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Francis Collins Interview
Francis Collins was interviewed on the Point of Inquiry podcast. Point of Inquiry is part of the Center for Inquiry, a secular humanist organization. Dr. Collins is a bit of a departure from the usual line up, so I was glad to listen to his perspective and enjoyed some of his comments. But I think he does himself a disservice with some of his arguments.
For example, Collins says that if our moral sense of right and wrong is a product of evolutionary development rather than instilled by God,...why do the atheists insist that we should get over religion and try to be good to each other? Who cares about being good? If they're right, we should all shrug off the whole idea and be just as darned selfish as we possibly can, because there is no driving force behind this. We've all been hoodwinked by evolution into thinking we're supposed to be good, and we should rebel against that. [my transcription; ~min 18]
That looks like a non sequitur to me. How does that make any sense? Why should we necessarily rebel against something established by evolution? And who would want to live in a world where everyone was as selfish as they could be? Answer: nobody (except maybe a few sociopaths). You don't need God in order to realize that total anarchy and a world full of jerks would result in a serious decline in quality of life.
Collins may be expressing fear that some would justify their behavior with that argument. I can't say that such a fear is unjustified, but if someone decides that they are an atheist, I would hope that they have other good reasons not to do violence to me, my family, and my property, and that Collins would not take those reasons away. On the other hand, perhaps this is just Collins trying to score rhetorical points. But Point of Inquiry is not the local church group. It is an organization of people who pride themselves on critical investigation. Such rhetoric only serves to undermine his position, in my opinion.
I don't mean to be excessively negative. I applaud Dr. Collins for being willing to stick his neck out.
8 comments:
This from someone who wrote a book about science and faith in God?
Gary, Collins is defending the link between God and morality by criticizing the view (from evolutionary psychology) tracing some moral feelings to evolutionary development. Seems like you would be applauding his position.
Thanks for the link, Jared*.
I don't know what Collins thinks about God or what his motivation was in making the statement quoted by Jared. But I do think that Jared's objection is well taken. If evolution has endowed you with a characteristic shared by billions of others, it is likely that the characteristic is beneficial. Why would you then kick it away as Collins suggests?
I think Collins Point is that morality without God can be easily justified away in moments of expedience and that atheism does not provide a good reason for "getting over religion".
Matt W.
Perhaps my set up was not clear, but it looks like the trouble has been sorted out.
Francis Collins headed the government's human genome project effort. He is a scientist and physician, and he is also an evangelical Christian. His book is "The Language of God."
It seems a case of two sides mistrusting the motives of the other. The athiest mistrusts morals based on fear (of God), while the religious see Godless morals as without direction, or anchor.
I believe true morals come from a love of your fellow man, and a desire to live in a society that cares for the well being of its individuals.
I don't think God is required for, nor impeeds such a motivation.
the best explanation to where we get our morals from (IMO) is found here: http://markii.wordpress.com/2007/05/17/can-we-live-by-reason-alone-debate-with-richard-dawkins/
...once again you surprise me, though: you listen to POI too (in addition to the SGU)??!!
Markii,
I thought that might surprise you. And I think Dawkins makes some good points.
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