by behemot 21 Replies latest jw friends
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-collins9-2009jul09,0,7642590.story
Read a debate between Collins and Richard Dawkins on Time Nov 5, 2006 (God vs Science):
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1555132,00.html
and Sam Harris review of Collins' book The Language of God:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060815_sam_harris_language_ignorance/
Behe
Dr. Francis Collins is an excellent choice for the NIH post for many reasons. Not only is he a celebrated scientist of the first rank that led the team that first sequenced the human genome, but he "gets" how all the diverse pieces of cutting edge medical research need to be brought together from diagnostics to therapeutics to create a revolution in medicine targeted to the unique genomic and proteomic fingerprint that each individual human being has. Nanotechnology enabled personalized medicine is the future. Dr. Collins is also an excellent communicator. When it comes to other areas of medical research, such as stem cells, he speaks the language that Christians in the US understand. He can be very helpful in reaching out to that segment of the population with luddite tendencies that does not trust what it does not understand. He could be very helpful in explaining and popularizing science.
BTS
Collins' website attempts to cure people of the notion that the UNIVERSE is less than 10,000 years old.
Collins' website attempts to cure people of the notion that the UNIVERSE is less than 10,000 years old
I know that the WTS states man is about 6000 years old (was supposed to have been in 1975, so I guess 6034 years old), how old do they claim the earth to be?
The Collins website is great!!!
I know that the WTS states man is about 6000 years old (was supposed to have been in 1975, so I guess 6034 years old), how old do they claim the earth to be?
WT is no longer a Young Earth group.
They accept the science that shows the age of the planet. They do not look to Scripture for the age of the planet.
Heh, Rebel
Dawkins, he is a great writer and explainer, but what scientific breakthroughs can we credit to him? Did anyone read the interview linked at the first post? He sounds so petty and narrow minded compared with Dr. Collins. What about Sam Harris? A polemicist. Maher? A joker (and a poor one in my opinion). Francis Collins? Different story. These others are like little chihuahas nipping at his heels. Here is a great mind that understands that science and belief in God do not contradict. Someone that has done great science and moved the boundaries of human knowledge out much further. The debate is an artificial conflict cooked up by the fundamentalists on both extremes. Dr. Collins is the kind of believer I like to think of myself as being, if I can aspire.
People like Collins drive the militant "new atheists" crazy. They just can't get it.
Religious belief. It's the new gay.
BTS
Nothing Dawkins says or does has any affect on Collins' accomplishments or job performance.
Collins is not the scariest kind of believer IMHO, but I am keeping an eye on what he does. American Xians have a very recent history of stopping ethical research because it conflicted with their beliefs and misunderstanding of science. These actions not only affected me personally, but may result in preventable premature deaths--mine and others'.
Time will tell if he will avoid letting his beliefs interfere with his job. It is certainly possible he'll avoid doing so.
Collins is now one of the most powerful scientists in the world. He is being paid by our tax dollars and is in charge of deciding how an enormous amount of our money is spent. A little discussion about him as a person is appropriate.
Religious belief. It's the new gay.
Dude.
Dude?
