Science vs. religion? There's actually more of a three-way split

Meet the "Post-Seculars" -- the one in five Americans who seem to have gone unnoticed before in endless rounds of debates pitting science vs. religion.

They're more strongly religious than most "Traditionals" (43 percent of Americans) and more scientifically knowledgeable than "Moderns" (36 percent) who stand on science alone, according to two sociologists' findings in a new study.

"We were surprised to find this pretty big group (21 percent) who are pretty knowledgeable and appreciative about science and technology but who are also very religious and who reject certain scientific theories," said Timothy O'Brien, co-author of the research study, released Thursdayin the American Sociological Review.

Put another way, there's a sizable chunk of Americans out there who are both religious and scientifically minded but who break with both packswhen faith and science collide.

Post-Seculars pick and choose among science and religion views to create their own "personally compelling way of understanding the world," said O'Brien, assistant professor at the University of Evansville in Indiana.

O'Brien and co-author Shiri Noy, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wyoming, examined responses from 2,901 people to 18 questions on knowledge of and attitudes toward science and four religion-related questions in the General Social Surveys conducted in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Many findings fit the usual way the science-religion divide is viewed:

However, the data turned up a third perspective-- people who defied the familiar breakdown. The authors dubbed them "Post-Secular" to jump past a popular theory that Americans are moving away from religion to become more secular, O'Brien said.

Post-Seculars -- about half of whom identify as conservative Protestants -- know facts such as how lasers work, what antibiotics do and the way genetics affects inherited illnesses.

But when it comes to three main areas where science and Christian-centric religious views conflict -- on human evolution, the Big Bang origin of the universe and the age of the Earth -- Post-Seculars break away from the pack with significantly different views from Traditionals and Moderns.

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Science vs. religion? There's actually more of a three-way split