From his 2005 book "Character is Destiny":
"Darwin helped explain nature’s laws. He did not speculate, in his published theories at least, on the origin of life. He did not exclude God, for Whom the immensity of time is but a moment, from our presence. The only undeniable challenge the theory of evolution poses to Christian beliefs is its obvious contradiction of the idea that God created the world as it is in less than a week. But our faith is certainly not so weak that it can be shaken to learn that a biblical metaphor is not literal history. Nature doesn’t threaten our faith. On the contrary, when we contemplate its beauty and mysteries we cannot quiet in our heart an insistent impulse of belief that for all its variations and inevitable change, before its creation, in a time before time, God let it be so, and, thus, its many splendors and purposes abide in His purpose.”
Continue reading "John McCain on teaching evolution" »
On May 3, 2007, MSNBC hosted a debate for the GOP presidential candidates at the Reagan Library in California. Near the end of the program, moderator Chris Matthews asked the candidates, "I'm curious, is there anybody on the stage that does not agree, believe in evolution?" Three hands went up, one of them belonging, naturally enough, to Mike Huckabee. Ron Paul, however, kept his hand down.
At a November 1 meeting of the Spartanburg (SC) GOP Executive Committee, Ron Paul was asked about this incident:
"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."]
While there is no controversy in the scientific community over the basic facts of evolution, advocates of creationism continue to challenge the teaching of evolution in U.S. schools. Do you believe in natural evolution as a fundamental biological process? Would you advocate keeping creationism in its various incarnations, including intelligent design, out of public school classes?
Gravel is quoted by LiveScience as stating that creationism should not be taught in schools:
“We thought we had made a big advance with the Scopes monkey trial … My God, evolution is a fact, and if these people are disturbed by being the descendants of monkeys and fishes, they’ve got a mental problem....That ends the story as far as I’m concerned.”
According to Democratic operative James Carville on CNN (May 2007) "Every Democratic candidate believes in evolution." (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/08/acd.01.html)
There is no statement on Dennis Kucinich's campaign web site about the teaching of evolution and creationism in the science classroom or any recorded response to a question on the teaching of evolution. Kucinich has stated in the past that he believes in the separation of church and state.
The New York Times: “I believe that God designed the universe and created the universe,” Mr. Romney said in an interview this week. “And I believe evolution is most likely the process he used to create the human body.”
Continue reading "Mitt Romney on teaching evolution" »
ABC News: "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, I'll accept that....I believe there was a creative process."
Huckabee said he has no problem with teaching evolution as a theory in the public schools and he doesn't expect schools to teach creationism.
"We shouldn't indoctrinate kids in school," he said. "I wouldn't want them teaching creationism as if it's the only thing that they should teach."
Arkansas Times: The current NYC mayor spoke strongly in favor of teaching evolution in public school science classes saying, “It boggles the mind that nearly two centuries after Darwin, and 80 years after John Scopes was put on trial, the country is still debating the validity of evolution,” and adding, “This not only devalues science, it cheapens theology. As well as condemning these students to an inferior education, it ultimately hurts their professional opportunities.”
Given that Bloomberg ran on the Republican ticket with the former mayor’s endorsement, Giuliani was asked if he also supported Bloomberg’s strong stance in favor of evolution education. In a rather long response incorporating ideas such as “academic freedom” and “freedom of religion”, Giuliani eventually articulated that “Darwin’s theories are a very accepted part of science,” and added “I am a Christian, and I can accommodate that to my beliefs…”
Media Bistro: "It's not 'faith' if you are absolutely certain," Obama said, noting that he didn't believe his lack of "faith" would hurt him a national election. "Evolution is more grounded in my experience than angels."
CNN: Democrats discuss faith on CNN
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in evolution.
O’BRIEN: What do you say to all the people — and there are millions of people who go to church every Sunday and who are told very clearly by their pastors that, in fact, the Earth was created in six days, that it’s about creationism? Are those people wrong? Are their pastors wrong?
EDWARDS: No. First of all, I grew up in the church and I grew up as a Southern Baptist, was baptized in the Baptist Church when I was very young, a teenager at the time. And I was taught many of the same things. And I think it’s perfectly possible to make our faith, my faith belief system consistent with a recognition that there is real science out there and scientific evidence of evolution. I don’t think those things are inconsistent. I think a belief in God and a belief in Christ, in my case, is not in any way inconsistent with that.
Continue reading "John Edwards on teaching evolution" »
The New York Times: Mrs. Clinton also tacitly criticized opponents of evolution. Some of the 2008 Republican presidential candidates have said flatly that they do not believe in evolution, while other Republican contenders have said they support teaching evolution, intelligent design and creationist ideas.
“I believe in evolution, and I am shocked at some of the things that people in public life have been saying,” Mrs. Clinton said in the interview. “I believe that our founders had faith in reason and they also had faith in God, and one of our gifts from God is the ability to reason.”
“I am grateful that I have the ability to look at dinosaur bones and draw my own conclusions,” she added, saying, too, that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is evidence that “evolution is going on as we speak.”
The Clinton attack on White House science policy is not especially new; Mrs. Clinton has used the phrase “war on science” frequently on the campaign trail, and it has reliably drawn applause from Democratic audiences.
The Thompson campaign has not issued a statement on evolution but on 27 October 2007, official campaign spokeswoman, Karen Hanretty said in a University of Chicago radio show
"I think that what he is most concerned about is that families, parents who sit on local school boards, local elected school boards ought to be making those decisions for themselves."
When asked if Thompson "thinks intelligent design is a credible curriculum."
Continue reading "Fred Thompson on teaching evolution" »
While there is no controversy in the scientific community over the basic facts of evolution, advocates of creationism continue to challenge the teaching of evolution in U.S. schools. Do you believe in natural evolution as a fundamental biological process? Would you advocate keeping creationism in its various incarnations, including intelligent design, out of public school classes?
Where do the candidates stand on teaching evolution?
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