Anti-Semitism and Racism are Ideas Too!

Bush endorses teaching 'intelligent design'

"'I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought,' Bush said. ' You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes.'"

Here's the lede from the story:

WASHINGTON - President Bush waded into the debate over evolution and "intelligent design" Monday, saying schools should teach both theories on the creation and complexity of life.

In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with a small group of reporters, Bush essentially endorsed efforts by Christian conservatives to give intelligent design equal standing with the theory of evolution in the nation's schools.

It mystifies me why people still wonder why there are so few Republicans in academia. Could it be that there simply aren't that many equipped for it? No one says we need an affirmative action program to reduce political bias in the military, yet large majorities of the armed services are Republican or independents and few are confessed Democrats. To be a Republican today (rather than a libertarian who votes Republican) is to suspend all disbelief, to choose faith over fact, over science, over reason.

The Discovery Institute thinks it is on to something because the Theory (and what is meant by a theory to a scientist is significantly different from what a lay person considers to be a theory) cannot explain every question (yet) about the origin of life. But evolution is not about a moment of origin but a process of, er, evolution of species. That said, the handful of biologists turned up by the Discovery Institute is neither significant nor surprising since there are always likely to be a handful of people with degrees in one area of a subject that gives them little license to talk credibly about another.