Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Americans’ perspectives on science and religion have generated significant public and scholarly attention. In particular, two competing contentions have been advanced: the first suggests that religiosity reduces scientific trust and support in general, and that this opposition to science is becoming increasingly aligned with conservative political identities. The second notes important heterogeneity, arguing that religious opposition to science is rooted in concerns about scientists’ views and interventions concerning human origins, including evolution and stem cell research. We test these claims using new data from a national survey of United States adults (n=1,515) that include new measures of public opinion about Therapeutic Gene Editing and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our structural equation model and decomposition analyses yield three key results. First, in both scientific contexts, members of most religious groups are significantly more skeptical than atheists and agnostics of scientists’ motives. Second, members of most religious groups are less supportive than atheists and agnostics of the use of therapeutic gene editing. Fundamentalist, Evangelical, and non-denominational Christians are also less supportive than atheists and agnostics of the public health response to the pandemic. Third, in both scientific contexts, religious heterogeneity in support for scientists’ policy recommendations was mediated by religious differences in beliefs about scientists’ motives. These findings illustrate the religious heterogeneity in the moral values religious groups associate with organized science. They also underscore the importance of scientific context to understanding differences in perceptions of scientists and support for organized science.