Yesterday, I read a piece . . . somewhere . . . (I have looked and looked and looked and cannot find the original story to link to; a little help here please, although the piece linked below does have a link also; thank God for the Intertubes) about a Georgia state legislator who has circulated a letter concerning creationism being a Jewish kabbalistic plot; the letter reached a Texas state rep., and now the GA rep. is backing away from responsibility (even though it was sent from his office, on his letterhead etc.; these guys dance so bad, they need new choreographers!). There is a part of me that wanted to be all sarcastic about this - bringing up The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and all that - but I thought better of it because I didn't want to be misunderstood on something as both silly and serious as this. Christian anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are the root of too much evil to snark about, and any Jewish reader who came across even a sarcastic, satiric jibe might be rightly offended. Not only that, but such is just in poor taste; again, the piles of Jewish bodies is a bit too high for my taste.
I was going to ignore the whole thing - the stupid, like the poor, will always be with us - until I saw this story over at Alternet.org. I urge you to go read it and find out just how seriously deranged creationists are.
I have had some very good discussions with frequent visitor/poster Democracy Lover on issues of the philosophy of science, including the truth-and-reality-status of scientific theories, including Copernicus' (I should just use his real name, Kopernik, because it is easier to make a plural out of; now, I've ended a sentence with a preposition!). These are both fun and deadly serious. Having read this story, however, I think it necessary to make clear that just because I question the ultimate truth and reality of any scientific theory (as a good scientist should), that in no way means I . . . I can't even type what is such a ludicrous sentence!
Ahem.
Epistemological and ontological skepticism over the status of scientific theories in no way countenances the acceptance of an alternative that has failed, for five centuries, to account for mountains of data. Epistemological and ontological skepticism over science is not anti-science; it is putting a wonderful, useful tool in a larger context of human understanding. Period.
That I should feel at all compelled to write the previous short paragraph shows that, perhaps, DL has a point. I still will not question the faith of those who are claiming this nonsense. I will question their mental status, their intellectual capacity, and their seriousness as public figures.
I have been trying to be nice, but I just need to get this last line out of my system, and go listen to something really loud.
WHAT ABSOLUTE MORONS. PLEASE, FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE IN THE WORLD, SHUT THE HELL UP. YOU ARE HURTING ME WITH YOUR STUPIDITY.
OK, I'm better now.
Stoopnagles.
Virtual Tin Cup
