I Hate to Say I Told You So....

On July 10, I posted an article about the nomination by President Obama of Dr. Francis Collins to be the Director of the National Institutes of Health, an article in which I praised the pick on the grounds that Dr. Collins is both an accomplished scientist and a committed Christian.

In that post I said,

I suppose that there are secularist scientists, by which I mean scientists who believe that science has eliminated the possibility of God and who are sometimes downright evangelistic about converting others to their worldview, who are displeased, troubled, and even frightened by the nomination of Collins because they think that he might let his religious beliefs get in the way of good science.

Well, on July 27 the New York Times published an editorial entitled "Science Is in the Details" by Sam Harris, the best-selling author and candidate for a doctorate in neuroscience who is an outspoken advocate of what some have termed the "New Atheism."

In that editorial, Harris said, "It can be difficult to think like a scientist. But few things make thinking like a scientist more difficult than religion."

So, like I said, I hate to say I told you so, but....

For an excellent response to Harris' editorial, read this article by philosopher Eric Reitan.