This book is about “how evangelicals have caved into a leftist agenda” and discusses Francis Collins’ research history. Has Collins responded to this book?
I asked Frank Turek about Collins at the Univ of Texas at Dallas where Turek was speaking for an apologetics ministry. Turek is opposed to evolutionary theory. He did not have positive things to say about Collins and interviews the Shepherds author Megan Basham of Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire on his Cross Examined YouTube channel. Her book is also about evangelicals and climate change.
This is really becoming a maelstrom, this culture war thing. I have friends who think Turek is great, Basham is great etc., here in Dallas.
But I also am friends with a Christian study center director who hosted Collins after he spoke at the Yale Medical School.
I know Collins speaks on the Alpha Course video and was glad to hear that.
But now I hope he has given some public answer to Basham’s book which came out in August. Does anybody know?
Could you provide a full title and author for this book, please? I don’t know who these people are. Other forum participants might not be as well.
Collins has been and will continue to be taking heat on this from every direction for the rest of his life. Looking to find middle ground or workable spaces for peace is so unfashionable any more, that the peacemakers a flamed.
Right there with you on the Culture Wars. James Davidson Hunter ended that book on a cautiously hopeful note in '92. It’s a hard time for optimists as well.
To be honest he probably won’t respond to it because everyone you mentioned is no bodies. They are just bottom of the barrel idiots. It’s just two conspiracy theorist anti science idiots who think getting vaccines is “leftist” logic. The reality is that one side understands science and the other side (rightist) does not. But this is nothing new. I don’t imagine he will respond to it directly, but he has responded to those types of issues.
The reality is that we can create all kinds of labels. Some more accurate than others. But even with terms like educated vs stupid someone falls squarely into stupid when they think Satanic powers is trying to get people to get vaccines by using Christians who are wolves because of leftist thought. The Daily Wire is not held in high regards.
So what to make of it? It’s just stupid people writing stupid stuff that other idiots gobble up like dessert.
Evidently it is a criticism that Evangelicals, the SBC, and their leaders like Greear have sold out to the Left and are too liberal! It confused me, and made me think I was reading the The Onion at first. In reading further reviews, I am sure that there is some truth to some of her statements but overall represents a far-right viewpoint.
I might add that while I used left and right as theological positions above, it gets dangerously close to politics, which we try to avoid on the public forum, especially in these last weeks of our suffering.
Megan Basham is an American writer. She is a culture reporter for The Daily Wire, having previously served as film and television editor for World magazine.
Basham has written two books. The first was Beside Every Successful Man: Getting the Life You Want By Helping Your Husband Get Ahead (Crown Forum, 2009), in which Basham argued that women can achieve greater financial security for their families by quitting their jobs and applying their skills, education, and talent to advance their husbands’ careers… Basham’s second book was Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda (HarperCollins, 2024), in which she argued that evangelical leaders have been promoting left-wing) views on various issues. The book sparked controversy upon its publication.
What is The Daily Wire? The Daily Wire is an American conservative company) founded in 2015 by political commentator Ben Shapiro and film director Jeremy Boreing. The company is a major publisher on Facebook and produces podcasts such as The Ben Shapiro Show. The Daily Wire has also produced various films and video series. Its DailyWire+ video on demand platform launched in 2022, and its children’s video platform Bentkey in 2023. The Daily Wire is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Many Daily Wire stories repackage journalism from traditional news organizations while adding a conservative slant. Fact checkers have said that some stories shared by The Daily Wire are unverified, and that The Daily Wire sometimes misstates facts to advance a partisan view.
The Daily Wire was conceived by Ben Shapiro, who both worked for TruthRevolt, a news website that was formerly funded by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. After the duo secured several million dollars in seed funding from billionaire petroleum industry brothers Dan and Farris Wilks, The Daily Wire was launched in 2015.
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Relevant trivia: Megan is, in her own words, a Young Earth Creationist. IMO there’s no need to say more … about her, her book, or the Youtube video that I linked to.
“Big Eva is not a large German who works in border control for the Bundesrepublik but my term for the network of large evangelical organizations and conferences that seeks to shape the thinking and strategy of the American evangelical churches….”
This much I agree with. Not all YEC are some sort of package deal. In common with most people, most have their own nuances. Disagree as we have, you come across to me as a very authentic person who is trying to process and make sense of it all, and come to your own conclusions on different matters.
But please, a little less earthy in some of your posts.
Dangerously close to politics indeed, The conservative / Republican side of evangelical Christianity has, from my point of view, become clear examples of the Pharisee in the temple. I’ll leave it there, other than to note that Jesus wasn’t praising them - they already do a great job of that themselves.
