Well I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle

Or, it will be my great great great grandfather. Or something.

The shameful ignorance of our elected officials never ends. Sometimes I see stuff like this:

Rep Jack Kingston (R., Ga): I Didn’t Come From A Monkey

and I think, "If they only understood what the theory of evolution actually says, then maybe.."

The reality sets in. They do not want to understand. They can't. People like this were raised with a particular view of the world, in this case, I am sure, one informed by the teachings of Christianity. Not the moral or spiritual teachings. The teachings about historical and scientific facts. Some people believe that they must interpret the Bible literally. This is awesomely stupid. It leads to backwards thinking. It is an abdication of reason. It flies in the face of reality. And it explains much of the otherwise inexplicable stupidity of some of the American electorate. Faith-based "thinking" isn't thinking at all. It is adherence to a counter-factual set of beliefs that are flatly contradicted by science. And it is, insofar as it influences public policy, very dangerous. I'll discuss that a little more elsewhere.

If one chooses to turn to religion, then I respect that choice. If one incorporates the guidance that religion can provide on how to live a good life, whatever that means, fine. I do my best to judge people based on their actions, not their religious affiliation, if any. I still think they believe in a magical sky man for whom there is no evidence whatsoever, and I still think much of religion (as opposed to spirituality) is just plain silly. But those are my opinions, and I would not seek to impose those on anyone. The problem with certain religious people is that they impose their views, consciously or not. People like Rep. Kingston impose darkness on the human race by their ignorance. There are many examples. The Congressman who cited God's covenant to not destroy the Earth again (gee, thanks Lord) as a reason to ignore climate change is, through his ignorance fueled by faith-based thinking, pursuing choices that will cause direct harm to millions of people.