A Bit of Political Science for a Change
Greetings, Dear Readers.
Now, I understand given this is talkingscience.org, so there is an argument to be made that this blog post could be deemed “inappropriate” or “off topic.” However, recent events in the circus that is the American political world have injected me with what can only be described as an adrenaline rush equivalent of ridiculousness. So, given the thousands of universities that now offer political science as a major as my justification, as well as the fact that the Democrats are pro-science, I will now analyze for you the ridiculousness that is the most recent Massachusetts Senatorial election.
Now, Massachusetts is traditionally an extremely liberal state. The late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy held his seat for generations, and he accidentally killed a woman. Massachusetts has the most progressive health care system in all the United States, which a Republican governor was forced to implement. Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage. How is it possible to screw all this up? Well, not surprisingly, the Democrats have found a way. Not only did the Democratic Senate candidate, Martha Coakley, basically stop campaigning after winning the primary, but she insulted the Red Sox. How can you run for any office in Massachusetts and insult the Red Sox?! Additionally, at a time when health care is so critical nationally, Coakley proved her political brilliance by flying to Washington to attend a fundraiser hosted by multiple health insurers. Even Obama, who carried the state by over 60%, couldn’t lift this woman onto his shoulders. In fact, his last-minute campaign contribution came off as pathetic and desperate.
Now since I’m a science journalist, the results of this election worry me greatly, especially if this upset is a precursor for election disasters to come in November. Let me explain why. For eight years I have witnessed, along with the rest of the United States, the systematic dismantling of the role scientific research and argument play in society. For the last eight years, there has been an undeniable full frontal siege on the intellectual fortress of reason and rationality. A siege that has been led by religious right-wing fundamentalists, a neo conservative administration, and the oligopolies they were in bed with. Before you write me off as a looney leftist extremist, I ask you to allow me to explain my thesis in a rational and factual manner.
Firstly, and most alarmingly, the Bush administration attempted to perpetrate a fraud of global proportions against the American people and their future well being. It is a fact, let me repeat this, a fact that the oil conglomerates of the world worked with White House officials in altering scientific data in order to propagate a version of reality for the United States in which climate change does not exist. This was done under the banner of greed and justified under the Social Darwinist ideology that is American capitalism. Like the cigarette companies, who launched a widespread cover-up campaign in order to hide their highly addictive product’s relation to a plethora of deadly conditions, mainly lung cancer, the oil companies sought to cloak the stranglehold they have on the Earth’s health in a veil of deception, propped up by the credibility of a pPesidential seal.
Secondly, let’s take a gander at the religious right. It is impossible to deny their relationship with the Republican Party. Just look at polling results in the Bible Belt. We can thank this constituency for the Bush Administration’s push for federally mandated abstinence-only sex education, which denies students the very relevant information they need to protect themselves from STDs. Ironically enough, abstinence-only sex education increases the chances of teen pregnancies.
If the religious right had their way, the Bible would play a major role in science education. For example, in a recent story in The New York Times, an Ohio science teacher named John Freshwater was quoted as saying that because according to the Bible homosexuality is a sin, scientists must be wrong in their claim to have isolated a gene that causes homosexuality. In fact, there exists a substantial proportion of the Republican party, including top Republican officials such as former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who have stated that creationism should be taught alongside evolution as an alternative scientific theory. This idea conveniently overlooks the fact that creationism isn’t a scientific theory. There are no scientific proponents or consensus backing creationism, nor was it proposed originally by scientists. Creationism is a theological theory, and should be taught, if at all, in an objectively-taught theological studies class.
Then there is my personal favorite. There was a group of Christian Republicans who demanded that the Hubbell Space Telescope be taken down. Their rationality: the photographs it was producing contradicted the Bible. Let me reiterate the key word in that sentence: photographs.
But the greatest crime of all is how a Republican majority altered language connotation. As we saw during Palin’s book tour, they have an engrained bias against anyone who is liberal and educated. The truth is, public education is a liberal idea, and chances are that under Republican leadership, we would see somewhat less of it. Over the past eight years, we have reached the point where Obama literally had to say “We will restore science to its rightful place.”
Your vote is sacred. Use it wisely. And when you do, I ask you to consider the long term well being of this country. Science and math scores are at an all time low, budgets are being cut across the country, and the debate over creationism is actually growing. If we are to restore science to its rightful place, we need to make sure we have elected officials who are willing to give the subject the time and credence it deserves. And for all those candidates campaigning for Congressional seats in 2012, bear in mind that in this political landscape, no district is “safe.” Don’t win your primary and go on vacation. Campaign your heart out to the end.
Be Skeptical, Be Critical, Take Nothing on Faith.
All the Best,
Jesse M. S.
I hadn’t heard that one. Got a reference/citation/link?
Jesse M. S. wrote: “For example, in a recent story in The New York Times, an Ohio science teacher named John Freshwater was quoted as saying that because according to the Bible homosexuality is a sin, scientists must be wrong in their claim to have isolated a gene that causes homosexuality.”
The allegation regarding talking about the issue of homosexuality in class: This is an allegation made by just one person—Jim Stockdale. Freshwater’s response to it was that he never made the statement that Stockdale credited to him about gays; Stockdale may have overheard a conversation Freshwater had with other teachers regarding a magazine article about the gay gene. (See my article “John Freshwater: Investigation Didn’t Follow Contract.”)
http://www.accountabilityinthemedia.com/2009/12/john-freshwater-investigation-didnt.html
The teacher who made the allegation testified under oath in a hearing that he did hear Mr Freshwater say this in class. He also stated an article that prompted Mr Freshwater to make this statement.
