« He Might Ruin The Place!?! | Main | Principals Unions » Blinded With Science06 May 2007 04:34 pm The fact that creationism is a position taken so seriously by erstwhile conservative intellectuals is something that it's worth reminding oneself of every now and again. As I said the other day, lots of voters seem to be creationists and so it's no surprise to see some politicians pandering to them, but it's absurd for an institution like AEI which purports to be doing research and scholarship to be taking this business seriously. Comments (19)
The operative word is "purports," Matt. AEI "purports" be doing this and that. Bullshit. 
Actually, I think "erstwhile" may also be pretty god-damned operative too.
I agree it's weird that conservative intellectuals (as opposed to politicians with their fingers in the wind) take creationism/"intelligent design" seriously. But what AEI project are you talking about? You linked to the front page of the AEI website but there's nothing there about evolution or creationism.
Paleoconservatives are much less dogmatic on the issue of creationism. While you have some paleocons who believe in intelligent design, you have others who reject it and believe in Darwinism. AEI, by the way, can hardly be considered "conservative." It is a neocon institute. It's primary focus is Israel, Israel, Israel. And they refuse to fund any real conservative who refuses to toe the neocon line on Israel.
like I said on the "polarization" thread below, the characteristic feature of the Rove/Bush/DeLay GOP has been its ruthless subordination of ideological diversity to political uniformity. In other words--if word comes down from RNC that we all support creationism, then we all support creationism, whatever we may privately think about it.
Of course the AEI propagandists exploit creationism and all the national "Judeo-Christian" mythology. It's too difficult to persuade secular people to go fight in foreign wars that offer no advantage to them in this world. But religious lunatics? Just tell them it's the right thing to do according to God, and they'll eagerly jump off cliffs for you.
And then there's Liberal Creationism -- every species is the product of evolution, _except_ for modern human beings, who are solely the product of Social Constructionism.
"And then there's Liberal Creationism -- every species is the product of evolution, _except_ for modern human beings, who are solely the product of Social Constructionism." Isn't there a cross burning you're supposed to be at?
Steve, let's see how many Liberal Creationists we can name. You start.
Why does Steve still comment here, I mean, there's no chacne of any fair, reasonable discussion happening. He rolls in saying things he knows are inflammatory, and then people tell him to go burn crosses...weird shit all around
Matt Z: He's an obvious troll, so people just go wild on him knowing that they may as well. It's no mystery.
Why does Steve still comment here, I mean, there's no chacne of any fair, reasonable discussion happening. He rolls in saying things he knows are inflammatory, and then people tell him to go burn crosses... I believe it's called "trolling". Saying inflammatory things is the point. Of course, you might ask if Sailer has anything better to do; apparently not.
Lots (and lots) of voters, and politicians too, are scientifically illiterate so their opinion on evolution matters about as much as their opinion of quantum mechnaics. We don't poll voters, or political candidates, on what they think about the Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle or General Relativity so why should we care what they think about Natural Selection?
"We don't poll voters, or political candidates, on what they think about the Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle or General Relativity so why should we care what they think about Natural Selection?" So far as I know, there's no wide national movement among born-again Christians to ram bullsh*t propaganda about the purported falsity of General Relativity or the Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle into school curriculums.
Re: So far as I know, there's no wide national movement among born-again Christians to ram bullsh*t propaganda about the purported falsity of General Relativity or the Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle into school curriculums. But that was not the issue here. The issue is whether it's a problem that our potential leaders are sufficiently ignorant that they do not accept a well-established scientific theory. In biology it seems to be that it matters while no one seems to care what they do or do not know about other sciences.
JonF, it's not 'sufficiently ignorant'; it's 'sufficiently dishonest'. Those politicians don't go around bashing science at random. They focus in on what movement liars are pushing.
Hello! Cool guestbook, interesting information. Keep it UP.
Hello! Cool guestbook, interesting information. Keep it UP.
Comments closed May 20, 2007. |
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Heads in the Sand
"but it's absurd for an institution like AEI which purports to be doing research and scholarship to be taking this business seriously."
Um, Matt, this is the AEI you're talking about - the go-to shop for neocon fantasies.
At AEI, "research and scholarship" take a back seat to making shit up and scribbling down the notions of the insane.
Posted by Jon H | May 6, 2007 4:54 PM