IT IS difficult today to be a Christian in biology or chemistry. It has been like this for a long time. Though, in physics, one might expect to find more believers open about their faith, the life sciences are a harder field to navigate.

Just before the annual Christians in Science conference recently, I joked with two friends (a virologist and a geneticist) that we should start a support group. We laughed, but not because we thought that the idea was ridiculous.

Across the UK, plenty of congregations include scientists who, during the week, conduct first-class research that makes a difference. These people would stop atheists in their tracks if the latter realised that they were believers. I know several amazing scientists who run Christian Unions and lead Alpha courses at their institutions. In church, however, they are hidden and, more often than not, unused.

An unfortunate situation has built up during the past 50-60 years in the UK, and it has led to many “homeless” Christians from the life sciences. As the Young Earth Creationism (YEC) and Intelligent Design (ID) movements have became slick and aggressive in their promotional efforts since the 1970s, they have come to dominate two spaces: those of belief and science inside the Church, and being the loudest voice for Christianity and science outside of it.

Given that most of these loud voices do not work in scientific institutions, produce research, build industry, enhance medicine, or do anything of that type, this is puzzling. An unfortunate side effect is that the Christians who are working hard in the sciences appear to be guilty by association if they talk about their faith in the workplace; or they fall foul of some members of the Church for not believing the promotional noise of YEC and ID.

As a student, I never heard ID mentioned during my training, except for an anecdote of historical interest when studying the bacterial flagellum. Despite its proponents’ protestations, ID is completely irrelevant in the study of biology and chemistry today. But, if you are public about your faith, either as a student or a researcher, you will see a slight look of panic on colleagues’ faces as they wonder whether you are an ideologue with an agenda that could harm the legitimacy of the institution.

PHILOSOPHY of science looks to remove as much bias as possible and to keep the research clean. This means that, if someone has an ideological stance that causes them to look for certain results a priori (as YEC and ID both do, unapologetically), their conclusions can, rightly, be questioned. More than once, simply being known as a Christian has put me in the position to explain whether I have any agenda, even before conducting research. This is all an unfortunate and unnecessary by-product of the attempts by YEC and ID to corner the market in public science and Christianity.

Inside the Church, much is being lost. Modern YEC and ID are very recent blips in the history of science and religion. Terrific work is done by ECLAS (Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science), Christians in Science, the Faraday Institute, and others to educate churches about science and faith, broaden the dialogue, and make good use of scientists in congregations.

With some Christians, however, I only get so far into conversation before I hear words such as “irreducible complexity”, or phrases such as “microevolution not macroevolution”. The expectation is that there are certain positions that a scientist who is a Christian must hold. This has been engrained, tragically, by those who shout loudest, irrespective of Christian history in this regard before recent decades.

CHURCHES should hear their scientists on their own terms. When you attend a Christians in Science gathering, you will not find anyone there from YEC or ID, but you will find large groups of amazing scientists doing first-class work that is making a positive impact in the world. They should be heard on their own terms, and not treated with suspicion, either in church or at work. In these forums, we reflect deeply on the historical and theological questions of faith and science, and with much greater nuance than the loud voices shouting into the Church.

As things stand, most community for Christians in the life sciences has had to be found within smaller circles; and I would love to see this change. Younger Christians who are finishing education and beginning their first steps into research or industry in the life sciences should not feel forced to choose between their science and their faith by people who lack the necessary qualifications to have an opinion on the matter. Under pressure from the loud voices of YEC and ID that cannot accompany them constructively during their careers, they are being told what the science supposedly says by people who have never done any science in their lives.

Churches have learnt a great deal in recent years about accommodating their congregations’ different walks of life. Let’s bring the scientists into the mix, and celebrate their work without fear or preconception.

Samuel McKee is a researcher and associate tutor in the history and philosophy of science at Manchester Metropolitan University.