HarperCon Pattern Emerges

If you ask the Minister for Science & Technology about his thoughts on the theory of evolution, you are asking him about his religious beliefs. You are not asking about his understanding and support of a scientific theory on which so much other science has been based.

If you demand that a recent immigration and refugee board appointee be fired because he opposes same-sex marriage and views homosexuality as sinful, you are making such demand on the basis of his religious belief. You are not making such demand on the basis of his support for Canadian law.

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In clarifying evolution position, Goodyear digs deeper hole

... Gary Goodyear offers this nugget of wisdom on a program today on the Conservative Television Network.

Jane Taber: So you do believe in evolution. You believe in the theory of evolution. Let’s just get this off the table right now.

Gary Goodyear: We are evolving, every year, every decade. That's a fact. Whether it's to the intensity of the sun, whether it's to, as a chiropractor, walking on cement versus anything else, whether it’s running shoes or high heels, of course, we are evolving to our environment. But that's not relevant. And that's why I refused to answer the question. The interview was about our science and tech strategy, which is strong…

Huh?! You were asked about the theory of evolution. Do you even know what that is, Mr. Science & Technology?

Then we've The Canadian Press reporting Goodyear having said, also today, that he "does indeed believe in evolution."

Tip for journalists: Using 'X' in a sentence doesn't mean the utterer has any understanding of X.

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Darwin Bashing

It seems the really religious members of society are still refuting Darwin's theory of evolution.

Throughout much of the 20th century, opponents of evolution (many of them theologically conservative Protestants) either tried to eliminate the teaching of Darwin's theory from public school science curricula or urged science instructors also to teach a version of the creation story found in the biblical book of Genesis.

But beginning in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of decisions that imposed severe restrictions on those state governments that opposed the teaching of evolution. As a result of these rulings, school boards, legislatures and government bodies are now barred from prohibiting the teaching of evolution. Teaching creation science, either along with evolutionary theory or in place of it, is also banned.

Recent public opinion polls indicate that challenges to Darwinian evolution have substantial support among the American people.

Why is it that religiously minded individuals, who believe in a god without a shred of proof are so ready to dismiss scientific facts?

This view is not shared by the nation's scientists, most of whom contend that evolution is a well-established scientific theory that convincingly explains the origins and development of life on earth. Moreover, they say, a scientific theory is not a hunch or a guess but is instead an established explanation for a natural phenomenon, like gravity, that has repeatedly been tested through observation and experimentation. Indeed, most scientists argue that, for all practical purposes, evolution through natural selection is a fact.

Having been brought up by a "good Christian family", it took some time to extricate myself from dogmatic religion. The weight of guilt, the feeling that god was watching my every move and the fear of a life in hell has dissipated.

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