Do programmers find it hard to be Christians?

When I was growing up, I loved science - biology, geology, physics, meteorology all fascinated me. But my teachers told me the same thing again and again, "It is impossible to be a scientist and a Christian. So, if you choose to become a scientist, be ready to throw away your faith forever." As a middle schooler, that scared me and made me reconsider my future career. But as I grew in knowledge of science and of my faith, I quickly learned the battle between science and religion was largely a myth. Most scientists have a faith, and most of the faithful respect and study science.

So, I was unhappy to see this same old idea recast in a new light, which claims programmers and Christians are incompatible. Most of you know I work in the Information Technology field, and have been a programmer at various points in my life/career. I have never found my faith to conflict with my job/hobby... and neither have almost any of the programmers I work with. And my particular company hires from all over, so I know programmers who are Catholic, Protestant, Coptic, Muslim, Jain, Hindu, Buddhist, and Orthodox.

This persistent idea that Christianity and logic are somehow in fundamental disagreement needs to be taken down. Some of the greatest thinkers of history (Thomas Aquinas, C.S. Lewis, Isaac Newton, etc.) were Christians, and none could be said to be enemies of logic or science, and none would be enemies of programming if they lived today.

Programmer Jokes

I am technically a Systems Analyst, but I work with programmers and consider myself to be somewhat of one (if only as a hobby at home). So I found this thread of programmer jokes to be hilarious. Warning, there are some off-color jokes at the link, so the faint-of-heart may wish to abstain.

A physicist, an engineer and a programmer were in a car driving over a steep alpine pass when the brakes failed. The car was getting faster and faster, they were struggling to get round the corners and once or twice only the feeble crash barrier saved them from crashing down the side of the mountain. They were sure they were all going to die, when suddenly they spotted an escape lane. They pulled into the escape lane, and came safely to a halt.

The physicist said "We need to model the friction in the brake pads and the resultant temperature rise, see if we can work out why they failed".

The engineer said "I think I've got a few spanners in the back. I'll take a look and see if I can work out what's wrong".

The programmer said "Why don't we get going again and see if it's reproducible?"

Programming and Drinking

Never saw proof of it, but a college friend of mine used to claim he actually programmed better drunk. Comic from xkcd.com

I see at work every day