Obama Names an Evangelical to Lead the NIH

Hey!

I resent the stereotyping of Kentucky Christians there AgentX! I agree with what you're saying, but I resent the stereotyping.

Nothing wrong

As an atheist myself I don't see a big problem with this choice.

Mr. Collins believes in God but follows scientific principles and worked on an extremely difficult project called HGE.

You can be a good scientist and still believe in God. He's not one of the Kentucky/Alaska/Texas cult-LEFT BEHIND reading-fascists that voted for Bush/McBush. So his appointment will go thru without a hitch. Obama made a good pick.

No war, Andy...

It is sad that many feel that a person who has faith in God are illogical and stupid, especially when it comes to science. Yes, the Catholic church did believe the geocentric theory was correct when many others knew that such was not the case. However, this was a sad case of pride and not stupidity. Are atheists going to say that they never let such pride get in their way while making "scientific" discoveries?

Unlike many other past and maybe a few present religions, Christianity does not claim the sun is a personable being or a god riding a shining disc or a chariot (both of which modern science has disproved). Christians just say that God created the known universe and made it run according to certain rules we call the laws of nature (modern science can and has not disproved this).

Some might claim that the Bible promotes the geocentric theory because of stories where the sun either stands still or goes backward for a few moments and then returns to its original course. Of course, now we know that the geocentric theory is quite false. Yet, to a person living in the ancient world (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Israelite, Babylonian, etc.) the sun did appear to move around the earth and they did not find any real convincing proofs at the time to believe otherwise. Other than this, the Bible (while not a sciencebook) does not discredit science in anyway. One just needs to remember the obvious limitations the ancient Hebrews had when it came to science.

RE: Why would there be anything wrong?

>>>Are ultra-libs to be afraid that such a person would be a threat to abortion? Are conservatives going to give us a "yes, but" and knock this guy for somehow not being as conservative as they'd like?

That's exactly how it's going to turn out. Our conptemporary political discourse is so polarized today that activists from the extreme left and right would veto an otherwise well-qualified and credentialed political appointee just because s/he does not share their political views. Just look at the discourses on all Obama's recent nominees from Sotomayor to Miguel Diaz to Alexia Kelley.It's sad, but this is how the state of affairs are after three-decades plus of "politics of personal destruction and character assassination."

RE: Why would there be anything wrong?

>>>Are ultra-libs to be afraid that such a person would be a threat to abortion? Are conservatives going to give us a "yes, but" and knock this guy for somehow not being as conservative as they'd like?

That's exactly how it's going to turn out. Our conptemporary political discourse is so polarized today that activists from the extreme left and right would veto an otherwise well-qualified and credentialed political appointee just because s/he does not share their political views. Just look at the discourses on all Obama's recent nominees from Sotomayor to Miguel Diaz to Alexia Kelley.It's sad, but this is how the state of affairs are after three-decades plus of "politics of personal destruction and character assassination."

Another in the war on science and logic

Just great, now we have another zealot who will only allow science that supports the insane rantings of a 2000 year old book?

Why would there be anything wrong

(or surprising) about Obama picking an evangelical who accepts science for a HEALTH leadership post? Seems perfectly sensible to me.

Are ultra-libs to be afraid that such a person would be a threat to abortion? Are conservatives going to give us a "yes, but" and knock this guy for somehow not being as conservative as they'd like?