California’s Pete Stark pokes at Religious Right with “Darwin Day” resolution
Read Time:3 Minute, 28 Second
Now here is a guy who I would most happily support for Congress. Peter Stark of California is a forward thinker and a man not afraid to speak his mind. Sources tell MadMikesAmerica.com that he also very, very popular not only in his district but all over the state where he is known as being a bold speaker and astute legislator. When I read this story from Silicon Valley’s MercuryNews.com I knew I had to share it. Enjoy one and all:
Representative Pete Stark, who made waves in 2007 by coming out as Congress’ only avowed atheist, delighted secular humanists and took a jab at religious conservatives this week by offering a resolution to proclaim Saturday as “Darwin Day.”
Stark, D-Fremont, California, introduced H. Res. 81 on Wednesday. It praises Darwin’s theory of evolution and the “monumental amount of scientific evidence he compiled to support it,” which “provides humanity with a logical and intellectually compelling explanation for the diversity of life on earth.”
The resolution goes on to state that “the advancement of science must be protected from those unconcerned with the adverse impacts of global warming and climate change,” and that “the teaching of creationism in some public schools compromises the scientific and academic integrity of the United States’ education systems.”
Stark on Thursday explained he’s “just trying to get people to understand that we’re trying to get our kids to be scientists, were pushing for green jobs and green development, and you can’t stick your head in the sand and not recognize that we’re in a modern age. To get there, it seems to me, we have to understand that science is all part of what we’re doing.
“I’m sure there are people out there who’d say I’m the devil’s advocate, but I’ll give the devil as much chance as any god that people choose to deal with,” he said. “To say some unknown god up there in the stratosphere directs all of our lives and our development is naive.”
Tom McClusky, senior vice president of the conservative Family Research Council’s legislative action arm, said after reading Stark’s bill he “had to look at my calendar to see if it was April 1. If he really thinks this is a priority, I guess it shows why he’s not in the majority anymore.
“I don’t think he gives a good reason of why someone like Charles Darwin needs to be celebrated and recognized by the federal government. It’s a waste, I think, of taxpayers’ time,” McClusky said, asking why Congress shouldn’t instead honor someone like Booker T. Washington or Thomas Edison “who actually invented things, not just threw out theories.”
“There is a distinct war on science, it’s just not coming from the direction that Democrats say it is,” McClusky said, citing climate change as an example of where Democrats have let politics trump science. He said U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., correctly has steadfastly rejected much of the prevailing wisdom on climate change, and he also cited the “Climategate” e-mail memos of 2009, which actually later were found not to have cast much doubt upon predominant climate change theory.
But American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt issued a statement calling Stark’s resolution “a thrilling step forward for the secular movement. Not only is this an opportunity to bring the scientific impact of Charles Darwin to the forefront, but this also signifies the potential for greater respect for scientific reasoning on Capitol Hill.”
Don’t hold your breath for passage. H.Res. 81 was referred to the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, where — in this conservative, Republican-dominated House — it’ll surely be deemed not fit to survive.
I think we need a Facebook page to promote “Darwin Day” and suppport the efforts of Pete Stark. What do you think?
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
People in the intellectual, secular part of our society and Europeans in general continue to laugh at the backwards thinking of the Americans. That’s right America, keep up your religiosity beliefs and you will find yourself at the bottom of the science barrel!
Sure, FRC guy says Darwin Day would be a waste of money (and how much money would that be?), yet having a national prayer day isn’t.
Pete Stark’s a good guy, one of the better people in congress.