There was an interesting mix of science and religion when arguably one of the greatest achievements in modern genetics was announced for the first time on June 26, 2000- the completion of the sequencing of the human genome.
Present at the announcement at the White House was then-President Bill Clinton and Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which had spearheaded the research efforts of hundreds of scientists.
President Clinton was the first to speak and made this rather bold statement:
Today, we are learning the language in which God created life.....we are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift.
Collins then reinforced Clinton's reference to God by saying
We have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God.''
So was there really anything wrong with these remarks? I think not- they conveyed both speaker's conviction that within the science of modern genetics lay, in their opinion, the unmistakable hand of God. Of course, not everyone believed them- and some did take exception to the fact that the remarks were made at what was essentially a scientific event.
But those remarks, and many others that Dr. Collins has made on the subject, convey to the world that arguably one of the foremost geneticists of our day believes that, at the very least, the circumstantial evidence for a Creator is undeniable. If that is the case, is there really anything wrong with presenting this kind of information in a science class?
This is especially interesting given the fact that Dr. Collins was once an avowed atheist.