Francis Collins has been selected to be the head of NIH, where he will have substantial authority to allocate the nation’s scientific research funding. There are a few criticisms of Mr. Collins being made regarding his religion.
For this list, I wanted to set aside a specific criticism. Specifically, let’s ignore criticisms based on Mr. Collins using his government position to promote religion. (For example, if Mr. Collins were to give a speech, as head of the Human Genome Project, claiming that DNA is evidence for God.) Instead, I wanted to get the list’s opinion on a different criticism. This criticism goes like this: (1) science is a product of another, deeper, more important feature – skeptical thinking; (2) Mr. Collins does not practice skeptical thinking; (3) in fact, Mr. Collins has made many statements undermining and contradicting skeptical thinking. Therefore, the criticism goes, Mr. Collins should not be the head of NIH because he undermines what science is all about. To get a flavor of the criticism, you can read this piece<http://www.reasonproject.org/archive/item/the_strange_case_of_francis_collins2/>by Sam Harris. It is an elaboration of a NY Times editorial Mr. Harris recently authored. In response, biologist Kenneth Miller wrote in the NY Times that Mr. Harris has “deeply held prejudices against religion” and opposes Mr. Collins merely because “he is a Christian.” What does the list think? Should it be acceptable for an employer to discriminate against a job candidate on the grounds that the candidate believes, practices, and advocates for ideas that are antithetical to the values underlying the job? (Again, assuming that the candidate would not otherwise abuse the post and would generally do a fine administrative job.) Thanks, Anthony DeCinque
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