About Francis Collins, the then-nominee to head the National Institutes of Health, Slate didn’t realize anyone outside its own political constituency was listening and so writer Chris Wilson said the quiet part out loud. This was back in 2009. Collins, a very public evangelical Christian, was useful because of the cover he provided for getting things done that violated his own religion: “If Collins’ faith mollifies even a few political conservatives who would otherwise continue to waste time and money fighting research efforts that violate their specific religious tenets, then the benefits of his faith should outweigh whatever qualms scientists might have.” Wilson commented, “Whenever scientists get around to hunting for the Boy Scout gene, they should start with the genome of Francis Collins.” The Boy Scout quality, at least in his public persona, was and is the key to his schtick. 

In his new book Stockholm Syndrome Christianity, John West finds the right psychological label for people like Collins. Dr. West speaks here about the phenomenon of Stockholm syndrome Christians, where believers come to identify and sympathize with those who despise them far more than with members of their own faith community:

This is not, by the way, about falling away from faith toward secularism, which is common and unremarkable, but about actively taking the side of your own community’s enemies. And the dynamic is not limited to Christians. There are Stockholm syndrome Jews as well — you’ll see them parading with “anti-Zionist” groups on campus and in the street. An interesting distinction is that these Jewish folks are generally, though not always, recognized as freaks. Yet Christians such as Francis Collins climb the ladder of prestige and renown, not just in the secular world but in their own Christian milieu. Why the difference? I don’t know!