If (like me) you’ve been busy wringing your hands over the fact that we live under a form of government in which the majority gets to tell the minority what to do, you may have missed the news that our good friend Francis Collins, the brains behind BioLogos, is in line to be the next Director of the NIH.
Sure, his bio is a bit iffy in parts:
Collins coined the term “BioLogos” to describe the conclusions he had reached about how life (Bios) came about through God’s speaking it into being (Logos); in that sense DNA can be considered metaphorically as God’s language.
Nonetheless, I have high hopes for this appointment, as it likely means that the current (boring) NIH website will get spruced up with thought-provoking, BioLogos-y questions. For example:
- What is the proper relation between medicine and religion?
- At what point in the evolutionary process did humans attain the “Image of God”?
- If God created the NIH, what created God?
- How does the illness and disease in the world align with the idea of a loving God?
- Is there room in healthcare to believe in miracles?
- What factors should be considered in determining how to approach a passage of scripture?
And really, who better to lead the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research than a guy who started an entire foundation devoted to twisting science in ways that justify his belief in the supernatural.
I hadn’t read anything of his before and had only vaguely heard of his site, so I might be missing some key info, but
While I’d prefer my scientists not believing in the supernatural, for a theist (especially one who has an internet presence) Collins seems thoughtful, science literate and relatively harmless.
I’d agree with you, except that he used his reputation as a legitimate scientist to start a foundation that “emphasizes the compatibility of Christian faith with scientific discoveries about the origins of the universe and life.”
To me, that makes him non-harmless.
“non-harmless”, especially in a position to direct science funding…
Please, please, please, folks, understand the real point my darling dad has been making all this time: there is room for both science and faith in this life – if you embrace one, it need not exclude you from the other. That’s it. That’s all. It needed saying. So many have preached otherwise for so long.
Francis Collins is a scientist, physician, and teacher who is uniquely inspiring, warm, and funny. He is a good listener. He cares deeply about not only uncovering scientific truth but looking ahead to its impact and preparing for it. He has been the same every day of the nearly 40 years I’ve been alive to watch.
Don’t worry about this. There is so much else to worry about in our world. Take care.
Listen, no one hates your dad. We just think he is wrong.