Canada's minister of science says his beliefs on evolution are irrelevant!

[Flannel Boy]

Canada's minister of state for science and technology, Gary Goodyear, refused to answer a question about his views on evolution, claiming that evolution was irrelevant to his position--as minister of science.

On two previous occasions he has dodged the same question. First he replied by implying that evolution is not a scientific matter, but a religious one. He said, "I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate." 

He then claimed that he did in fact believe in evolution, but gave a silly response indicating that he has no idea what evolution actually is: "We are evolving every year, every decade. That's a fact, whether it's . . .  to the effects of walking on concrete. Of course, we are evolving to our environment. But that's not relevant."

According to this quote, he either believes that we evolve genetically during our lifetimes or he gave a dodge using the word evolve in a non-scientific way (i.e., he was talking about how society changes or evolves). Anyway, according to Canada's minister of science, it's not relevant!

How did the Prime Minister of Canada respond?

His spokesman said, "It's a dangerous road to go down to make religious beliefs a part of science funding . . . Once you start going down that road, you really are opening Pandora's box."

I don't know whether that's the issue, but it seems perfectly reasonable to cut off scientific funding to individuals who have religious beliefs that contradict basic scientific facts and are unable to put those religious beliefs aside when discussing science. At the very least, Canada's minister of science should be able to put his religious beliefs aside when it comes to scientific matters. And if he doesn't even  have a basic grade-nine level grasp of science, he shouldn't have a scientific portfolio!

 

[Diunx]

 

[Flannel Boy]

How does it feel to lose twice to that baseball powerhouse Holland?

:Dominicancry

[Flannel Boy]

The Liberal Party's response was cold-blooded: "Our science critic [Yanks, not a critic of science, but a critic of the minister] is a former astronaut, he can testify from personal experience that the world is round, not flat."

[Flannel Boy]

Great response from the liberals 

Also Holland is the best European baseball nation if that counts for anything.

It doesn't when you consider the talent out of the DR.

(I'm just hoping nobody points out how Canada lost to Italy.)

[Diunx]

You are assuming that I give a shit about baseball, I actually hate baseball season because a gym I used to go to was next to the second biggest stadium in the city and the players from a local team used to take over the place during those months even though they have their own fucking gym inside the stadium, you had to wait like 40 minutes to get a fucking bench.

[Flannel Boy]

It was a reasonable assumption.  :'(

edit: I'm not a big hockey fan, but if Canada lost to the Netherlands or some other non-hockey nation, I'd be slightly embarrassed.

[Diunx]

I'm too weak to play or care about sports.

I also can't play any instrument, suck at school, can't draw, suck at driving, only finish games on medium, suck at swimming and people can't never understand what I write because my writing sucks.

:diunxcry

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I'm a good kisser though

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[Flannel Boy]

Are you turned off by men with facial hair?

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[BobFromPikeCreek]

Hey that's my MP!

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Whatta douche.

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[Diunx]

Making out with a bearded man is like the  gayest thing ever, baby faces are alright as long as you don't tell anyone

[Phoenix Dark]

Evolution is more faith/religion than science so I have no problem with this

[Flannel Boy]

Making out with a bearded man is like the  gayest thing ever, baby faces are alright as long as you don't tell anyone

First female law students, now men over the internet are turning me down.

Evolution is more faith/religion than science so I have no problem with this

 

[Flannel Boy]

Hey that's my MP!

Now the stalking game begins.

edit: you live an hour away from my old hometown of Mississauga.

[Human Snorenado]

The Liberal Party's response was cold-blooded: "Our science critic [Yanks, not a critic of science, but a critic of the minister] is a former astronaut, he can testify from personal experience that the world is round, not flat."

I'm continually baffled by the fact that you guys' liberal party doesn't get rid of that deadweight guy at the head of it.  Seems like they'd be able to win an election if they did.  Put this science critic dude as the head of the party, he's got cojones.

[Madrun Badrun]

Man the conservatives suck ass. 

The Liberal Party's response was cold-blooded: "Our science critic [Yanks, not a critic of science, but a critic of the minister] is a former astronaut, he can testify from personal experience that the world is round, not flat."

 

Evolution is more faith/religion than science so I have no problem with this

How so PD?

[Oblivion]

If the concept of evolution really existed, then wouldn't God have mentioned it in the bible?

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Hey that's my MP!

Now the stalking game begins.

edit: you live an hour away from my old hometown of Mississauga.

Bleh. Mississauga. Possess neither the big city appeal nor the suburban charm of the cities surrounding it.

[Boogie]

The Liberal Party's response was cold-blooded: "Our science critic [Yanks, not a critic of science, but a critic of the minister] is a former astronaut, he can testify from personal experience that the world is round, not flat."

I'm continually baffled by the fact that you guys' liberal party doesn't get rid of that deadweight guy at the head of it.  Seems like they'd be able to win an election if they did.  Put this science critic dude as the head of the party, he's got cojones.

Umm, I assume you're talking about Dion. They did get rid of him back in December.

[Boogie]

Hey that's my MP!

Now the stalking game begins.

edit: you live an hour away from my old hometown of Mississauga.

Bleh. Mississauga. Possess neither the big city appeal nor the suburban charm of the cities surrounding it.

Oh, please tell me what "suburban charm" exists in the GTA.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Yeah I guess you're right. The entire GTA is a hell hole.

[brawndolicious]

Evolution is more faith/religion than science so I have no problem with this

This, and not the Catholic church, is why black people have the AIDS.

[Bloodwake]

Evolution is more faith/religion than science so I have no problem with this

I didn't know there was a church or mainstream religion that promoted evolution.

