Question: considering your study of the earth, do you have an opinion on the thought of a higher power creating existence?

Amy Heather Fitzpatrick answered on 20 Nov 2019:

Hello Allison. Scientists, like all people in all walks of life have complex lives. This means, that our life experiences and our work in logic based sciences, shape the way we think. I had a fantastic religion teacher in secondary school, who explained the practice of passive or active faith and it really made me personally question my own personal beliefs. The longer I have relied on logic to inform my choices, using science, statistical modelling, economics and qualitative surveys, I decided that faith had no impact on my life choices or morality and that I was an atheist. I value that science, inherently questions itself and is comfortable in updating itself, taking on board new evidence and adapting new technologies to answer complex questions. The theory behind the big bang, may be questioned, changed or updated in the future, but for now it is our best option in explaining the creation of the earth, using the tools we have available today. When we have sought answers to explain anything from water on earth to the diversity of ecosystems, science has always provided a base to explore from and develop and flesh out those theories, whereas in my view religion tells people what to believe, rather than inviting them to question.