R. Catto, Rachael Shillitoe, Stephen H. Jones, T. Kaden, F. Elsdon-Baker
{"title":"The Social Imaginary of Science and Nonreligion: Narrating the Connection in the Anglophone West","authors":"R. Catto, Rachael Shillitoe, Stephen H. Jones, T. Kaden, F. Elsdon-Baker","doi":"10.5334/snr.163","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Previous sociological research on science and religion, and secularity and nonreligion, has highlighted a consistent connection between science and nonreligious identities. Yet, the dynamics of this association have not been explored in depth. Building upon a growing body of work, this article adopts a relational approach to science and nonreligion to analyze narratives around science and religion emerging among nonreligious life scientists and members of the public in Canada and the UK. Across a variety of nonreligious identities, they tend to presume religion is irrational and consequently incompatible with science, idealize science, and refer to religious people as a less scientific outgroup. Upbringing, friendships, workspaces, and education all contribute to beliefs about science, (non)religion, and society. The social imaginary that to be modern is to be secular and scientific has enduring cultural power within these Western contexts, affecting daily life. Whether this is the case in other countries is a question for future research.","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Secularism & Nonreligion","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.163","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Previous sociological research on science and religion, and secularity and nonreligion, has highlighted a consistent connection between science and nonreligious identities. Yet, the dynamics of this association have not been explored in depth. Building upon a growing body of work, this article adopts a relational approach to science and nonreligion to analyze narratives around science and religion emerging among nonreligious life scientists and members of the public in Canada and the UK. Across a variety of nonreligious identities, they tend to presume religion is irrational and consequently incompatible with science, idealize science, and refer to religious people as a less scientific outgroup. Upbringing, friendships, workspaces, and education all contribute to beliefs about science, (non)religion, and society. The social imaginary that to be modern is to be secular and scientific has enduring cultural power within these Western contexts, affecting daily life. Whether this is the case in other countries is a question for future research.