Fightin' Dems

Bush-League Science

So George Bush is on the edge of supporting the “scientific” theory of Intelligent Design, demonstrating in large letters why the religious right is not fit to rule. It is a all-points bulletin that the separation of church and state has grown very small. To think that a sitting president doesn’t know the difference between theology and science boggles the mind. Or worse, he does know the difference and is cynically playing to the religious right. How can we as a people have intelligent discourse if we can’t agree on the equivalent of whether the sky is blue or not?

The fact is (and it is a fact) that there are theories and then there are Theories. I have this theory, for example. I believe strongly that God doesn’t particularly care for Evangelical Christians (ECs). I can’t base this theory on much at present, but the thought popped into my head, and that might just be intelligent design at work. I mean, I don’t like them, so maybe this is a sign of His will, right? Now, is my theory true? How should I know? Only a blasphemer would dare to say what is on God’s mind. I can’t really test my theory, can I? So if someone calls my theory nutty and unworthy to be taught in, say, Bible school along with traditional studies, I can’t really refute them.

The difference between my theory with a very small “t” and scientific Theory (which damn well should have a capital “T”) is that we can test it against observation.

Scientific theories are not nutball theories that all too regularly pop into people’s heads, they are based on facts. They are the basis of almost everything we think we know. Darwinism is only a theory, but so is our explanation of why airplanes can hang in the air. I suggest you log on to the National Air and Space Museum’s site and check out a few of the theories of lift:


Now, it may be that none of the current theories of flight are true, and the real reason airplanes float in the sky is that God holds them up with his pinkies. (In fact, I find the image comforting.) But here’s the problem: we can’t test for divine fingerprints. We are stuck with trying to explain real-world phenomena with real-world observation, and tests based on those observations. Are only alternative to this is to stop trying to explain our world and what we see in it.

Trying to explain our world using religion is not an option. Airplanes really fly, that’s a fact. We don’t have to turn to the Bible to establish that. And anyway, the Good Book has proven a truly rotten guide for scientific exploration. If it had been a good one, Galileo would not have suffered house arrest and the burning of his books. His “theories”, tested and retested, have proven true beyond any doubt, and Christianity’s objections have been found to be laughable. Religion has a long and sorry history of standing in the way of true science.

We can't have people running this country who either can't or won't govern from a rational, objective base. Without this — and the intelligent discourse that accompanies it — we will grow increasingly unable to function as a democracy. This declaration by Bush and the right should be more than a blip on the news horizon, it should be a core issue for the next election.

posted by Max Post @ 10:14 AM