Atheist scientists claim to be spiritual.

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More than 20% of atheist scientists are spiritual, maintains research from Rice University, Houston, Texas. Though the general public marries spirituality and religion, the study found that spirituality is a separate idea--one that more closely aligns with scientific discovery--for "spiritual atheist" scientists.

"Our results show that scientists hold religion and spirituality as being qualitatively different kinds of constructs," comments Elaine Ecklund, assistant professor of sociology and lead author of the study. "These spiritual atheist scientists are seeking a core sense of truth through spirituality--one that is generated by, and is consistent with, the work they do as scientists."

For instance, they see science and spirituality as "meaning-making without faith" and as an individual quest for meaning that never can be final. According to file research, they find spirituality congruent with science and separate from religion because of that quest. Where spirituality is open to a scientific journey, religion requires buying into an absolute "absence of empirical evidence."

Ecklund adds: "There's spirituality among even the most secular scientists. Spirituality pervades both religious and atheist thought. It's not an...