Can people work in a scientific field if they don't believe in its tenets?

Question

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/07/biologist_fired_for_beliefs_suit_says/?p1=MEWell_Pos2

Answer 1

A tough question.
Being released by an employer based on belief system alone is not acceptable and protected by the US constitution.
Being released by the employer due to not being able to produce what one has been hired to do is the right of the employer.

After reading the article, I do not think all of the facts are present in the article, Therefore, one should not come to an opinion on the case based solely on the article.

Answer 2

Of course. Although WHY they would want to is an open question. As for the case you cite, it is pretty clear that the person that got fired was unable to perform the functions of the job for which he was hired because of a rejection of the fundamental tenets of the research study. This does not mean he cannot work as a biologist, or even obtain a different research position or gain his own funding. I used to work with an expanding earther, and he was a pretty good geologist even though he didn't accept plate tectonics. Not accepting the basic tenets does limit your opportunities, no question.

You probably wouldn't hire an atheist to be pastor of a church, and I do not see how that would be construed as discrimination based on religion, nor would it prevent the person in question from working in religious studies. It just limits the options available.

Answer 3

Sure. But they don't necessarily have the right to express those beliefs in all ways or circumstances, or to act on them on the job.

In this example, I think that the creationist may have been wronged. There are circumstances when you should be able to express yourself, such as when a coworker privately asks you what you believe.

Doing it in front of the public would be different. The employee has an obligation to represent his employer's philiosophies that pertain to their work when dealing with the public.

And acting on it is right out, like a pharmacist employee who refuses to fill a morning after pill.

Answer 4

Certainly, to prove the assumptions wrong. If you don't believe in evolution, you may want to work in biology and try to prove it's false.
The general theory of relativity and modern quantum chromodynamics are not consistent - they contradict each other, and pretty much all of the theoretical physicists know this, so they are all working in a field where they know for a fact that some of the accepted basic facts of their science are false. That just means there's a huge opportunity to be the scientist who figures out exactly what's wrong and how to fix it - it's a lot more boring if there's no disagreement and all the facts appear to be settled.

Answer 5

sure they can work in a scientific field. but i don't think they would be very successful.

if you don't believe in what you're working for...then what's the damned point?

if he wanted to negate the theories for evolution, he should have joined a team working towards that shared goal instead of working with a team with a completely different agenda.

because you know, situations like these make me think more and more about how exposé "scientific wrongdoing" videos are the result of infiltration and sabotage...