somehow or other, when one has children, life gains a weight that it did not have before. Hope leads to faith, and charity follows.
Edited on December 24, 2012 at 2:11amSep '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
As an atheist with children, I do not think the first reason ("... being able to make choices for oneself ...") is a cover at all. In fact, it is the ONLY reason I allow my children to attend church, if they ask. I do want them to be able to evaluate things that people do/think and come to their own conclusions. For that reason, I did not let them attend church when they were quite young, because I did not think they had the mental capacity to rationally evaluate the situation.
I do think it is entirely possible to teach morality at home in a non-religious setting and it should be taught at home (although I don't necessarily think it should be taught SOLELY at home). That is what we, as parents, have done and continue to do. I certainly do not think a church setting is a requirement for teaching morality.
Aug '10
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
When do atheists go to church ?
Who cares ?
Just one being.
May '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
They want to believe? What a bunch of hopeful nonsense! That's right up there with "there are no atheists in foxholes."I won't go to church. But to keep the peace in my family I allow my wife to take our daughter to church. My daughter will decide what is right for herself, just like I did.
May '10
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
I think humans have some sort of spiritual need. This includes non-believers. They just get their spiritual needs met in some other way.
There are lots of believers who get back into Church when they had kids, not just atheists.
Nov '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Reason 1 could be plausible in combination with #2.
People were made to want to worship God. And many an atheist, whether he is willing to acknowledge it or not -- even to himself -- senses that his life is missing something, and wants his children to have it.
I've known non-believers -- though not necessarily atheist scientists -- who wanted nothing to do with church themselves but were very supportive of their spouses' and children's involvement.
Mar '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
When they want to get to the other side?
Jul '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Most people I know that claim to be atheist are not really anti god as much as anti organized religion. Since each religion claims to be the only true one, and obviously that can't be so the conflict gives them pause. Then there is the individual dogmas of each doctrine that from an outside view has some aspects that look silly that throw them off. Add those bad things done in the name of religion both actual and popularized by the media leave many people believing that religion and thus god make no sense.
Sep '12
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Once you've experienced a miracle - childbirth is pretty darn miraculous - you tend to look around to see if Anybody Else had a hand in it.
Dec '11
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
Bryan is absolutely correct. Humans are wired for worship. It's why every human culture has created some sort of religion in order to worship the god of their own imagination. For atheists, that god is essentially themselves ... their own moral code is supreme; their own ideals of knowledge and intellectualism are their guides; and everything ends when they end.
As a Christian, I worship the One God who has neither lied nor failed. He is beyond my imagination, and is so vastly superior to me (and all men) that, when we come to face Him, every kneel will bow.
Jul '12
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
I agree with Pamela above. Rob, you're far too quick to dismiss reason #1. I'm an atheist, but I arrived at my beliefs myself, and I want my daughter to do the same. If she asks me what I believe, I tell her, but I'm fine with her exploring other ideas -- in fact, I'd be disappointed if she didn't.
Jul '12
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
(Faced with accidental duplicate posts, I must choose which one to delete. Decision: the one with fewer likes.)
Edited on December 24, 2012 at 2:41amOct '10
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
We find it interesting how so many people equate church with closeness to God. In our own life we have found that the closer we have grown towards God the closer we have grown towards people, especially those who identify themselves as Christians.
But we have grown farther and farther away from church. We want our relationship with God to be more direct, and we do not want the church, any church, to become a division between ourselves and others.
Aug '10
Re: Q: When Do Atheist Scientists Go To Church?
People go to church because of what they get out of it. For religious people, this includes religion. For irreligious people it could be:
Reasons 2-3 given above (moral lessons for the kiddies, keeping the peace with religious family members, the sense of community); the chance to sing, play, or hear nice music (a biggie for several people I know); the chance to participate in the church's charitable works; social networking (which is not quite the same as a sense of community); an appreciation of the beauty of tradition...
I even know of one atheist family who joined a church in order to persuade it to not build a huge annex obstructing the view from their property. The family failed, but their kids liked the youth group and stayed on.
What I don't buy is that non-believing scientists become regular members of churches in order to "expose[] their children to a diversity of religious communities" (reason 1). If that's what you want, why become a member of a particular church? Why not just visit a wide variety of religious communities with your kids?
Edited on December 23, 2012 at 10:08pm