Pitts on Robertson

Have I mentioned how much I love Leonard Pitts, Jr.? He's one of the best columnists out there. Today's column addresses the same subject as my last blog entry: Pat Robertson's latest idiotic statement about God possibly smiting Dover, PA for voting out the pro-Intelligent Design school board members. As Pitts explains it:

So this latest nonsense is right in line with what we've come to expect from our friend Pat. The only thing you can do is laugh - and try not to think about how many people lump you in with this fellow when you profess to be a Christian.

Point being, I believe there was a Designer. I also believe that's a matter for the pulpit, the class in comparative religion or the class in philosophy. It doesn't belong in science class, because it's not science. It's faith.

And please spare me the thousand word-for-word e-mails arguing, with eerie "Stepford Wife" uniformity, that "the Theory of Evolution is just that, a theory."

Your humble correspondent was only a "C" science student, but even I get the fact that scientific theory involves a bit more rigorous reasoning than my personal theory that I can make my team win by wearing my lucky shirt and yelling at the television. Scientific theory requires conclusions based on observable, replicable and predictable phenomena.

To put it another way: Gravity is "just" a theory, but I don't hear anyone arguing with Isaac Newton. Or suggesting students be taught the "alternative" theory that we are held to Earth by invisible strips of Velcro.

Amen! I couldn't agree more. I'm embarrassed to have Robertson claiming to represent my faith and I'm frustrated with people who insist on trying to make the Bible be something it isn't and never was intended to be: a science textbook. And Pitts gets it right again when saying why:

Teaching religion masked as science devalues both and ensures that children will be that much less prepared for college and the world beyond. I can't believe God requires ignorance, that He gave us brains he doesn't want us to use, or that intelligence and faith are mutually exclusive. Of course, I'm forced to reconsider that position every time Rev. Ridiculous opens his mouth.