The question of whether science and religion disagree or generally compatible has long been a subject of interest in philosophers, theologians and scientists, among others.
In the study on the religious landscape (RLS), we asked respondents if science and religion are “mainly in conflict” or “mainly compatible” and the Americans are essentially divided on this subject. Half of us adults say that science and religion are mainly in conflict, while 47% say that science and religion are mainly compatible.
The more religious they are, the more the Americans are likely to say that science and religion are above all compatible. THE less Religations they are, the more they are likely to see conflicts between science and religion.
Among Americans with low levels of religious engagement, 73% say that science and religion are mainly in conflict, about double the share of highly religious Americans who take the same position (35%).
The investigation also reveals that Americans from all religious horizons are more likely to consider science as beneficial than harmful to American society. About half of American adults (52%) say that science does “more good than evil”.
Overall, only 7% of Americans say that science does “more harm than good”.
Meanwhile, 39% say that science is “equal quantities of good and evil”.
At the same time, most Americans do not expect science to have answers to everything. Nearly seven out of ten American adults say: “There are things that science cannot explain.” About three of ten say: “There is a scientific explanation for everything, even if we do not understand how everything works.”
Even most Americans with positive opinions on the impact of science believe that science cannot explain everything. About six in ten that say that science does more good than harmful to saying that there are things that science cannot explain.
Find out more about how religious groups answer questions about:
Views of the compatibility of science and religion
The Americans not religious religious – the people who identify themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing particular” – are more likely than us, adults who identify with a religion, to say that religion and science are mainly in conflict (68% against 42%).
And, among non -affiliated, atheists (83%) are more likely than agnostics (69%) and those who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” (64%) to think that science and religion are confronted with a conflict.
By just looking at the Christian subgroups, 74% of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Holy Days (widely known as Mormons) say that science and religion are mainly compatible, just like 56% of Protestants and 52% of Catholics.
Two -thirds of Muslims also consider science and religion as compatible, while 56% of Buddhists say that science and religion are in conflict.
Visits on the question of whether science does more good or evil in American society
Almost half of Americans who identify with a religion say that science does more good than harm (48%), while 8% say that it hurts more than good. The remaining 43% say that it makes equal amounts of good and evil.
Among the Christian subgroups, there are some differences on this issue. About half or more of the Orthodox Christians (58%), the main Protestants (55%), the holy of the last days (55%) and Catholics (51%) see science as doing more good than harm, against 40%of the members of the historically black Protestant tradition and 39%of evangelical Protestants.
Meanwhile, the majority of American adults in non -Christian religions (62%) say that science does more good than evil, more than 46% of Christians who adopt this position.
Among the Americans not religious religious, 63% say that science does more good than evil. This includes:
- 85% of atheists;
- 77% of agnostics; And
- 54% of those who describe their religion as “nothing special”.
Opinions on the question of whether science can explain everything
Americans not religious religious are much more likely than us, adults who identify with a religion, to say that there is a scientific explanation for everything (49% against 21%). They are a lot less Probably saying that there are certain things that science cannot explain (49% against 77%).
Among the non -affiliates, 81% of atheists consider science as holding responses to everything, against 61% of agnostics and 38% of those who describe their religion as “nothing in particular”.
Meanwhile, majorities of almost all religiously analyzed groups say “there are things that science cannot explain”.
Jewish Americans are an exception among religious affiliates, with 51% saying that there are things that science cannot explain and 48% saying that there is a scientific explanation for everything.