Guest Post by Morbo
I’m fascinated over how the two wings of the Republican Party — business-oriented, free market conservatives vs. fundamentalist Christian social conservatives — continue to exist alongside one another.
On some issues, they just don’t get along. Fundamentalists are appalled by pornography and want the Justice Department to shut it down. Free-market conservatives look at the porn industry and see $10 billion a year (at least) being pumped into the U.S. economy.
In these cases, business tends to come out on top. After all, they have the money. Thus, the Justice Department prosecutes a few porn producers every year who are putting out stuff that pushes the envelope and looks the other way at more conventional porn.
Now there’s evidence that the GOP’s two wings may be headed for another big dust-up, this one over an unlikely subject: evolution.
Writer Michael Ennis lays it out in the April issue of Texas Monthly. Ennis points out that bio-technology is rapidly becoming a very lucrative field. Those who understand modern biology will reap the benefits. Those who think the planet is 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time will be left behind working at Wal-Mart and watching “The Flintstones.”
Ennis points out that states like California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Wisconsin and others are itching to enter the “biotech ‘gold rush.'” One thing they’re offering employers is an educated workforce that understands modern science.
The Lone Star State wants a slice of that — but there’s a problem.
“Texans don’t know much biology,” Ennis writes. “Our students test below national averages in science achievement, our science curriculum isn’t competitive, and we have a shortage of science teachers….[T]he real problem isn’t that Texas’s science teachers can’t teach, it’s that Texas’s teachers can’t adequately teach evolution, thanks to our long legacy of Darwin-bashing.” (Unfortunately, you can’t read the article at Texas Monthly’s site unless you’re a subscriber.)
Most Texas public schools don’t teach creationism outright, but they fail to emphasize evolution or teach it in such a half-hearted way that the treatment is useless. Evolution is the unifying principle of the biological sciences. It should underpin biology instruction and be a constant companion as students study high-school biology. Instead, it is relegated to a single unit or an afternoon of study — if that.
Texas has a long tradition of encouraging fundamentalist interlopers who create all manner of havoc over textbooks. For years, the late Mel Gabler and his wife Norma ran an outfit from their kitchen table that struck fear into the heart of state legislators. The Gablers didn’t believe in evolution and managed to make their ignorance the standard for the entire state; they dumbed down the science curriculum for years.
But as Ennis explains, modern science progresses no matter what biblical literalists think. I’ve always found it supremely ironic that the same fundamentalist who denies evolution benefits from advances in modern medicine brought to you by researchers who understand its reality. Science marches on, and other states know this. California is only too happy to pick up the bio-tech business Texas can’t get.
Ennis understands this. Thus, he calls attacks on Darwinism “a childish indulgence that can only discourage bio-tech venture capital already skittish about doing business in Texas.”
The separation of church and state is a great legal weapon to use against biblical literalists who seek to get their theology taught in public schools. It’s a less effective public-relations argument, as most people’s eyes glaze over when you mention the “Establishment Clause.” We can only hope their eyes won’t glaze over when you tell them that a substandard science education is going to cause their children to miss out on the high-paying, exciting jobs that are just around the bend.
A certain percentage of the population can remain scientifically illiterate without lasting damage to the larger culture. It probably does not matter whether the guy who paints your house believes in evolution or not. But at a certain point, if the problem becomes widespread or systemic, the culture does take a hit and so does the economy. Many businesspeople understand this.
By the way, if you’re interested in this subject — and you need to be — visit the friendly folks at the National Center for Science Education, who track this issue full time. They are outmanned and out financed by the fundamentalists, but still do great work. Drop in on them and send them a few bucks if you can spare it. They’ll put it to good use.