In researching Nick Gillespie’s claim that the Republican “presidential candidates have mostly publicly rejected evolution,” Ramesh Ponnuru came across this article by Sen. Duncan Hunter on the subject. After quoting the Declaration of Independence — and its assertion that our inalienable rights are endowed to us by God — Hunter concluded:
When Chris Matthews asked one of my fellow candidates if he believed in evolution, the question was designed to embarrass my fellow Republicans. Whether or not, at some level, created beings adapt to their surroundings, or change to some degree over generations is not the right understanding of that question. The real question is this: Does God exist and did he create us? The liberties of every American citizen, including those of Chris Matthews, hang in the balance if we get the answer to that question wrong.
Ponnuru later posted an email from a reader who described this acknowledgment of micro-evolution as a “standard creationist talking point.” I’m not so certain that’s fair — it seems more like he’s being purposefully obscure in the interests of having it as many ways as possible:if you’re a Creationist, Hunter doesn’t seem to disagree with you; if you accept evolution as fact, you can’t really pin him down on it, either.
It’s never going to happen — and it would probably be political suicide — but wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a Republican candidate say that everyone who doesn’t reject Creationism is a ignorant, raving loon? Surprisingly, the closest I’ve seen is this from Mitt Romney, who opposes teaching Creationism or Intelligent Design in science classrooms:
“I believe that God designed the universe and created the universe,” Mr. Romney said in an interview this week. “And I believe evolution is most likely the process he used to create the human body.”
He was asked: Is that intelligent design?
“I’m not exactly sure what is meant by intelligent design,” he said. “But I believe God is intelligent and I believe he designed the creation. And I believe he used the process of evolution to create the human body.”
While governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney opposed the teaching of intelligent design in science classes.
“In my opinion, the science class is where to teach evolution, or if there are other scientific thoughts that need to be discussed,” he said. “If we’re going to talk about more philosophical matters, like why it was created, and was there an intelligent designer behind it, that’s for the religion class or philosophy class or social studies class.”
Briefly, here’s a round-up of what I can find about the Republican candidates’ statements on the subject:
Sen. John McCain: McCain accepts evolution through natural selection, but has previously stated that he’s comfortable with Intelligent Design being taught in schools (though I haven’t seen anything on Creationism). More recently, he’s said ID should not be taught not as science. On the other hand, a keynote address he gave was co-sponsored by the Discovery Institute.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani: I’m unable to find anything.
Sen. Fred Thompson: I’m unable to find anything.
Rep. Ron Paul: Can’t find anything bona fide, but I did come across this, in which the congressman’s purported staffer says the good doctor accepts the teachings of biology.
Sen. Sam Brownback: I wrote a long response to the foolish op-ed Brownback wrote this spring to clarify his position, but Derb put it best:
Here is Sam Brownback talking about evolutionary biology. That’s a bit like saying: “Here’s Paris Hilton talking about partial differential equations.”
Gov. Mike Huckabee: Huckabee went on the record shortly after the debate with an argument much like the one on Hunter’s website: it’s a gotcha question that ignores the real question, which is what is the source of our values?
Rep. Tom Tancredo: Tancredo wins the prize for using the macro/micro evolution line to (try to) have it both ways.
Evolution explains changes in life. Creationism explains its origin.
EDIT: The link I posted regarding Rep. Ron Paul was incorrect. The correct link now appears.
Posted by Tom in Science & Evolution, Audacity of Hype
Thank you for your time and attention, and such.