Did Coyne Oppose Collins as NIH Director?

I’m sorry but you are making it up. I never opposed Collins being director of the NIH. I said I opposed his actions using his position as head government scientist to proselytize for theology and Christianity and to make statements about fine-tuning and the like. And I believe I said several times that I didn’t think he should be removed as director, and that he was a good scientist.

I have criticized the man strongly for mixing faith and science but have never called for his resignation; in fact, I have said the contrary. You can see the posts I’ve made about Collins here:

https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/?s=francis+collins&searchsubmit=Find+»

and see this one, in particular

Re this: “Coyne said that no one who could believe a man rose from the dead should be the head of a publicly funded scientific organization. (I paraphrase.)”

Instead of "paraphrasing’ (i.e., making up what you think I said), why don’t you find an explicit statement that supports your claim that I said he shouldn’t be NIH director because he believes in the Resurrection. If you can’t find that, I expect an apology.

I have also praised Collins when he took stands that I approved of:

I do think that he’s a smart guy but when he spouts theology and accepts unevidenced tenets of religion, I think he’s deluded. Get that? Not dumb, but deluded.

10 Likes