So, do you believe in God?

Yes, I had a student ask me this very pointed question during a blood vessel lab. My reply to him was that I do not discuss religion or politics with strangers or students. But the more I tried to defend my "no-comment" policy, the more he became convinced of my atheistic bent. I guess silence really is acquiescence for some people. The thing that amused me most, though, was that he had decided that a scientist who believes in God MUST be an Intelligent Design disciple. I think my face must have made an "you can't be serious" kind of expression because he laughed. (Sometimes my visceral reactions precede my conscious thought...I have no control.) After that, I felt that I had to explain that among my group of scientist friends and colleagues are some agnostics, some atheists, a couple of Mormons, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and "other". I don't know a single scientist who subscribes to the ideals of ID (although I could have referred him to a certain department at a certain local institution not to be mentioned by name here). At my visceral reaction to his over-confident assumption, and declaring that ID is bad religion and bad science, he said, "oh, so you ARE an atheist." Some people just don't listen.