(Note: The 1st paragraph was unintentionally deleted when we updated the post to include the YouTube video. I apologize for any confusion that caused!- LHW)

In science, being a "theory" is not a step below a "law." The "Theory of Relativity" by Albert Einstein is not waiting for its day in court when it graduates to "fact."

Evolution is the central organizing principle of modern biology. Just ask the National Academy of Sciences — the group that the United States Congress empowers to uphold science in America. They issued a report last week titled Science, Evolution and Creationism (Wired Science covered it here). Their conclusion? "Nonscientific approaches do not belong in science classrooms."

Huckabee took Republican center stage after the Iowa caucuses, but his clever sidesteps of scientific questions are a warning sign. "Do you believe in evolution?" The short answer? No, he doesn’t. People are charmed by him, asking why anyone should care since "[I’m] not planning on writing the curriculum for an eighth-grade science book," and "if anybody wants to believe they’re the descendants of a primate, they’re welcome to do it." But the real problem is, he will be signing scientific research budgets into law, appointing judges that will be deciding evolution vs. creationism education cases at the state level, and setting a moral precedent that it is O.K. to dis science.

YouTube has a video of Bill Maher asking Huckabee about the evolution debate question. It goes a little further than the debate and shows how the mainstream-sounding "I just can’t believe creation is an accident" line reveals more disturbing underpinnings under scrutiny. Huckabee’s main defense is "Why should it matter? It’s not a question appropriate to a presidential debate" to which Maher says (1:38 into the clip):

"If someone believes that the earth is 6,000 years old and every scientist in the world is saying that it is billions of years old, why shouldn’t I take that into account when I am assessing the rationality of someone I am going to put into the highest office in the land?"

Good point Bill.

Huckabee, we are actually not asking you if there is a creator behind the cosmos. We are clear that you think there is. We are asking if you would weigh rational scientific evidence that has been peer reviewed and is reproducible in your most critical decisions about medical research, terrorist weapons threats, the environment, and education. My concern is that your answer to Bill Maher, "We just don’t know [the age of the earth]" is an indication that you don’t include science on your reference shelf. If you did, you would know that we do know the age of the earth. It’s 4.5 billion years old.

Given Huckabee’s lead position coming out of the Iowa Caucus, it is an important time to take a closer look.



Huckabee’s Iowa Win Throws US Republicans in Turmoil [Reuters]

15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense [Scientific American]

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Image: Cool Flickr User