The following interview is from the February-March 2006 issue of Free Inquiry
At an August 2005 City College of New York conference featuring a panel of Nobel Laureates, one scientist created a stir by arguing that belief in God is incompatible with being a good scientist and is "damaging to the well-being of the human race." Herbert Hauptman shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985 for his work on the structure of crystals and is also a Laureate of the International Academy of Humanism. A gentle, unassuming man in his eighties, Hauptman sat down with DJ Grothe, Editorial Associate of Free Inquiry, at the acclaimed Hauptman-Woodward Institute in Buffalo, New York.
Free Inquiry: What led you to speak out about religion versus science?
Herbert Hauptman: City College is proud of its Nobel Laureates, of which they have eight or nine, and we came to do a panel at a scientific conference and to serve as judges for contributions by City University of New York students. After the panel, one of the students asked the question regarding the compatibility of science and religion. I ended up being the only one who answered the question, which surprised me.
FI: What response did you elicit from the audience?
Hauptman: There was little or no reaction . . . from the audience or from the other panelists. I completely expected other panelists to support what I said, but none did. The only significant negative reaction came from Cornelia Dean, a reporter from The New York Times. I was later told by several of the other Nobel Laureates that they agreed with me, but for reasons of their own, they just did not respond.
FI: Why do you think they were reticent?
Hauptman: Well, obviously this view is unpopular in this overly religious society. People who are outspoken about it are more than just regarded as cranky, they are deeply disliked.
FI: So why did you speak out?
Hauptman: I have never hidden my beliefs, but neither did I advertise them. In fact, I never thought too terribly much about it; I have kept myself busy thinking about other problems, scientific problems. But I spoke out because of this frustration I have only lately begun to feel about the religiosity in our society.
FI: Then came the media response. A story by Ms. Dean concerning your remarks appeared on the front page of The New York Times. Never having publicly aired your views on religion before, were you afraid of being thrust into the media as an atheist?
Hauptman: No, not really. I received a number of letters, mostly positive. But when a producer at This Week with George Stephanopoulos invited me to appear on the show, my wife suggested I not do it out of concern for my safety. Consider the beating of the professor in Kansas who was attacked for announcing he was going to teach a course on evolution versus Intelligent Design, or Bernard Slepian, the doctor who was slain for conducting abortions. Whenever you hear of these horrible acts of violence, you can be pretty sure they are not done because of someone's lack of belief in God but out of a fervent religious belief. Of course, most religious fundamentalists are not violent. In any case, out of concern for my safety, we decided not to do Stephanopoulos.
FI: Over 90 percent of the members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences are atheists or agnostics. Do you think there is a relationship between being a good scientist and being a religious skeptic?
Hauptman: What are religions based on? They are not based on evidence but on faith. On the other hand, a good scientist insists that, before one assents to a claim, there must be good evidence for that claim. If you live by this principle of science, I believe you will end up believing as I and most of the other members of the National Academy of Sciences believe: that there is no God.
FI: What do you think of those scientists who believe as you do but refuse to let their views be known?
Hauptman: I do not think they should be in the closet on this issue, but it is really a matter of how you allocate your time and energy-and a matter of conscience. Still, I think we would be better off if scientists were more open about their lack of belief in God.
FI: What is one question about the science-versus-religion controversy that you would like answered?
Hauptman: When will religion no longer be an issue of importance to the majority of the people in our society?
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OCTOBER 24-27 2013
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