A nationwide survey of the religious beliefs and practices of American physicians has found that the least religious of all medical specialties is psychiatry. Among psychiatrists who have a religion, more than twice as many are Jewish and far fewer are Protestant or Catholic, the two most common religions among physicians overall.
The study also found that religious physicians, especially Protestants, are less likely to refer patients to psychiatrists, and more likely to send them to members of the clergy or to a religious counselor.
Although Protestant physicians were only half as likely to send the patient to a psychiatrist, Jewish physicians were more likely to do so. Least likely were highly religious Protestants who attended church at least twice a month and looked to God for guidance “a great deal or quite a lot.”
A man walks into a psychiatrist’s office wrapped in clear plastic wrap. The doctor took one look at him and said, “Clearly I can see your nuts.”
I recall reading a similar survey that said that physicists are the least religious of all scientists and that mathematicians were the most likely to believe in God.
Surprise surprise.
Yeap. I met the corp psychologist who was known to be a devout Catholic, Italian Name, 10 children. I asked him what the dividing line between sanity and religion was.
He laughed, but never gave me an answer. Corp also had foreign born and trained psych docs. I used to ask them what degree of psychosis was misdiagnosed cultural artifact. They did NOT laugh, but likewise never answered.
Non-communicative lot those psyche guys? – – – -and yea, thats how I feel.
They are the crazy docs and are in their specialty for the professional discount.
I don’t see much useful info in this particular study. I preferred the one referenced in The God Delusion that showed that as scientific knowledge and education increase, so does atheism. It tops out with the members of the National Academy of Sciences at 93% atheist.
This is interesting for two reasons. One, it shows the relationship between a good science education and religion, or lack thereof. Two, it actually shows that even among the top, you still get some believers.
I’m almost more surprised by the latter statement. I’d have expected 100% atheism among the top scientists.
As for psychiatrists, I don’t see why the info is all that interesting. Unless, someone is actually trying to make the case that religion is a delusion curable by psychology, which I doubt.
Scott—what is the useful information in any other similar study?
How arrogant for a tiny speck of carbon, on a tiny blue planet,
to think that they can have consciousness, and yet the entire Universe
can not?
The best psychologists are Jungian, and of course very God fearing.
7–god==conscious entities communicate with one another. Do you have conversations with the universe?
8–unfortuneately, different schools of psych do better at different types of problems, and no one runs a compatibility test before entering treatment. Bastards try to treat whoever is dumb enough to pay them, as long as they pay them. Completely unethical, and they ALL do it.
Jungian is very specific and limited. As a general proposition, transactions psych can help more people (aka “Hows that working for you?”
>>One, it shows the relationship between a good science education and religion, or lack thereof.
And, it quite possibly indicates how widespread naked anti-religious bigotry is in science classes.
I certainly was subject to relentless anti-religious bigotry in my education — which was more common in my science classes than in the other disciplines.
Yet, even there, I was able to find more than a few professors who believed in God, yet felt they had to stay in the closet or be professionally punished.
Although the survey highlights many differences, there seems to be one item of virtually universal agreement. None of the doctors surveyed reported ever referring their patients to a faith healer for medical treatment.
Some things are just too crazy 😉
10–Greg, can you give us an example of “naked anti-religious bigotry” that you object to?
I only took a few science classes. I recall fondly the day one prof said “If you want to take a bible based approach to this subject, this class is not for you.” Pretty scathing stuff eh?
A man walks into a psychiatrist’s office and says “an invisible man in the sky told me that i have to follow 10 rules – otherwise he’ll torture me for all eternity after i’m dead. but he also said that if i go kill another group of people who also follow the same 10 rules, he’ll give me 72 virgins.”
The doctor took one look at him and said, “clearly I can see you’re nuts.”
So, Minnie Mouse walks into a psychiatrist office and talks about her problems with men. Psych guy says “I can see you’re fucking nuts!”
Minnie says “No, I’m fucking Goofy!”
