In an earlier essay, I speculated that, despite Trump’s
attack on science education and research, insisting that both education and research
should be focused entirely on his loudly-stated beliefs rather than on any data
from the real world, there would probably be no mass exodus of scientists out
of the United States into (for example) China (see my science blog entry).
But events of recent weeks have caused me to rethink this.
Trump announced the appointment of his chair of a task
force that will recommend reforms for higher education.
That man is Jerry Falwell, Jr. Yes, the president of Liberty University, and
the son of its late former president, Jerry Falwell. Jerry Falwell Jr. has said
that he will redesign higher education so that it is focused on the Bible, and
will bring higher education “back to some form of sanity.” And what this
undoubtedly means is that, in order for students to receive loans to attend
colleges and universities, they will have to attend colleges and universities
that promote the utter and absolute truth of Creationism. Science education
will quickly collapse, and therefore science educators will quickly leave the
United States (this is my plan) or else find some other kind of job (I have not
ruled out the possibility of being a science-education supermarket produce
stocker, leading customers on economic botany tours in the produce section). If
the entire function of science education is to indoctrinate college students in
creationism, then scientific research will quickly collapse in the United
States. Other countries, more welcoming to science, will benefit immensely from
the inevitable brain drain.
What could possibly go wrong?
The creationists do not really want to see God, Jesus, or
the Bible exalted in science education. They do not want the Bible to be
taught. They want their interpretation of
the Bible to be taught. Creationists consider themselves personally inerrant, incapable of error,
when they open a Bible and start talking. There have been many interpretations
of Genesis 1, for example, and the history of these interpretations goes back
hundreds of years. But creationists consider all these other interpretations of
the Bible to be wrong. The creationists, and they alone, are chosen by God to
tell people what to believe about the Bible. Jerry Falwell Jr. thinks that we
should all bow down and revere Him, Falwell, as the single approved explicator of God’s truth.
I don’t have a problem with Jesus. I don’t have a problem
with the Bible, which may be inspired by God or may be an historical record of
people trying to understand God. I have a problem with creationist Republicans
elevating themselves to Godlike status and pushing God out of the way. This is
the “form of sanity” that Falwell intends to impose on all scientists,
educators, and students.
Yes, I am accusing creationists of blasphemy.
I don’t have a problem with Jesus. I don’t have a problem
with the Bible, which may be inspired by God or may be an historical record of
people trying to understand God. I have a problem with creationist Republicans
elevating themselves to Godlike status and pushing God out of the way. This is
the “form of sanity” that Falwell intends to impose on all scientists,
educators, and students.
I teach about evolution, biodiversity, and global
warming. Will I soon be considered an enemy of the state? History is full of
scientists who have been crushed by religious power, from Galileo to Vavilov.
Meanwhile, J’ose lire la Bible moi-même.
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