Friday, November 27, 2009

Opinion

John Aloysius Farrell

Bobby Jindal and the GOP Don’t Believe in Evolution

December 04, 2008 05:15 PM ET | John Aloysius Farrell | Permanent Link | Print

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's recent trip to Iowa, where they hold those presidential caucuses every four years, leads me to suspect he may share the media speculation that he could be the Next Great Thing in the Republican Party.

It also reminded me how Jindal signed a dumb and devious bit of legislation last summer, allowing local school districts to promote alternative (i.e., religious) doctrines in their science curriculums when it comes to evolution.

Jindal is obviously one bright guy. How can he equate ancient creation myths with the hard facts of physics and biology?

One might think that the Republicans learned something from the drubbing they took in the 2006 and 2008 elections. But like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee (and John McCain in 2008), Jindal is apparently happy to cater to the religious right, even if it means teaching superstition in the classroom.

Tags: Republicans | religion | evolution | Bobby Jindal

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Reader Comments

PALIN 2012!

Bobby Piyush Jindal is a muslim who says he converted to Christianity. We Republicans will NOT FALL for that like the dems did. If we survive until 2012 under Obama, Sarah Palin is our only hope!

Evolve your thinking

It's amazing the ignorance of evolution and even what a scientific theory is ("only" a theory) in the comments on this site - which goes far in explaining our depressingly low national aptitude in science and resultant grad. rate of engineers/scientists. Exactly what Jindal and the GOP rely on to get elected.

People - read the definition of each before you comment.

What is a theory?

Buffie said: "It’s called the /theory/ of evolution for a reason. It hasn’t been proven..."

Nope, that isn't the reason. In science, the word "theory" is something that explains facts. Theories are not necessarily speculative and they may have a great deal of evidence and consensus behind them. For example, scientists refer to "atomic theory," but the existence of atoms is not in dispute.

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John Aloysius Farrell is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report. An award-winning Washington reporter, he has written for The Boston Globe and The Denver Post and is the author of Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century and an upcoming biography of the great American defense attorney, Clarence Darrow.

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