Indian scientists are secular, but religious: Survey

A survey has found that Indian scientists ‘firmly believe in God’ in spite of being very much ‘secular’. It found that religion and faith had deep roots in the minds of Indian scientists.

The study, "Worldviews and Opinions of Scientists in India", carried out by the Trinity College of the US in collaboration with Centre for Inquiry (CFI) India, a non–profit organisation, has found that 49 per cent of scientists believe prayer is "efficacious as therapy".

The survey, which concluded last week, said, though most of the 1,100 Indian scientists surveyed described themselves as "secular", they refused to be called irreligious.

Governed by faith, social values and ethics, 64 % of the scientists said they would refuse to design biological weapons and 29 pc said they would not go for human cloning, quoted TOI.

For 90 percent of the respondents secularism would mean "tolerance for religions and philosophies," the study said. The majority of scientists consider themselves “spiritual" and believe in the existence of god or "some higher power".

"Indians are by nature god believing people. They don't put spirituality versus science. Our ethos is broad – while we are rooted to our belief we are also open to new ideas, knowledge and innovations," renowned scientist Y.S. Rajan said.

"There is broadly no conflict as we are for religious plurality. Let me be clear, there is no basic dichotomy between science and god," he added.

The lead researcher of the study, Barry A. Kosmin, said, India was chosen because of its increasing scientific and economic importance on the global scene.

The study sampled participants from 130 universities and research institutes in India between July 2007 and January 2008.