VOA慢速英语--对于美国顶尖的病毒专家来说 信仰和科学共存

The relationship between faith and science has faced some questions during the spread of the coronavirus. But for some leading American scientists, the two have a partnership¹.

The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, started an organization that looks at "the harmony between science and biblical faith."

Anthony Fauci is NIH's senior infectious disease specialist. He has said he is not active in organized religion. However, Fauci says his involvement in Catholic schools run by Jesuits helped him form the values that drive his public service today.

Robert Redfield is the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says his personal faith and public health work support each other.

"One of the greatest things about faith is, you can approach life with a sense of hope -- no matter what the challenges you're dealing² with -- that there's a path forward," Redfield told The Associated Press.

The influence of faith on these top coronavirus fighters demonstrates its complex relationship with science. However, the personal religious beliefs of some scientific leaders have clearly guided them through the U.S. fight against coronavirus.

Redfield said his faith has helped him see the "greater good" in times of tragedy or crisis. For example, he noted³ that his faith had provided strength after the death of his son and during his involvement in the response to Haiti's 2010 earthquake. Redfield says that for him, faith and science are not in conflict.

A longtime friend of Redfield, William Blattner, told the AP that Redfield's faith is also evident in his public persona. Redfield was not seen as often as Fauci at televised White House briefings on the coronavirus crises in recent months.

Blattner said his friend is not a seeker of such public attention."You don't see him jumping up to the microphone. You see him speaking as he's required."

He added that Redfield sees people of faith as "not holier than anybody – we're just who we are." Blattner co-founded the University of Maryland's Institute of Human Virology with Redfield and another well-known AIDS researcher in the 1990s.

Collins and Fauci were government scientists before Donald Trump⁴ became president. Redfield was asked by Trump to join the government. Collins has spoken openly about his view that religious belief and science can be in agreement.

In 2006, Collins wrote a book about how he changed from a young man with no faith to a man with a deep belief in God. Later, he started the BioLogos Foundation to help further discussion about religion's relationship to science.

Last month, Collins received a major international religion prize for demonstrating how religious faith can motivate scientific research.

"I see science as the most reliable way to study nature – and that includes this virus," Collins wrote in an email to the AP. "But science doesn't help me with deeper questions like why suffering exists, what we are supposed to learn from it, what is the meaning of life, and whether there is a loving God..." he added. To deal with those questions, Collins said, he depends "on what I have learned as a person of faith."

Fauci's faith has changed from his Catholic childhood to what he has described as a humanist belief system. The longtime chief of the National Institute of Allergy⁵ and Infectious Diseases said in 2015 that he wasn't involved with an organized religion. He said he was interested in "goodness to mankind and doing the best that you can."

I'm Susan Shand.

Words In This Story

harmony – n. a pleasing combination or arrangement of different things

faith – n. religious belief

approach – v. to get near or to undertake

challenge – n. a difficult task or problem

persona – n. the image or personality that a person presents to other people

motivate – v. to give someone a reason for doing something

reliable – adj. able to be trusted to do or provide what is needed

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。