Funny, I’d have expected the opposite: if there is any academic degree that is completely without any sort of concrete foundation, I’d have thought it psychology (although sociology is a fairly close second). I’d have thought that anyone with the a degree in psychology would be quite happy to make leaps of faith and reason based on a gut feeling…
9.bobbo That’s like someone asking you, Who has a conversation with your body while you are unconscious or dead. I can be conscious of a rock, but I don’t talk to it. So if we don’t communicate, you must be a rock.
? entities ? you get that from Star Trek ?-)
So the LEAST scientific of those in the sciences are the LEAST religious. Interesting. How does that make you feel?
Admitting to a higher authority would be counter productive,
‘show me your money so I can cure your thoughts’
pray tell
16–god, I’ll take your analogy==no conversations with the sleeping universe for the recorded history of mankind==6000 years maybe 8000? But atleast none in last 100 years?
And I agree–asleep equals no consciousness. Way to prove my point.
15–Ben, you are being inane to the point of irrelevancy. Insulted?—-Not insulted?????
Its all psychology. Try to pay some attention!
Oh boy another religious debate, I just want to say, um, ……ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
21–Hmmm, defensive in an adolescent display of defiance to authority. Very revealing. Now, go back to sleep.
22. Authority? Ha, Shirley you jest.
#10 Greg,
I’m with bobbo on this one. I don’t personally recall ever having any science teacher mention religion one way or the other. What are your examples of anti-religious bigotry?
Further, as an antitheist, I would like to clarify that antitheism is opposed to religion, not to religious individuals. There’s a huge difference.
#15 – Ben,
I know it’s a subtle difference in some of the “fuzzier” sciences. Here’s my take on it, not from within the field. Psychology studies the mind as best it can and attempts to form conclusions based on observable, albeit less than concrete, data. When new theories are formed, books and papers are written and debate is sparked. Hopefully we gain some understanding of our incredibly complex brains and their inner workings.
Religion starts with a book written N,000 years ago and asserts its relevance today. Some people may reinterpret the book in light of a changing moral zeitgeist. However, in general, real questioning is frowned upon in most sects. The main point in many cases is that god gave you a brain, but for god’s sake, whatever you do, DON’T USE IT!!
19.bobbo I must be talking to the hand because the person ain’t listening. You are part of this Universe, maybe 😉
your life is your communication with it, very limited on your part,
oh pointed rock, if the Universe is sleeping, it must have consciousness,
but God never sleeps…. been around forever,
even before there was a Earth, and foolish humans,
the conscious Universe is only entangled with the matter Universe,
see: The Spooky force between atoms = entanglement
I feel, as an atheist, I should also point out that Misanthropic Scott’s anti-theist is NOT atheism, though it may also include it.
It is to atheism what Westbro Baptist Church is to Baptists…
#25 iGod, that’s an interesting idea, but it just seems to be a variation on John Gage’s networking philosophy, adopted within and evangelized by Sun Microsystems. You may recall the famous phrase John Gage coined… “The Network is the Computer.”
Perhaps the Universe is God.
>>I’m almost more surprised by the latter statement. I’d
>>have expected 100% atheism among the top scientists.
That’s a little presumptuous of you, Boboli.
And GregA, I never recall being battered by anti-religious sentiment by any science teachers I had. Of course, I was an atheist back in those days, so maybe I wasn’t so sensitive to it. For the most part (completely, actually) teachers just taught what they had to teach, and if you wanted Bible study, you went to a parochial school.
Then I got an education, realized I don’t know everything there is to know, and became a believer in God. Huh. Whaddya know?
Ok so,
Behind door number 1- the big dirt nap
Behind door number 2- eternal damnation in the boiling pit of sewage
Behind door number 3- floating on a cloud, strumming a harp with all you boring Christian friends.
Hmmm, which way to choose…………..It all kinda sucks, I think I’ll go outside and live life.
#29 I’m not saying “the Universe is God”, to me,
the combined consciousness of the Universe is God,
just as the consciousness of a human body is the person.
Each atom has it’s consciousness, combine enough atoms
you might have a body, the combined consciousness is the person.
Bodies have mass, consciousness is massless.