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AR 26:48 - The disputed legacy of Francis Collins
In this issue:
COLLINS, FRANCIS - a mixed legacy as he leaves the NIH
FREEDOM - from the Chinese Cultural Revolution to helping survivors of human trafficking and substance abuse
WOKEISM - "pronoun wars reach into the world of God-talk"
Apologia Report 26:48 (1,553)
December 16, 2021
PLEASE NOTE: This is our last issue of AR for 2021. We plan to resume publication the week of January 2.
Please pray with us for a renewed awareness of sin worldwide followed by a cascading wave of repentance everywhere that in turn leads to a glorious renewed great awakening of faith in Christ, beginning 2022 with a miraculous transformation of Light and Life.
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COLLINS, FRANCIS
"Present, But How Faithfully? Francis Collins, Evangelicals, and Elite Institutions" by Nate Fischer (American Reformer, Oct 7 '21) -- "On [October 5th], Francis Collins <www.bit.ly/3oq55ny> announced he is resigning from the National Institutes of Health. Collins has long been celebrated by evangelical influencers, and upon his departure those praising him included Russell Moore, Tim Keller, and David French. [Collins] succeeded not just at an elite level, but in the scientific world, a domain where Christians have a particularly hard time gaining respect.
"Yet Collins’s record over his 12 years atop the NIH shows serious and repeated moral compromises. ...
"Collins’s most troubling action was his explicit defence in 2018 of research using fetal tissue from aborted babies, and the NIH’s 2021 resumption of such research under his leadership after a 2019 moratorium. This August, documents were released revealing that under his watch the NIH had given at least $2.7 million to researchers who sought out aborted babies (with a high quota of minorities) to harvest their organs. ...
"Collins’s actions on this issue reflect a direct betrayal on the one issue Christians in these elite circles can point to where they retain a distinctively Christian ethical position.
"Given Collins’s compromise on abortion, it’s unsurprising he also followed secular trends on sexuality. Here he did not just preside over institutional actions, but personally embraced the language of the sexual left." <www.bit.ly/3DjCCUX>
Also see "The Tragedy of Francis Collins’s Model for Science-Faith Integration" by John G. West, vice president of the Discovery Institute, at <www.bit.ly/3s99rlm> and "What Francis Collins Changed for Christians in Science" in the "Quick to Listen" podcast at Christianity Today <www.bit.ly/3oWzhXK> (Oct 9 '21), which reproduces a section from a 2010 profile on the scientist published by The New Yorker: "Collins read in the [New York] Times that many of his colleagues in the scientific community believed that he suffered from 'dementia.' Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard, questioned the appointment on the ground that Collins was 'an advocate of profoundly anti-scientific beliefs.' P.Z. Myers, a biologist at the University of Minnesota at Morris, complained, 'I don’t want American science to be represented by a clown.'" <www.bit.ly/3ILVBvj>
POSTSCRIPT, Jun 29 '22: "Watchdog President Uncovers $350 Million in Secret Payments to Fauci, Collins, Others at NIH" <www.bit.ly/3OQaYov>
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FREEDOM
"I grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China. Both of my parents were Communists. I was taught that there is no God and all religions are just superstitions. Communism is scientific and therefore is true. I was expected to become a Communist official just like my parents." So begins "Free at Last" by Pingnan Shi.
"When I was five, my dad was imprisoned during the big purge after Mao overthrew the central government in a coup. ...
"My family was kicked out of our nice apartment and exiled to a mud house near the countryside. My mom was forced to work in a factory cafeteria. ...
"The Chinese Communist Party indoctrinated us into thinking that our purpose was to make Communism a reality in China and spread it all over the world. The loudspeaker near our apartment complex would end each day with The Internationale: "Do not say that we have nothing; we shall be the masters of the world."
"Mao died in 1976. A couple of years later, universities were reopened after having been closed during the ten years of the Cultural Revolution. ... I started college in 1978 and had access to many books and magazines. As a result, I lost faith in Communism.
"I found out that almost everything I had been taught was not true. ... People outside of China didn't need us to liberate them. It was we who needed liberation. ...
"After I graduated from college, I won a scholarship to do graduate studies in Canada. ...
