I’m describing the action of cowardly TE scientists, not my own approach. I would shout to the rooftops if my view was that God intervened in evolution, and if secular scientists told me I was a scientific incompetent for believing that, I would tell them to go climb their thumbs.
I think I’m describing the TEs’ behavior correctly, and I’ve been interacting closely with the TE leaders for many years.
You’re saying the TE leaders should never have feared the reproach of the secular scientists. Well, tell that to Francis Collins, whose appointment to the NIH was originally opposed, or loudly groused about, by Jerry Coyne. 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.) So the attitude that Christian scientists are smart when they do good science, but dumb when they affirm miracles, is out there, whether you care to admit it or not.
I never said they weren’t “tolerant” in the civil, political sense of allowing or permitting religious belief among their colleagues. But many of them think that other scientists who hold those religious beliefs are brain-dead – with respect to those religious beliefs, that is. That is, they privately think and say things like, “Gee, that Francis Collins is a good geneticist; too bad he believes all that unscientific rubbish about Jesus rising from the dead.” I have met scientists who talk and think this way. Are you denying that any such scientists exist? If not, just say, “Yes, there are lots of such scientists around,” and we can be done with this trivial discussion.
The bigger issue, the elephant in the room, is that Genealogical Adam, whatever its merits, puts a finger in only one hole of the dike. There are lots of other holes to be plugged. I grant entirely that you can produce some atheist scientists who will not openly challenge Genealogical Adam, because it stays away from denying genetic science. But what if somewhere else on the science/theology front, a challenge arises that isn’t amenable to such a peacekeeping approach? What if there is an area where science and theology can’t agree to walk peacefully on the other side of the road from each other? In such areas, the “tolerance” model is useless. In such areas, the truth has to be determined, and one side will end up wrong, the other right. I predict that if and when such things come up, the atheist friends who are now giving Christians no trouble over Genealogical Adam will give Christians trouble – will ask them to abandon or modify particular Christian doctrines in order to agree with scientific conclusions, and will mock them and declare them ignoramuses if they don’t comply. You have found one fortunate area where the disagreement is neutralized, but that may not always be the case; in fact, it is likely that it won’t often be the case.
I’m not advocating abandoning Genealogical Adam. I’m merely saying I think you are far too sanguine about what the lack of overt opposition to the idea means. I’m glad atheists aren’t tearing it apart. I don’t trust them to act in the same way in all cases in the future.