Science and religion are not in conflict according to religious people

The Birmingham based Newman University commissioned YouGov poll discovered that 72 percent of atheists hold the belief that a religious person will be hard pressed to accept evolutionary science . The truth is radically different: only 19 percent of the poll respondents roundly rejected Darwinian thinking and favored the literal truth as stated by the Book of Genesis.

As per British Attitudes Survey, the UK continues to witness a steady religious decline. However, Lord Rowan Williams, who was once archbishop of Canterbury, said that the YouGov survey confirms the incompatibility which is presumed to exist between religion and science is simply a figment of the imagination of a biased mind.

British adults displayed greater ease of acceptance of evolutionary science when it comes to their personal beliefs. 64 percent said they found it easy, extremely easy, or a little easy in their thought processes. To put it in perspective, the numbers come to 50 percent in Canada. Only a meager portion of the population in these two countries, 12 percent in the United Kingdom and about 20 percent in Canada, found it extremely hard to accept the theory of evolutionary science.

Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker, the head of research in this context, said the findings suggest there is an urgent need to revise the stereotypes when it is the matter of Christian belief in the United Kingdom. She said, “In a society that is increasingly non-religious, this mismatch in perception could be seen as a form of prejudice towards religious or spiritual groups. It may be one of the contributing factors in religious groups or individuals saying they see a conflict between science and religion.”

The research conducted by Newman University also revealed an interesting misconception about the scientists who also considered themselves as religious. About one in three respondents answered that a religious scientist is much more probable than an atheist scientist to accept with difficulty any information concerning evolutionary science. This was their own personal way or beliefs of viewing the world.

Rationalists are not happy with the survey. They point out modern evolutionary theory is more than things changing over the course of time. It should be maintained that things change through purely natural processes. God has nothing to do with the process at all. In fact, rationalists say, only the religious prevents their minds from accepting scientific faith.

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