[Eric P]

PD is just doing the contrarian thing.

[Phoenix Dark]

PD is just doing the contrarian thing.

Kinda shocked folks took that seriously.

I should invite Astrolad here

[AdmiralViscen]

Evolution is more faith/religion than science so I have no problem with this

I didn't know there was a church or mainstream religion that promoted evolution.

http://www.evilbore.com/forum/index.php?topic=28586.0

[Flannel Boy]

Yeah I guess you're right. The entire GTA is a hell hole.

I used to think that until I moved to Winnipeg.

[Boogie]

Yeah I guess you're right. The entire GTA is a hell hole.

I used to think that until I moved to Winnipeg.

  

Could be worse, you could be in Thompson!

I don't think the GTA is a "Hellhole", I just don't think it possesses any "suburban charm", whatever the hell that's supposed to be.

[Flannel Boy]

It depends on the area. It's mostly big box stores, highways, fast food joints, malls, more highways, and large suburban homes. But there's some nice green space, too. The area near the University of Toronto Mississauga is very nice.

[Boogie]

Hmm, never been to UTM.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

I don't even know what I meant by that. I just don't like Mississauga.

[Flannel Boy]

Just because you have good taste in girls, doesn't mean you have good taste in suburbs.

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Mississauga does suck

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[BobFromPikeCreek]

Anyway, smh @ my MP. The guy wins by a motherfucking landslide. I hate my city.

[Human Snorenado]

The Liberal Party's response was cold-blooded: "Our science critic [Yanks, not a critic of science, but a critic of the minister] is a former astronaut, he can testify from personal experience that the world is round, not flat."

I'm continually baffled by the fact that you guys' liberal party doesn't get rid of that deadweight guy at the head of it.  Seems like they'd be able to win an election if they did.  Put this science critic dude as the head of the party, he's got cojones.

Umm, I assume you're talking about Dion. They did get rid of him back in December.

Really?  Bout time.  Too bad you guys don't want to have another election anytime soon.

[Mandark]

Science Minister = a PM who's given some science-related portfolio, rather than someone appointed specifically for that job, right?

And science critic = shadow science minister?

[Flannel Boy]

Science Minister = a PM who's given some science-related portfolio, rather than someone appointed specifically for that job, right?

And science critic = shadow science minister?

Yeah, it's an elected minister given a portfolio by the Prime Minister.  And the critic is a shadow minister appointed by the opposition leader.

[Mandark]

Gotcha.

I guess it's less shocking that a politician would say this rather than an outsider (of whom you'd expect some expertise).  On the other hand, there were a ton of unelected appointees in the Bush administration who didn't believe in the mission of the bureaus they ran.  So yeah.

That zinger about the ex-astronaut was pretty slick, though.

[Flannel Boy]

Gotcha.

I guess it's less shocking that a politician would say this rather than an outsider (of whom you'd expect some expertise).  On the other hand, there were a ton of unelected appointees in the Bush administration who didn't believe in the mission of the bureaus they ran.  So yeah.

You're right, but I still find it offensive that a PM, who has over 140 MP's from whom to choose, would hand a scientific portfolio to someone who neither believes in evolution nor even understands it. And it's not as if the minister doesn't have important power and influence: he has, for example, slashed over 100 million from government agencies. Such contempt for science can be expected from someone that doesn't understand science and thinks it should be a subordinated to religious faith.

That zinger about the ex-astronaut was pretty slick, though.

The astronaut referenced is Marc Garneau, a Liberal MP. He has a PhD, was a commander in the Navy, has flown a number of shuttle missions, has an order of Canada, and has a school named after him. It's quite a funny juxtaposition between the science critic and the actual science minister.

[Flannel Boy]

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1405201 (the Post is right wing; the columnist, John Moore, is not)

When asked by a Globe and Mail science reporter, Canada's Minister of State for Science and Technology wouldn't say if he believed in evolution. Was that a problem, or just a niggling matter of personal conscience?

Let's put it this way: If Finance Minister Jim Flaherty were to say he didn't understand how the money supply works but he prays daily for an end to the current economic turmoil, I believe we would all think we had a problem.

Jonathan Kay -- who columnized on this issue in Tuesday's Post -- thinks that religion is a private matter, and that those pesky secularists with all their logic and proven science are merely engaging in a "witch hunt." With all due respect to him, this represents a forever mind-numbing failure to properly frame the place of science in our society.

Science is not what we believe, it is what we know. It is based on observation, reason, fact and proof. Faith, on the other hand, is all those things we cannot test, document or prove. That's why it's called faith; we believe in the absence of proof.

Science Minister Gary Goodyear says he believes in things we cannot see. "Maybe," he says, "we don't have a powerful enough microscope yet." This is a false logic that permeates the creationist community: the idea that because there is much to be revealed in the world, we can't count on what we have already seen. Are creationists willing to apply this logic to medicine, and forgo Penicillin pending what we still don't know about bacteriology? Do they reject what we already know about the world's geography because we haven't fully mapped the sea beds?

Of course it matters whether the Science Minister acknowledges or contests evolution. This isn't a case of a politician who likes to read the Bible and pray -- it's a Cabinet Minister who holds philosophical beliefs that are antithetical to his portfolio.

The first problem with Goodyear is that he fronts the science portfolio in a government that has demonstrated through its most recent budget that it doesn't value the sector. The man delegated to argue the vital importance of science at the Cabinet table doesn't actually know what it is. More significantly, Goodyear's insistence that religion should come to bear on science provides comfort to those who teach their children the falsehood that to follow God you must reject science.

This is the willful dissemination of scientific illiteracy. More frankly put, it is the promotion of stupidity.

Nailed it.