The Techies, They're My Tribe

God and Geeks
By Carol Glatz11/3/2007
Catholic News Service (http://www.catholicnews.com/)
Vatican astronomer hunts for faith in Silicon Valley
In his new book"God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion," Jesuit brother Guy Consolmagno writes to his own "techies",of the wonders of God.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Engineers, scientists, and computer whizzes study or manipulate nature and machines to find sound, logical solutions to nagging questions and everyday problems. But if hard empirical evidence is what makes a techie brain tick, then how is he or she able to justify or believe in something as scientifically unprovable as God or as mind-boggling as transubstantiation? Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, a self-described techie and Vatican astronomer, argues in a new book that a nerd is not necessarily a nihilist, and geeks can and do believe in God. In "God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion," he shows that atheism is actually very rare among men and women scientists. He told Catholic News Service "the more common stance is to be agnostic -- they don't want to make a claim one way or another, but really what they're shy about is belonging to an organized church." Brother Consolmagno said some hold preconceived, mistaken notions that the people they'll find in the pews might be intellectually inferior or even "repellent." The Jesuit astronomer said, "One fellow put it to me very bluntly, 'I don't mind God, it's his fan club I could do without.'" He said the idea for his fifth book came after some techie friends asked him to explain the "nuts and bolts of how" to believe in a particular religious creed. These friends were interested in joining a church, and they were looking for "intellectual support" and help in explaining certain aspects of the Catholic faith, he said. He soon realized techies look at religion differently than most folks and likewise have different needs when it comes to pastoral care and outreach. So two years ago, Brother Consolmagno bade a temporary farewell to his telescopes and went from gazing at the heavens to peering into fellow techies' hearts and souls. "The techies, they're my tribe. I'm one of them and I want us to be better understood by the church," the planetary scientist explained. The discoveries he made from a two-month journey traveling up and down U.S. Highway 101 in California's Silicon Valley became the core of his new book. He interviewed 100 "hard-nosed, rational, dyed-in-the-wool techies" and asked them the reasons they went to church, what they did and didn't get out of church, and why they belonged to one faith community and not another. He said the answers were as varied as one would find in the general population, but that several unique characteristics stuck out. For example, skeptics weren't saying, "Prove to me God exists," but had more pragmatic concerns like "whether he exists or not, why should I believe? Why should I care and what does it get me?" Also, people in the world of science tend to be "rule followers" and see the church as a book of rules, he said. - - -Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops link (here)