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Eugene -
Sorry you misunderstood my post. I was certainly not equating being uneducated as being evil, simply pointing out the conundrum of those with agendas that seek to control what people think or are able to do (which could hardly be characterized as the motives of an uneducated person), and those who are susceptible to believing them because they have not been educated to think critically, realize that most issues that are painted black and white are actually much more complex and be skeptical of people like Santorum who blatantly have an agenda, defensible or not. To be more accurate, I guess I would characterize my universe as a place where promoting ignorance is a sin.
As far as comparing the arguments against evolution with abortion, I would content that both are moral issues. It is immoral in my universe to selectively withhold information about the best science available about a topic, because it conflicts with the world view of a particular religion.
I think as this thread becomes increasingly impassioned (i am guilty as anyone), we are losing sight of the original issue, which I think was to do with the way very specific kinds of "inconvenient" science, like climate science, evolution, vaccines, and arguably, even the social science around abortion (in which crime rates positively correlate to the rates of unwanted births--Indeed it was Reagan who commissioned a scientific study to "prove" that abortions were more dangerous than live births--it backfired on him), are surgically being suppressed or mischaracterized. One can argue the role of politics, economics, or sheer mass hysteria, but the bottom line is that without grooming a generation of intelligent, informed, scientifically literate citizens, we face a future ill equipped to deal with the increasingly complex challenges that an increasingly complex global society creates.
Stephen Miles Uzzo, PhD.
VP, Science & Technology
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY 11368 USA
V +1.718 595.9177
F +1.718.699.5227
On Apr 16, 2012, at 2:03 AM, Eugene Dillenburg wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I do not support Mr. Santorum, but I will defend him against unfair attacks. I agree with Eric: the quote offered by Chuck does not seem to be to be anti-intellectual; rather, it laments the well-documented political bias within liberal arts faculties (a bias which tends to be less pronounced in the sciences).
>
> Further, I am not aware of Mr. Santorum being anti-vaccine. His opposition to the Texas HPV law was based not on the medicine, but on the mandate: the fact that the state government was forcing this on parents. A quick look at some anti-vaccination websites shows that Mr. Santorum has in fact raised their ire for his support of certain vaccine-related legislation.
>
> I may be misreading his most recent post, but Mr. Uzza seems to be equating being uneducated with being "evil." If this is the case, then he inhabits a vastly different moral universe than I.
>
> Finally, I do not understand how Charlie draws parallels to debates over evolution and debates over abortion. The latter is rarely argued in scientific terms; rather, it seen as a moral issue.
>
> Eugene Dillenburg
>
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