Fall Fallowturn Moon
Here’s a “timeless principle” I found on Rep. Aikin’s website today:
Timeless Principles
George Washington
|
I get the how. But still I wonder about the anti-science perspective that gains traction in an age of vaccines, space flight, electric cars and digital communications. After shock and awe, I wonder about the why of it.
Not how. I know how: 1. Minds foreclosed by religious dogma, which BTW is different from theology which can admit searching and questioning. Dogma are matters of certainty necessary to faith in a particular religious community. 2. Minds wedded to an ideology that functions like a dogma. Doctrinaire Marxists, objectivists and libertarians are examples here.
I’ve been thinking about the anti-science movement since the Sierra Club legislative awards ceremony on Tuesday. You need go no further unfortunately than the House of Representative’s Committee on Science, Space and Technology to find it alive and voting. NASA, the Department of Energy, EPA, ATSDR, NSF, FAA, NOAA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, FEMA, the U.S. Fire Administration, and United States Geological Survey all fall within the partial or total overview of this committee.
Our lady parts ambassador Todd Aikin sits on that committee. (see an example of his website below) Also on the committee from a Georgia university town and a medical doctor: ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Rep. Paul Broun said in videotaped remarks that evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory are “lies straight from the pit of hell” meant to convince people that they do not need a savior.
An entry on the California Aggie blog adds this: “Sitting with Akin on the affectionately-dubbed “Anti-Science Committee” is Paul Broun, (see above) a creationist who believes the Earth is 9,000 years old, Mo Brooks and Jim Sensenbrenner, both global-warming deniers, and Ralph Hall, who blocked a bill to fund science research by essentially forcing the opposing candidates to vote in favor of pornography.”
This last gem of a politician is, wait for it, the chair of the committee. Chew on that one for awhile.