First off I'd like to welcome all the new (and not so new) members to the DailyKos community. There has been some great dairies by people who have realized the Republican party has become morally and intellectually bankrupt. I would urge everyone to take the time to read some of them if you haven't already. Below the fold is just a short list of the ones I know about. If you know of any others, just leave a comment and I'll add them in.
This will be part 1 of 2. As I was writing this, I realized it was getting a bit too long for most people handle at once, so I've decided to break it up into a 2 part series. Part one will look at the effect of religion on scientific understanding. Part 2 will look at the legal battles that have encompassed the evolution debate. I started writing this a couple of weeks ago and have finally gotten back to it so it may be a bit disjointed.
We are here by ex-rwc
Dear Obama Administration by Recovering GOPer
How to get conservatives like me to vote progressive in November by JulieUnplugged
Daily Kos I'm a proud Pentecostal, tongue-talkin', creationist, pro-life Evangelical Democrat - My Story by angeleyes
Can a Southern Evangelical Be a Democrat? by EvangelicalDemocrat
I will state up front I am an atheist. In fact many would even call me "militant", although I would never advocate the use of violence. I strongly advocate for the separation of church and state. But I also strongly advocate a persons right to believe in what ever deity, or none, that they so choose. That is a personal choice and no one has the right to deny someone that choice. BUT when those beliefs directly interfere with the advancement of knowledge through science then I will take issue and I will do so very strongly and forcefully. You can choose your belief system. But you have no choice on reality. Either you find a way to make it compatible with your beliefs or you shut down your mind, refuse to accept reality and fall farther behind the rest of the world.
My concern today though is the future of science and science education. The challenges of the 21st century are unique in the history of humanity. Global climate change and renewable energy are just two of these issues. The world that we knew of is rapidly shrinking with the increase of a global mindset instead of just a national or regional area of focus. With the rise of the internet, satellite mobile phones, and a host of other innovations, these are making instantaneous communication and information sharing to every corner of the globe a reality.
Right now I have three areas that I watch very closely. Politics, religion and science. I have watched how the three have become intertwined in ways that if something effects one, the other two are impacted. Take for example stem cell research. Bush has vetoed every attempt to pass legislation to federally fund these potentially ground breaking and life saving research paths.
From Bad Medicine
White House officials may protest that recent scientific papers present other possible cell sources. Yet not a single scientist who is pursuing research on any kind of cell has said that research involving embryonic stem cells should stop. On the contrary, because scientists know well that a single approach is unlikely to provide a universal solution, they are as one in advocating funding from all sources and for all types of stem cell research.
This is just one small example of the current administrations complete lack of understanding of science and it's capitulation to the far right wing of the party. What many people in this country do not understand is that there is an all out war on science. One of the leading opponents of top quality science educations is religion. I will not a point out a single denomination as there are many involved.
How many of us know of people who deny evolution, human influenced global warming, the age of the universe / world, cause of AIDS (yes there are HIV deniers), plus a host of other fields? These have real world consequences. Countless lives are at stake. Why do most people deny the results of these fields? Their religious beliefs. Not always, but that does tend to be the major influence.
Biological evolution has been and always will be a hot button issue for many people. Lets take a look at a world survey on acceptance of the Theory of Evolution.
(H/T to Stanger Fruit)
The US ranks 33rd out of 34 countries with only Turkey being lower. Now lets compare those numbers to just how non-religious a country is.
Country %Unbeliever | Country %Unbeliever
Sweden 85% Taiwan 24%
Vietnam 81% Spain 24%
Denmark 80% Iceland 23%
Norway 72% New Zealand 22%
Japan 65% Ukraine 20%
Czech Republic 61% Belarus 17%
Finland 60% Greece 16%
France 54% North Korea 15%
South Korea 52% Italy 15%
Estonia 49% Armenia 14%
Germany 49% China 14%
Russia 48% Lithuania 13%
Hungary 46% Singapore 13%
Netherlands 44% Uruguay 12%
Britain 44% Kazakhstan 12%
Belgium 43% Mongolia 9%
Bulgaria 40% Portugal 9%
Slovenia 38% USA 9%
Israel 37% Albania 8%
Canada 30% Argentina 8%
Latvia 29% Kyrgyzstan 7%
Slovakia 28% Dominican Republic 7%
Switzerland 27% Cuba 7%
Austria 26% Croatia 7%
Australia 25%
source
See any similarities? So the more likely a country has no belief in a deity the more likely the population is going to accept the Theory of Evolution. Now don't get me wrong. You can believe in a deity and still accept evolution. A prime example is the Catholic church. In fact there are a large number of churches and members of the clergy that accept evolution. In 2004 Michael Zimmerman of Butler University, began the Clergy Letter Project. Its aim is to show that belief in divine entity and an acceptance scientific facts can coexist.
We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as "one theory among others" is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God's good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator. To argue that God's loving plan of salvation for humanity precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of reason is to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge school board members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth.
[snip]
Signatures are current as of 11 September 2008
11,669 signatures collected to date
source (bold mine)
.
Now granted I will disagree with some of the points of this letter, but their goal is the same as mine and I will commend them for that. My goal is simple. Better science education. Better critical thinking. As Sen. Biden said so equiantly during his debate, "Facts matter."
Let us continue the great work of the Enlightenment, which is centered in the 18th century. Let us remember those who came before us. Who, without their tireless work, self sacrifice, and all manner of external pressures, we would not be where we are today. Our understanding of the world, and the universe, around us are increasing exponentially. If we simply attempt to rest on our laurels we will soon be left behind.
I would ask you to support your local school board. Make sure they advocate for good sound science education and not pseudo-science. Be aware when your state updates their science standards. Support state and national organizations that promote good science. And lastly but most importantly, talk to your child's science teacher. Make sure they are teaching good science. It is appalling the number of science teachers that actually teach bad science.
Florida Citizens for Science
Texas Citizens for Science
National Science Teachers Association
National Center for Science Education
The next link is a wonderful program that allows you to help teachers all over the country aquire teaching aids that are not in their very limited budget. Please go there and help some teachers out.
Donors Choose
And finally for your viewing pleasure. There is a lot of information packed into this one video, so you may have to watch it more than once to catch all of it. I know know I did.
If you have any questions about more resources or links let me know and I'll do my best to get back with you. Email is in profile.