ABSTRACT
Australia is both a historical hub of Christian young earth creationism as well as a country experiencing noteworthy declines in religious self-identification. These circumstances raise important questions about how Australians today conceive of religion–science interactions. What views do religious Australians maintain about evolutionary science, and what does Australia’s ever-growing non-religious population make of science–religion interactions? Also, how do the opinions of professional scientists compare with those held by Australia’s public? To help answer such questions, this chapter examines interviews conducted with members of the general population and Australia’s scientific community in the state of Queensland. Collectively, the interviews revealed several key themes. These include the tendency for most religious participants to convey that religion and science are compatible, that evolution is a nonissue, while noting that young earth creationism is both problematic and increasingly irrelevant. Conversely, non-religious individuals, especially atheists, tend to articulate that science–religion conflict is inevitable. They also acknowledged that being both religious and a scientist is possible, while assuming it was psychologically challenging.
