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Beliefs Can Coexist: I’m a Science Journalist and a Christian
Knowledge is power, but for me, it doesn’t replace faith — it furthers it.
One of my first courses in graduate school was a “readings in literary science writing” elective. While introducing herself on the first night of class, the instructor — an older woman who had published a book on medical ethics — announced flatly that if any of us believed in God, we had no business being in her class, and definitely should not be pursuing a career in science writing.
I should have had the courage to jump right up and proudly proclaim “I believe in God!” and follow up with a witty, well-worded retort. But I didn’t. I hate confrontation and I’m terrible at thinking on my feet.
I also wasn’t confident that I could find the right words to defend my concurrent beliefs in God and science. Besides, entering into a battle with someone who had clearly made up their mind was likely futile.
Science is for the enlightened brainiacs, religion for the idiot lemurs, right?
I’d heard the debate raging my whole life, yet it still stung to hear someone say it to my face. I could accept her science, yet she couldn’t even allow me to have my God. I worried that I had made a mistake by going back to school. I heeded her…