"Like other Chinese students, I firmly believed in science. But when I started my Ph.D. studies in 1987, I saw its underbelly. ...
"To my surprise, I learned that many great scientists from the past were Christians who believed God created the world. Galileo Galilei once said, 'Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.' Isaac Newton claimed, 'This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.' ...
"In April 1989, students in Beijing occupied Tiananmen Square and demanded democracy and freedom of the press. The movement grew rapidly, and soon many students in other cities joined the protest. ...
"Angered by the government's totalitarian measures and encouraged by the bravery of Beijing citizens and students, many students studying in Europe and North America also started protests on their campuses to support the students in the square. ...
"I was blacklisted for my involvement in the protests. Fortunately, the Canadian government allowed all Chinese scholars and students who were in Canada to stay and become permanent residents. The United States and some Western European countries did the same.
"I participated in the democracy movement after the June 4 massacre. But I was soon disillusioned after witnessing fights between and within different groups. I realized that democracy won't work for China unless the Chinese people believe that their rights are given by God and they have the moral courage to defend them. ...
"I was still not interested in religion, but my wife was invited to a Bible study on campus. ...
"Two Chinese students at Regent College led the study: one had a Ph.D. in chemistry and the other in theoretical physics. ...
"One day, one of the two students was preaching. One of his arguments caught my attention. ... I had been looking for proof of God's existence. Now I realized that my atheistic belief was also lacking concrete proof. ...
"By that time, my wife had accepted Jesus. I'd seen the change in her. ...
"In late September 1995, I came to Indiana to work as an engineer. My faith was very shaky. ...
"In late December, my wife and I were attending a retreat. When the speaker invited us to commit our lives to God, I stood up, took her hand, and went to the altar. ...
"[I]n 2008, I felt the calling to become a high-school math teacher. ...
"One of the pastors asked about my plan. He told me to apply to a Christian private school. I emailed the headmaster and got a response the next day for an interview. A couple of days later, I was hired. ...
"In January 2019, I took another leap of faith and volunteered ... to provide high-school equivalency and job readiness classes to survivors of human trafficking and substance abuse. I consider myself blessed that I am still serving them today." Salvo (58 - 2021). <www.bit.ly/3I0Sdw2>
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WOKEISM
Whaddaya get when you combine the complexities of worldview comparison with gender dysphoria? Answer: A new level of religious consternation that bedevils the work of "every stylebook and copy editor in the American media."
Begin with the "older campaign [to] shun male pronouns [and add] plural ... usage with singular antecedents." Result: You get something "grammatically incorrect [and] confusing for readers."
But we're only half-way there. Here comes the recent effort "to suppress gender-specific adjectives [while introducing] newly crafted pronouns." What could go wrong?
In "Keeping up: Ongoing 'woke' pronoun wars reach into the world of God-talk" (GetReligion, Oct 5 '21), veteran religion beat journo Richard Ostling gleefully explains: "So, for example, with 'xe' the variants to parallel she-her-hers-herself are xem-xyr-xyrs-xemself." Any questions?
"Religion News Service ran a column last week <www.bit.ly/3oeXecD> from one of its regulars, Mark Silk, headlined 'Why our preferred pronoun for God should be "they".' He thinks calling God 'they,' not 'he,' and similar verbal tactics have become 'imperative.' ...
"Theologians would agree with Silk's starting point, that although male singular personal pronouns are used in English to refer to the God worshipped by Jews, Christians and Muslims, 'God is not gendered' according to the teaching of all three faiths.
"How might we get around this? 'It' instead of 'he' doesn't work because God is personal. Silk acknowledges that speaking of God by his preferred plural 'they' instead of 'he' could seem to 'undermine monotheism,' the belief in the one and only God that is at the heart of all three of these world religions.
"A problem? 'No,' Silk insists, because in the Hebrew Bible the plural form Elohim refers to Israel's God and collectively to other gods. He says experts can ponder whether this 'signifies an embedded polytheism in ancient Judaism.'"
Sure. Here's to praying that the sing-along, "We've only just begun....," doesn't apply a year from now. <www.bit.ly/3EkwPjh>
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