4 ms·

Dr. Francis Collins, director of Human Genome Project under President Bill Clinton and director of NIH under Presidents Barak Obama and Joe Biden, wrote a book

Dr. Francis Collins, director of Human Genome Project under President Bill Clinton and director of NIH under Presidents Barak Obama and Joe Biden, wrote a book in which he argues that the Theory of Evolution and Religion do not contradict each other [1]. [1] Francis S. Collins "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief", 2006

browningstreet 4y ago
My best friend since college once sent me the book "Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing". Lots of positive reviews on Amaz*. I remember getting sent an essay, too, that argued that most eminent scientists gravitated towards a belief in g8d later in life.
- renewiltord 4y ago
  Few eminent scientists produce great science at that point. It is no surprise that minds deteriorating with age reach absurd conclusions. The question before us is, of course, whether it is mental deterioration or accumulative wisdom. After all, many eminent scientists also claim to not know their children in the last few moments of their life. Were they suddenly privy to some grand truth or were their minds breaking?
  - throwoutway 4y ago
    Don’t resort to ad hominem attacks
    - renewiltord 4y ago
      What a complete non sequitur.
Pietertje 4y ago
Richard Dawkins, enter even more impressive credentials here, also wrote a book "The God Delusion" in which he - as part of the overal story that there is no god - spends some pages completely debunking the claim of Collins.
pknomad 4y ago
IIRC from my evolutionary biology seminar back from 2012, I believe this is mostly true for most? Christian groups and they support evolution and teach religion along side it. https://www.uua.org/worship/words/sermon/179417.shtml https://www.uua.org/worship/words/sermon/179417.shtml https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-the-united-methodist-position-on-evolution https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-the-unite... Like politics, it's the highly vocal christian groups that eschews evolution for creationism that make it an issue in the first place. I am an atheist who went to a methodist university (but might as well be secular at this point) and I personally don't see conflicts between evolution and religion.
danaris 4y ago
I'm no longer religious, but my parents—both PhDs—are. Their take on this has always been along the lines of "The Bible says God created the world, and all the creatures in it. Evolution is the tool He used in that creation process." So long as you're not dogmatic and don't insist on treating the Bible—particularly any one particular edition—as absolute, ironclad Truth, religion and science are absolutely not incompatible. Many of the professors—both sciences and humanities—at the college they both work at also go to their church (American Episcopal, fwiw).

browningstreet 4y ago

My best friend since college once sent me the book "Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing". Lots of positive reviews on Amaz*. I remember getting sent an essay, too, that argued that most eminent scientists gravitated towards a belief in g8d later in life.

renewiltord 4y ago
Few eminent scientists produce great science at that point. It is no surprise that minds deteriorating with age reach absurd conclusions. The question before us is, of course, whether it is mental deterioration or accumulative wisdom. After all, many eminent scientists also claim to not know their children in the last few moments of their life. Were they suddenly privy to some grand truth or were their minds breaking?
- throwoutway 4y ago
  Don’t resort to ad hominem attacks
  - renewiltord 4y ago
    What a complete non sequitur.

Pietertje 4y ago

Richard Dawkins, enter even more impressive credentials here, also wrote a book "The God Delusion" in which he - as part of the overal story that there is no god - spends some pages completely debunking the claim of Collins.

pknomad 4y ago

IIRC from my evolutionary biology seminar back from 2012, I believe this is mostly true for most? Christian groups and they support evolution and teach religion along side it. https://www.uua.org/worship/words/sermon/179417.shtml https://www.uua.org/worship/words/sermon/179417.shtml https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-the-united-methodist-position-on-evolution https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-the-unite... Like politics, it's the highly vocal christian groups that eschews evolution for creationism that make it an issue in the first place. I am an atheist who went to a methodist university (but might as well be secular at this point) and I personally don't see conflicts between evolution and religion.

danaris 4y ago

I'm no longer religious, but my parents—both PhDs—are. Their take on this has always been along the lines of "The Bible says God created the world, and all the creatures in it. Evolution is the tool He used in that creation process." So long as you're not dogmatic and don't insist on treating the Bible—particularly any one particular edition—as absolute, ironclad Truth, religion and science are absolutely not incompatible. Many of the professors—both sciences and humanities—at the college they both work at also go to their church (American Episcopal, fwiw).