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Since Perry has quickly become one of the three top tier candidates running for the GOP, his comments carry some weight. Last week he raised doubts in the theory of evolution, saying the theory has "got some gaps in it". In addition to his doubts, he stated that, "In Texas, we teach creationism and evolution because I feel you're smart enough to figure out which one is right."
When I the story the first time I thought wow, I can't believe he just said that. First, let me say that I have no problem with people believing whatever they want to believe in. I am a huge supporter of people having the right to their own respective religions. Where I start to have issues is when public officials start to force their beliefs onto others using their power to pass laws, make appointments to committees that can change the rules, etc. This is precisely why I have a big problem with Governor Perry.
Second, Perry states that in Texas they teach creationism and evolution. This is false. Not only is it false, it is against the law. In 1987, the supreme court ruled that a requiring that 'creation science' be taught in Louisiana public schools, along with evolution, was unconstitutional. Perry is not stupid. He knew his statement was false. He said it for political gain, since many constituents in the GOP would like to have creationism taught in public schools.
Third, it was an absolute relief to finally hear a public official of high regard call intelligent design by its true name creationism. Since the supreme court has already ruled against creationism, the movement to get 'creation science' into public schools had to regroup in the late 1980s. They did so by inventing intelligent design, or as I call it creationism 2.0. The movement has been very careful to try to separate the link between creationism and intelligent design in order to attempt to be successful in getting it into public schools. So far the ploy hasn't been very successful but Perry blew years of the careful separation out of the water with his statement last week.
What Jon Huntsman said is correct. "The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party - the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012." Being an independent myself, I can confirm what he said. I will not vote for anyone that wants to use their power to force their religion onto other people. In particular, if you support teaching 'creation science' in public school science classes to counter evolution as a theory, then you will not get my vote. I believe there are a lot of people like me that feel the same way. Are you one of them?
Note: I put 'creation science' in parenthesis because it is a misnomer. Creationism or intelligent design, creationism 2.0, is not and cannot be considered science because it is non-falsifiable and untestable using the scientific method.
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