The stupid religious republicans purged the socially liberal yet fiscally conservative Republicans out in 2000-2004, they have f#$ked up the party. I totally agree that the religious right is wrong coming from a Republican. Luckily we are purging those Hubble opposing SOB’s as we speak with Tea Parties.
I completely agree with you here. I think the main reason so many Republicans are quick to embrace religion and quick to reject science is that they are scared. Since the beginning of humanity, people have been looking for reasons that explain why humankind is here in the first place. Science does not allows provide emotional comfort to people whereas religion does. People have been asking these questions for ages: Who are we? Why are we here? How did we get here? What is our purpose in life? Since there was little technology and tools thousands and thousands of years ago, people looked to God for explanations of what our existence is all about. Religion comforts people. They like believing in an all-powerful being, and they like believing that this being is there to make sure that we are never alone. God is also people’s way of explaining why the unexplainable happens. For example, why on earth a beautiful, talented 17 year old would die and be taken from the world? Or why good people die of cancer at a young age while people who are evil, malicious and greedy live to be 100? Or why places like Haiti, who already suffered so much, was hit by a devastating earthquake that killed over 100,000 people? Since these things are SO unfair and painful, people look to God to explain why things happen. They want to feel comfortable with death, and the only way for them to feel comfortable is believing in a place called Heaven.
Religion is also a way for some people to live inside a tightly closed box for their entire life. It is the excuse of some people in the religious right to not be accepting and understanding of people who are different than they are, it allows them to feel superior to others on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. The bible states that homosexuals are sinners, slavery is acceptable and that women are inferior to men. A person I know who will remain nameless has told me countless times that since the bible and his pastor claim that homosexuality is a sin, he too believes it is a sin. I do not disrespect religious people, but I will say that many things in the bible have no factual scientific basis behind them. It is a book that was written by men expressing their opinion on different things thousands and thousands of years ago. Do some of these stories have valuable lessons for humankind? Absolutely. But there are some that I take a lot of offense to. Some say the bible stories are the “words of God,” but I for one don’t believe that God actually comes and talks to anyone. There are a huge number of atheists out there who would state the same thing.
Scientific fact, on the other hand, is, as it states in the term, backed up by FACTS. Scientists have concluded through intense research that there is a gene that causes homosexuality, and that homosexuality is a BIOLOGICAL condition. this means that a person who is homosexual cannot help being that way. It is simply who they are and they are never going to change. Scientists have also compared the male and female brain and realized that even though the two genders have distinct differences, one gender is not smarter then the other. A book that was written thousands of years ago by people we know little about tells us that women came from men. This claim is not based with any scientific fact. When men claim that they are superior to women, they are simply saying it to feel more powerful and keep up with past traditions, despite the fact that scientist have proven that one gender is not smarter than the other.
Scientists also have strong evidence in favor of the concept of evolution. It simply makes sense that mankind evolved from apes, since apes have the closest set of genes to humans and they were here before humans. We didn’t just pop up out of nowhere, we had to come about somehow. That is the case with many different animals. Whales at one point were large dog-like creatures who roamed around land. They looked completely different than whales do nowadays. Humans nowadays are different than they were even 200 years ago. Our heights, weights, and lifetime expectancies have all grown. Evolution just makes the most sense because it is supported by evidence and fact.
People fear change and they cling to tradition. What is ridiculous about people fearing science is that science allows us to live better lives. It shouldn’t be something we are afraid of. I don’t think that humans have a pre-destined fate; instead I believe that we are in control of our own destiny, and that developments in science give us greater control of who we are. While it is good to sometimes not be in control and remember that all of us are just a very small part of a much greater picture, control allows people to live the life they have always dreamed of.
Allaboutthetruth.org claims that the bible was “Written over more than 1,500 years ago by vastly different writers, yet every book in the Bible is consistent in its message. These 66 books talk about history, prophecy, poetry, and theology. Despite their complexity, differences in writing styles and vast time periods, the books of the Bible agree miraculously well in theme, facts and cross-referencing. No human beings could have planned such an intricate combination of books over a 1,500-year time span.” Um yes, humans very much could have written a book that was that intricate. And you know why it was consistent over the years? Because consistent messages of “God’s word” were drilled into people’s heads. And even though there are many differences among human beings, all of us really have more in common than we think we do. We all want to be happy, healthy, and successful, and unless you are a deranged psychotic person, we all tend to have similar morals and values when it comes to the way human beings should be treated. Since religion was a common thread among people throughout the time the bible was written, it is easy to believe that people wrote stories with similar messages that contributed to the intricacy of the bible.
The bible is a book that its believers can follow purely based on faith, not on fact. I quite frankly do not have a large amount of respect for the bible since it separates people and does not promote the idea that we are all equal and that we all have the right to a lifetime filled with opportunity and happiness.
I could go into a whole discussion of why the separation of church and state is necessary, but this comment is already ridiculously long and I have already written a blog post concerning that topic.
I made a grammatical in my post. I should have said, “Or why places like Haiti, that already suffer so much, are hit by devastating earthquakes that kill over 100,000 people.”
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