Conservatives and christian fundamentalist and the war on science?

Question

Just beating a dead horse I know.... but I simple fail to understand why a large percentage of the Republican party and christain fundamentalist seem to be at such odds with the scientific community. Specifically with evolution, stem cell research and climate change.
Disputing scientific theories that are so well founded and accepted world wide seems to be a problem unique to the U.S.
The rest of the world is moving forward, and if this trend continues we will find ourselves in 20 years in a very different place on the world stage.
What do you think? Is this a result in our failure to educate our children?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_sc/brain_evolution

Answer 1

it's mostly because they are encouraged to shut their eyes to any problems that they don't know how to/don't want to deal with as if that will make them go away. apparently their god has exactly the same intolerant short-sighted views, so that makes it okay to be ignorant and refuse to address the problems of society. so many of these people believe in some form of social darwinism, that they believe they are simply better than others. and i'm sure that part of it comes from simply wanting to be contrary.

Answer 2

From the point of view of a Republican, with a fairly significant background in math and the 'hard' sciences:

Evolution. I think that today's theories on evolution are likely to be fairly close to what happened. But some things just don't make sense from a random/environmentally caused evolutionary point of view.

Just how did a bird develop feathers? Where did the eye come from? How does a single-celled animal turn into a whale or a human?

The conclusion that some draw (I'm not one of them) is that there is someone, somewhere controlling this experiment we call life.

Stem Cell Research: You don't have your terms correct. Republicans (for the most part) don't have problems with most stem cell research. It's starting new lines of EMBRYONIC stem cell research with federal money that's the problem. You see, many Rs think that is killing a human for scientific purposes. Josef Mengele did that for Hitler. It wasn't a nice thing to do. Don't you agree?

Climate change: You can see from the chart below*, that the climate has been getting cooler (on average) over the last 2 or 3 million years. You can also see that 5 million years ago it was much warmer than it is now. That was long before the internal combustion engine was invented. So, how did it happen? Naturally, that's how. We may be in a cycle that happens to be going up at the moment.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has this to say about Global Warming. **

"Q. Have humans contributed to the warming?

A. Yes, but there is debate over how much. Natural variability - such as that arising from changes in the sun's energy input to Earth, volcanic activity, and regional climate phenomena like El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - does play a role in adjusting the global thermometer."

And another study *** predicts cooler temperature in the near future.

Yet another Woods Hole scientist said**** in 2004. "It could happen in 10 years,” says Terrence Joyce, who chairs the Woods Hole Physical Oceanography Department. “Once it does, it can take hundreds of years to reverse.” And he is alarmed that Americans have yet to take the threat seriously. In a letter to The New York Times last April, he wrote, “Recall the coldest winters in the Northeast, like those of 1936 and 1978, and then imagine recurring winters that are even colder, and you’ll have an idea of what this would be like.”

I don't know about you, but I think that Global Warming is just a little to convenient a theory for the Luddites# to pass up.

Answer 3

It's not like there's a ban on stem cell research in the United States. There's just no federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. In fact the research is going on and will continue to do so. (State funding, private funding, pharmaceutical companies).

As for global warming, the idea that the rest of the world is moving forward on this is erroneous. The US has passed cleaner air laws and was immediately sued by Canada and a grievance was filed to the WTO by Britain & France. They basically want us to cut our emmission while buying their toxic products.

Evolution isn't a fact. It's theory with some big missing peaces (scientifically called gaps). Why can't more than one theory be taught? What difference does it make? We're still here regardless.

And I'm not even a Christian.

Answer 4

You are right in that the Christain far right has those issues. A lot of Republicans tho do not. You can no more lump the entire republican party into the same basket than you could the Democrats. What is needed more than anything is a fourum where people on the right and left can come together and learn the facts of stem cell research. It is in the benifit of both party's to spread the truth about this issue.

Answer 5

If what you're saying, Mary, have been authentic, then you certainly can clarify why Fundamentalists and Evangelicals oftentimes voted for the non-Christian cultist Mormon Romney, could no longer you? Why might Christians, Mary, choose to institute Islamic regulation? maximum Christians might rather stay around the corner to a leftist Democrat than an mosque, does not they? As for women folk human beings, Christian women human beings are the main eye-catching and the sweetest on the earth and Christian marriages are the happiest interior the international. do no longer you suspect in non secular freedom, Mary? The leftist Democrats threw Christians out of their social gathering via status for abortion, which Christians evaluate homicide via fact the unborn toddler is a individual. The leftist Democrats look to have blood on their hands.

Answer 6

It's a very sad truth that all too often ignorance is the grease of religion.

A religious person can have both science and faith. The two do not need to be at odds.

Even now, the Southern Baptist Convention tries to determine how to stand of environmental issues. They don't want to support the cause of so many environmentalists, because they see supporters of the environment as godless liberals. So they would sooner see their planet polluted than side with those who they "may" mistakenly assume have no faith.

And look at the misinformation on condoms. The Christian Right with support from the current Administration are basically telling kids that condoms don't work. Of course that's an outrageous untruth, but they want to control human behavior to fit their own molded vision.

We live in a very sad and twisted world sometimes.

Answer 7

Not all conservatives attack science, im a very scientific man. And for those who are saying Evolution is a theory, you are correct as opposed to the fundamentalist's arguement that has NO PROOF. I am a religious man but i do not begin to dare to challenge science with what i think is correct because science will always...it will take time but they will win. To answer the question, they do it because their faith is so weak they cannot stand the presence of anything that says otherwise. It was the church might i add who put a man under house arrest for saying the earth didn't revolve around the sun. Its the same ignorance and zealotry just of different types. Ignorance and religion go hand in hand....even in mine. The difference is i dont attack those who suggest ideas contrary to mine. And if science attacks the church its only defending itself for hundreds and hundreds of years of taking abuse from the church for simple research.

Answer 8

Evolution - Theory

Stem Cell Research - Stem cells are found in adults and can be used for the same research we dont need to harvest embryos to do it.

Climate change - our earth goes through climate shifts over periods of decades, proven fact

Answer 9

I doubt that the "large percentage" is realistic. Christian fundamentalists are the ones who are in denial about scientific facts. I know lots of conservatives & lots of Christians, but I don't know anyone who thinks the bible is the root of all science, yes, they exist, but so do people who deny that we landed on the moon.

Answer 10

my personal favorite is when they say "liberals are emotional and don't use facts, while Republicans use facts and rational thinking"...

then they go on a tirade about how science is wrong and the only evidence they have is the Bible...

it always strikes me as funny...

but wait "larry the orc" could be on to something... perhaps they think science is "attacking them"... through facts and scientific method, science has put many of their beliefs into doubt... apparently they see this as an "attack"...
interesting... never thought of it like that...

oh... and larry... EVERYONE that's ever said "it's the end of the world" has turned out to look like a complete dumb*ss... the odds are not in your favor that you won't end up looking like one... at least no more than you already do, that is...

Answer 11

Gee, considering how the so called scientific community has attacked Christian Beliefs,,,,,Mr Pot, this is Mr Kettle, NOTICE THEY'RE BOTH BLACK!

Don't worry about it guy- end of the world is between now and 2030, and I'm going to say right now- I TOLD YOU SO