Francis Collins, Science, and Religion

You were nice enough to comment on my blog. Consider this me returning the favor.

I appreciate your input in this matter. I was equally unnerved by Ken Conner's article. He makes the same mistake all men like him make. They do not understand the scientific method or the philosophy of science itself. They will quickly point out that men like Newton, Aristotle, and Plato were all devout believers in god. But their personal beliefs were utterly irrelevant. They could have easily believed in no god and that would not have changed the merits of their work. Science is indifferent to the personal beliefs of the scientist. They could be Buddhists and it wouldn't matter. Evidence matters.

Men like Collins really don't understand when they try to thrust their religious conviction into science. What they don't understand, however, is that when they do the scientific process breaks down and loses all substance. As I've argued with others, there are some things the scientific method can't help with. Art and philosophy are big ones. And when you try and thrust personal beliefs into science, it misconstrues the data and utterly misses the point.

Science is science and religion is religion. When people try to merge the two, they undermine both.