A Jealous God: Science's Crusade Against Religion

We are living in scary times. Very scary times. But we haven't gotten here by accident. It's been a process of dedicated action on the part of driven individuals and groups. They used to call themselves eugenicists. But then Hitler applied their ideas in Germany and they had to find another label. Today, many of them are "social biologists" or "population control advocates" (Seriously... The Journal of Social Biology used to be called the Journal of the American Eugenics Society). Whatever they call themselves, these self-appointed elite have used science as a sledgehammer, chipping away at the moral foundations of our culture. Driving them is this: the creation of a perfect society. By perfect, they mean a society without poverty, disease or war. Sounds wonderful doesn't it? For the "science crusaders," the vision is so beautiful that a few (or many) lives can be sacrificed in achieving it. If you really want to know more about this process, you must read Pamela Winnick's book. In it, she details how an alarming number of scientists are actively pursuing this new world, one that might not include you or me (The only moral speed bumps for such scientists are the moralists they runs over on their way to utopia). I know. I know. It sounds extreme. It sounds like a reactionary, fear-mongering evangelical has painted his picket sign and brought out his bullhorn. So, I'll let you be the judge. Consider: * Nobel Prize-winning physicist William Shockley openly advocated selective sterilization for the poor and unintelligent. * Biology professor Garrett Hardin took this message to the biology textbooks writing: "People of low I.Q. are reproducing at a faster rate than those with a high I.Q." and that "[s]ooner or later ... human population will reach a limit.... Sooner or later, not all the children that humans are willing to procreate can survive. Either there must be a relatively painless weeding out before birth or a more painful and wasteful elimination of individuals after birth." * And then there's H. Bently Glass, former elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: "It can no longer be affirmed that the right of the man and woman to reproduce as they see fit is inviolate... [N]o parents will ... have a right to burden society with a malformed or mentally incompetent child." For a taste of their acidic arrogance, consider Dr. Christiaan Barnard's words before Congress as he strongly resisted public oversight of medical research: "Let us take care not to shackle the investigator with unnecessary strictures, which will dry up untapped resources of creativity.... If you are thinking of theologians, lawyers, philosophers and others to give some direction.... I cannot see how they could help." And you can't even begin to imagine the research they have been doing. But to learn more about this movement and its implications, you must read A Jealous God. It is a well-researched exposé of what I consider one of th

As a researcher for a biotech in New Jersey, I'm aware of the ways in which "science" is distorted to serve certain purposes,including the eradication of religion. From the other reviews here, it's clear the author has touched a nerve. I, for one, commend her on her courage in stepping out of long-held liberal political views to address the many ways in which the scientific community has set about destroying not only religion, but human rights. Perhaps others will begin to step up to the plate and slam it out of the ballpark as Winnick does. Truth, not political correctness, should be the goal of good writing. She tackles a lot of areas in this book, from bioethics to evolution to medical research. She is right on the target when she analyzes the "miracle cures" -fetal tissue research, gene transfer therapy--that come around every decade or so, but never deliver. She is also right about state funding of embryonic stem cell research and who the real beneficiaries are. Like California, New Jersey funds this work, which mostly benefits companies like the one I work for. Everything here is thoroughly documented. The writing is excellent, often ironic, always powerful. I highly recommend this book.

