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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NPR’s Up First podcast for today interviews Dr. Collins, who you may have heard talking about COVID, about his journey from atheism up science.

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510318/up-first[/quote]

It’s a really interesting podcast. Dr. Collins is a geneticist, he runs NIH, and he ran the Human Genome Project. Obama appointed him and then Trump and Biden reappointed him. He’s also an evangelical, but he’s a strong supporter of COVID vaccines and he talks a bit about how some evangelicals became skeptical, and some of the inconsistencies in their thinking he wants to help them understand. He talks about his conversion (spoiler: it involves patients and C.S. Lewis). [/quote]

Spoiler - he was hiking when he saw a waterfall in three sections and thought it represented the trinity.  (PS "trinity" is not mentioned in the bible.)

At any rate, he supports vaccines because he is a scientist.  There is nothing about evangelical Christianity that is against vaccines, it's just that some stupid evangelicals are against them. Not all evangelicals are stupid, with Dr Collins as an example.[/quote]

He thinks the processes of evolution (which he believes in) are too amazing to be completely random—and he’s a top geneticist. That’s a little more relevant than what he thinks about doctrinal issues like the trinity, souls or heaven (which are also covered in the podcast).[/quote]

PS. With his scientific credentials, you can’t paint this guy as a flake.[/quote]

PS, no one mentioned the word "flake" until you did.  Collins is not a flake, just as many people who believe in God are not flakes.   He is a rare scientist who talks about his belief in God.

I hope that you're not suggesting that because he believes in God that people should take the concept of religion more seriously.    A lot of scientists - and other respectable and educated non-scientists, do not believe in god - and their non-belief has nothing to do with the likelihood of God existing or of the individuals being especially skilled in their professional pursuits.[/quote]

Collins gives a scientific reason: that DNA is so miraculous he doesn’t believe the process is completely random. But by all means, keep talking about waterfalls.

Seperately, in the podcast, Collins points out that a third of scientists tell pollsters they believe in God. [/quote]

Again this is is the Argument from Incredulity fallacy combined with the Argument from Authority fallacy.

Both arguments totally devoid of any of the type of evidence Dr. Collins requires for his science work.[/quote]

You keep calling these fallacies, but they may not be. In the case of DNA, we just don’t know. So you could be the one committing the fallacy by concluding a creator is NOT involved. [/quote]

[b]Collins doesn't know how DNA works[/b], and according to what you way, because he's religious, he thinks perhaps God is involved.  If successful scientific experiments are done, perhaps scientists will know someday.  Til then, religious people, like Collins can believe whatever they want.  There are no limitations on what people can believe without requiring proof.[/quote]

Colins ran the Human Genome Project, which sequenced human DNA. [/quote]

Yes, and he himself says there are still mysteries in science. He thinks (according to what is said above) that God may be involved in evolution, but it sounds like any other thing in science -  it's a mystery until it's figured out.

Remember the lightning rod that Ben Franklin invented?  https://www.fi.edu/history-resources/franklins-lightning-rod .  Before that, people thought lightning came from God.[/quote]

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