Is it only Republicans that feel they have to show their ignorance by denying the theory of evolution? Does it somehow result in more votes? Do they not understand that evolution has nothing to do with the origination of life? Do they accept the theory of gravity? If they do, why?
Why is it important to some of us that the President of the USA accept the theory of evolution? Well, as Verlyn Klinkenborg of the New York Times put it so eloquently:
Accepting the fact of evolution does not necessarily mean discarding a personal faith in God. But accepting intelligent design means discarding science. Much has been made of a 2004 poll showing that some 45% of Americans believe that the Earth—and humans with it—was created as described in the book of Genesis, and within the past 10,000 years. This isn't a triumph of faith. It's a failure of education.We want a President that is scientifically literate and wants to keep the USA as the premier world power in science and technology. We also want a President that believes that quality education is required to keep the USA as the #1 science powerhouse. We also want a President that is curious enough to examine the evidence that supports the theory of evolution and use reason to determine whether the science is sound or not.
The next President of the USA is going to need to address several major problems in which an understanding of science will be necessary.
3 comments:
I'm no fundamentalist or member of the Christian Right, and don't believe the earth is 6,000 years old, but I wish you could take a look at a bigger picture of Ron Paul beyond this clip. You'd see he isn't "one of them."
Actually, I like Ron Paul for the same reasons I like Mike Huckabee. Paul really bothers Republicans.
I love the quote from Klinkenborg; hadn't seen it before. Spot on.
I don't get the feeling that Paul was pandering here in the same way that say, Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson pander on this issue. Those guys think that denying evolution will win them votes among the base, but most moderate voters are turned off by such blatant, obsequious pandering.
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