Ron Paul Telling FEMA
To Get Off His Lawn
Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
It's a rare Republican who isn't in denial about modern science generally and evolution in particular. Some might hope that Ron Paul would be such a Republican, but he's not. Like so many others, he denies evolution and science because he sees them as conflicting with his religious faith. Like so many other Republicans, he puts religion and superstition above science and reality. Yet there are atheists who would vote for him.
"Well, at first I thought it was a very inappropriate question, you know, for the presidency to be decided on a scientific matter, and I think it's a theory, a theory of evolution, and I don't accept it, you know, as a theory, but I think [ it probably doesn't bother me. It's not the most important issue for me to make the difference in my life to understand the exact origin. I think ] the creator that I know created us, everyone of us, and created the universe, and the precise time and manner, I just don't think we're at the point where anybody has absolute proof on either side. [So I just don't . . . if that were the only issue, quite frankly, I would think it's an interesting discussion, I think it's a theological discussion, and I think it's fine, and we can have our . . . if that were the issue of the day, I wouldn't be running for public office."]
Source: TruthDig
There are few conservative atheists in America and most of those tend to be libertarian. This means that Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who can get many atheist votes. There are, however, reasons to think that his libertarian beliefs are a mask for traditional conservatism -- a conservatism that sits quite comfortable with the usual Christian Right extremism we've been experiencing in America.
Ron Paul's denial of evolution and science are only part of his far-right extremism. He may be libertarian, but being libertarian is no guarantee of being sensible or rational. Indeed, libertarianism can easily be a mask for the defense of just the sorts of traditional privileges and injustices which the Christian Right works for.
If he sincerely denies evolution, then he's a zealot and untrustworthy. If he's just pandering to the far right, then he's a liar and untrustworthy. Either way, he's not someone you can trust your vote with.
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