Reducing Scientific Skepticism

Abstract

Many people with strong religious beliefs in the United States struggle with trusting the pronouncements of scientists. This is primarily because they have come to believe that science offers a perspective on ultimate questions such as origins and life after death that conflicts with their own. Education and public outreach efforts by scientists can go a long way towards persuading religious believers that they can trust the results of the scientific process, especially if that outreach is led by scientists who share their beliefs. In this article, I discuss how astronomy and space science can be an ideal entry point for religious believers to understand how science works, why it can be trusted to yield true information about the world, and to engage in critical thinking about how to understand their faith in light of scientific discoveries, and vice-versa.