Put simply, it can’t. So we decided to take a stand. It has cost us with some former allies, but in our new book Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, we said it strongly: The New Atheism has become a counterproductive movement, dividing us when we ought to be united. And this movement is not really about science, although it often aligns itself in this way. Science, alone, isn’t capable of saying whether God exists, and most scientists don’t obsess about such questions. Atheism is a philosophy that goes beyond mere science—a philosophy that its adherents have every right to hold, but that will never serve as a common ground that we can all stand upon.
The common ground, instead, must be science in its broadest sense—a shared body of facts we can all agree about, however we may differ about the spiritual. Yet this common ground itself is at risk if we let science and faith be in conflict.
And that’s why we’re here to call for much more cooperation and much more understanding between people from the world of science (like ourselves) and those who hold their faith dear. We’re here to make common cause—and also to remind you that not all of American science falls into the New Atheist camp. Not by a long shot.
Instead, it’s more like a house divided. Leading institutions like the National Academy of Sciences, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Center for Science Education see no need to challenge religious faith. It isn’t part of their job description nor is it helpful to the important endeavors they’re already engaged in. The New Atheists are the upstarts here and seem to want these organizations to change their policies and approach—but they haven’t yet succeeded.
In other words, science is not now the enemy of religion in America, and hopefully it won’t ever be. After all, the vast majority of Americas want nothing to do with this conflict. They want compromise, and compatibility. The New Atheists, although loud, don’t represent all scientists or even all atheists—much less all of the country.
So all we need is for the “silent majority”—often diffident, often drowned out by the extremes on either side—to get louder.
Next time you see the news media cover “science versus religion” as if it’s a battle, write or call in and say why that’s simplistic. The next time you find a scientist criticizing religious belief, email or call up and ask why it isn’t enough for us all to agree about the facts of science.
To this end, President Obama’s appointment of a scientist and man of faith, Francis Collins, to head the National Institutes of Health was a step in the right direction. Let us hope that it is only the beginning.