Once upon a time, we learned that the scientific method was dispassionate; that scientific observations were independent of the observer. By its very nature science affected belief about the world and the cosmos by persuasion without preconception. Science required no revelation. It was not doctrinal. It did not promise miracle cures, instantly. This book makes it clear that none of this is any longer the case, at least for celebrity-science hyped by today's fatuous mainstream media outlets. Undoubtedly, much unbiased and unpretentious scientific research is still conducted beneath the media radar. As most of it is not supportive of progressive politics, however, it is deemed mostly unworthy of dissemination by media elites. Another "science," however, provides a target-rich environment, and "A Jealous God" strips away its stealthy patina, exposing it for what it is: a power grab by a self-appointed elite with a "progressive" social agenda. Shockingly, this book exposes the eugenics roots of the stem cell research movement, and those roots are steeped in racism, as the author makes painfully clear. These benevolent folks would reengineer our very substance, and, as the author shows, are arrogant enough to believe that they are actually entitled to force all of us to fund their efforts! The tale of California's Prop 71- where taxpayers own only the risk, with no chance of return - alone makes this book worthwhile. Like the author, I am not a religious person. I am skeptical of revealed truth. I remain no less skeptical of some supposed "truths" reported widely and enthusiastically (dare I say zealously) under the rubric of "science," particularly when, most improbably, these truths all seem to converge at a locus inhabited by elites which would exercise political power over every aspect of every human life, right down to our genes - for our own good, of course. This book calmly and dispassionately shows with meticulous facts that it is not enough that science long ago routed religion as the source of knowledge of the cosmos. The author cites Professor Peter Singer of Princeton, who says that the Ten Commandments must be replaced with ten new ones. For instance, "Thou shalt not kill," will be redacted to say that humans should be killed under certain circumstances. "A Jealous God" makes it clear that, should the political/celebrity/progressive "science" prevail, when all the new commandments are written, there is likely to be one holdover: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The author makes that conclusion inescapable, based upon much evidence. After reading this book, I infer that this current brand of popular "science" overreaches. Citing only utility, its ethicists promise us bodily health, denying that any countervailing values are operant. Those values - as advanced by religion - according to the crusading new science, are merely the shadows of ignorance and superstition conjured by our distant ancestors, as they huddled togethe

Heard her on the radio here last week and had to buy the book, even though it's not the kind of thing I usually read. But I read it in one sitting. It' impossible to put down. I just loaned it to a friend who says the same thing. Finally, a book filled with fact and measured analysis, not empty rhetoric. Winnick, an attorney and journalist, uses both skill-sets to adroitly slam the pretentious world of elite scientists and "ethicists" and expose their truly disturbing, sometimes racist agenda. Best of all, she does so using real people and situations, so complicated issues are presented in dramatic, readable form. What's particularly great is how she's able to explain complicated science in very simple terms. For the first time, I understood embryonic stem-cell research and cloning and what all the fuss is about. While she clearly doesn't have a pro-life agendum against this work, she brilliantly demonstrates the puffery beneath it - and the economic interests. She's not a scientist but obviously she's done a huge amount of research, reading medical journals and so forth. Her exposure of racism is amazing and based, again, on facts. She's taken the time to review hundreds of biology textbooks from the 1960s to the present, showing their subtle racist and anti-religious messages. Amazingly, these textbooks were written by those who pretended on the outside to be progresstive, but, as she shows, were scandalously racist. She shows also how medical research has been so commercialized that it cares less and less about human safety. Her chapters on failed gene-transfer and fetal-tissue therapies are amazing. Medical researchers rush their products into human trial so they can make a killing in the marketplace, caring virtually nothing about people. She also does a great job exposing California's Proposition 71, which raised billions for stem cell research. Unbelievable scientific fraud and Hollywood pretension. Also great work describing "celebrity scientists" like Richard Dawkins and Carl Sagan, who clearly think they are so much better than the rest of us. These guys are actually quite pathetic. Also great work on Paul Ehrlich, the population guy, whose racism is absolutely amazing. I remember him from way back, when I thought he was a cool guy. She shows what a fraud he was and how he used "science" to push his racist agenda. Winnick has a great sense of humor. There are little touches that made me laugh out loud, like the rat that had been treated with humam stem cells, and Goober, the baboon, whose heart was implanted in a newborn child - in furtherance of "science." This is not the work of some religious fanatic, but a brilliant woman who has decided to challenge conventional thinking about religion and science. Winnick is a really great writer who combines understatement, wit and fact. We need more books like this. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

A fascinating account of how medical science has abused human rights and acted as a major political force in this country. There's loads of gems here I never knew before--how racist the population-control movement was, the terrible things scientists used to do to living fetuses, the way they still abuse blacks and the poor in the developing world--all under the pretense of being so "liberal." I especially was shocked at California's Prop 71 to raise billions for stem-cell research. She shows what a fraud it was, how bad for the poor and exposes the clowns in Hollywood for their support. She does a great job showing how medical science raises expectations for cures, then never delivers--but they still make lots of money, It's really good. She's not sticking up for religion so much--at least not Christianity. It's more of a decency-ethics case. I really loved it! (and it's a fast read)