"The Language of God" (surprisingly I like this book!)

Book cover for "The Language of God"

I recently read The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins (published in 2006) and surprisingly, I really liked it! This is a really good book! It gives Collins's perspective, as a scientist and Christian, and it's just very reasonable. It doesn't come across as "let's fight those atheists" or fearful of science. It's about his own reasons for leaving behind atheism and converting to Christianity, and it's about how evolution is just true and Christians should accept that, and creationism and intelligent design just ain't it, and how science and faith are compatible. 

---

Francis Collins

Collins was the director of the Human Genome Project. This was a team that sequenced the entire human genome, billions of DNA base pairs, which is pretty amazing. (The title, "The Language of God" refers to the idea that the DNA base pairs are the "language" that God used to create life.)

I've seen Christians make a big deal about how Collins is a Christian. The argument goes, see, Francis Collins is a Christian, and he's a famous scientist! So, our beliefs *are* legit and compatible with science! The assumption is that Collins holds all the same beliefs that the Christians who claim him as a symbol do. Turns out, this assumption is very wrong! All throughout this book, Collins comes across as thoughtful and reasonable, rather than holding on to dogmatic beliefs that we can't question and we just have to keep saying louder.

Case in point: evolution. A big chunk of this book is about how evolution is true and Christians should accept that. Collins discusses creationism, and talks about why it's wrong. He discusses intelligent design, and why it's wrong. And then he talks about theistic evolution, which is the position he holds.

I was totally surprised. I really had no idea what this book was about; I had no idea that Collins accepts evolution and I had no idea that he was openly advocating for Christians to accept evolution. Really, no idea. All those times that I've heard Christians say "look, Francis Collins" as if that proves that their beliefs are reasonable- wow, I really had no idea that he was out here telling Christians to accept evolution. In the Christian subculture I grew up in, we all knew that of course Christians do not believe in evolution.

Blogaround

Links not related to the antichrist:

1. A few fun songs I recently shared with my little toddler:

Friend Like Me Song (from Aladdin) (Official Video) [High Quality] - Disney Songbooks - From the 1992 "Aladdin" movie

Sesame Street: Patti Labelle Sings The Alphabet (2009) Gospel cover of the ABC song.

2. China Bans Retractable EV Door Handles Over Safety Concerns (December 26, 2025)

3. Why these women break the law to sell their eggs for IVF (January 29) "'You've told yourself you've done something, but actually you've only made it worse,' she says, referring to the legislators who formulated this law. 'You've created a black market, which means the people participating in it have no protections — they have no bargaining power. If something goes wrong, they're already doing something criminal, something illegal. So who are they going to turn to for help?'"

---

Links related to the antichrist:

1. Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong (January 26, via) "No application of armed violence can make the men with guns as heroic as the people who choose to stand in their path with empty hands in defense of their neighbors. These agents, and the president who sent them, are no one’s heroes, no one’s saviors—just men with guns who have to hide their faces to shoot a mom in the face, and a nurse in the back."

2. 5-year-old Liam Ramos and father are back in Minneapolis after being released from federal custody in Texas (February 1) 

3. Minnesota citizens detained by ICE are left rattled, even weeks later (February 1) "'I wasn't even outside for mere seconds before I seen a masked person running at me full speed,' Hussen said at a news conference last month. 'He tackled me. I told him, 'I'm a U.S. citizen.' He didn't seem to care. He dragged me outside to the snow while I was handcuffed, restrained, helpless and he pushed me to the ground.'"

4. Anti-ICE protesters call for national action against federal immigration tactics (January 31) 

5. It Can Happen In Your City Too (February 1) "As she was on the ground, the agents dumped out her purse, found her U.S. passport and left the scene, according to SEIU."

6. Trump Pressures International Orgs To Disavow Trans Care, Social Transition Globally "At Any Age" With Funding Ban (January 27) "In practice, the rule would attempt to force groups receiving U.S. aid worldwide to adopt extreme discriminatory policies toward transgender people as a condition of continued funding."

7. Trump admin is trying to deport LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers to countries where they'd be killed, lawyers say (January 29, via) "Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, passed in 2023, prescribes life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relationships and allows for the death penalty in cases labeled 'aggravated homosexuality.'"

8. His mistaken deportation was thought to be unique. But 'the problem is getting worse' (February 3) "Sandoval-Moshenberg said he alone has a dozen other plaintiffs like Abrego Garcia. It's impossible to quantify how many such mistaken deportations are happening — as only a small subset of immigrants have lawyers to argue for their return."

9. Judge temporarily blocks axing deportation protections for Haitian migrants (February 3) "A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end deportation protections for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, who are allowed to live and work in the US legally under Temporary Protected Status (TPS)."

Blogaround

Links not related to the antichrist:

1. Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani (November 7, via) "God, did I love this. An “alienated view of the world”! Not by, like, trying to pay rent or having an insurance claim denied—no, no, it was probably the Foucault you read in 2003."

2. I get knocked down, but I get up again (November 12) "But I’m not sure those writers fully appreciate that they’ve written an accurate summary not just of this one weird individual, but of the overwhelming character of white evangelical discipleship and white evangelical devotion, practice, hermeneutics, orthodoxy, orthopraxy, spirituality, piety, ethics, and soteriology."

This is spot-on.

3. 2024 Ace Community Survey Summary Report (October 20)

4. Why housing shortages cause homelessness (2024) "Her story echoes the widely repeated observation that ‘people don’t become homeless when they run out of money, they become homeless when they run out of relationships’."

5. Scientific study on types of detransitioners (November 16) "I think, the vast vast majority of the time, if someone mistakenly believes they’re gender dysphoric, they will sort it out within a year or two. We need to create norms where this mistake, most of the time, doesn’t have severe negative consequences."

6. Life After Death: A Widow’s Fight for Her IVF Baby (November 17) "At the time, sperm banks and medical institutions in China were banned from providing unmarried women — which Guo technically now was — with services involving assisted reproductive technologies under technical and ethical guidelines introduced in 2003 by the Ministry of Health."

---

Image source.

Links related to the antichrist:

1. How We’re Taking Trump’s Deportation Machine to Court (October 29) "The administration’s agenda is clear: forcing immigrants to endure months or even years of detention under inhumane conditions while their cases make their way through the backlogged immigration system ensures that people will give up and agree to return to their home countries. Even when their cases are likely to succeed, eventually giving them the right to remain lawfully in the U.S., many are unwilling to endure the squalor and uncertainty."

2. Veterans Group Urges States To Pass Protective Policies In Response To Trump Trans Bans (November 14) "Roughly 3,500 newly discharged transgender service members have been forced out of their jobs and stripped of health and housing benefits by the federal government."

3. “I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime (November 13) "Federal prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against anyone who was arrested. Nor have they revealed any evidence showing that two immigrants arrested in the building belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, or even provided their names."

4. Feds Pepper-Spray 1-Year-Old In Cicero, Use Tear Gas On Little Village Neighbors (November 9)