Thursday, October 23, 2008

Is America ready for a creationist president?

That's a rhetorical question, as it looks like the answer is going to be no!

But anyone comforted by the fact that neither presidential candidate is a creationist, should think again. The Lancet has just published this letter by John Alam in which he calculates the risk of McCain dying during each year of his four-year term of office from a recurrence of his melanoma as 6%, i.e. 24% overall. The figure has been contested--see this posting on Wired Science (which oddly seems to have the figure as 22%, even from Alam). But then the Wired author Brandon Keim points out that a man of McCain's age stands around a 11% chance of dying within four years even without melanoma.

So what all this means is that a McCain victory would bring a 11-24% chance of a creationist president (i.e. Sarah Palin), a risk that is too high for any sane person*. So, let's just hope the polls are right and we are looking forward to an Obama landslide!

*some will argue that America already has a creationist president, but my understanding is that Bush's official position is teach the controversy fence-sitting.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

*some will argue that America already has a creationist president, but my understanding is that Bush's official position is teach the controversy fence-sitting.

You have a way with playing with words. First of all, Sarah Palin whom you deemed more dangerous than Bush, has done nothing as gov or mayor in Alaska to promote creationism in the public schools.

However, her position is to have the topic of intelligent design discussed but not mandated. McCain is more pro-evolutionist who doesn't think ID is science but also thinks for the sake of the election to endorse a discussion about it.

So your idea of a creationist President will not occur even if Sarah Palin was elected as President...

diaspora said...

Teaching the controversy is nothing short of a shameless, low-handed maneuver by creationists to down play what should be a law tantamount to planetary motion. And were it not for the sensitivity of the religious and the special status that these organizations enjoy in our two countries, evolution, as many readers already know, would be a law.
Oh, to be able to vote in your upcoming election.

Anonymous said...

I believe your argument is shameful. Palin as governor of Alaska sat on the fence with her idea of allowing intelligent design to be taught in the classrooms.

No professor at Alaska's University ever thought Palin did. Not even the ACLU did either. If she has pushed creationism while governor, there would have been an uproar over it, lawsuits and so on. None of that happened.

Her personal views were used to scare people, just like you attempted to. Shameful! Now Obama who didn't do much to help to prevent a loan crisis from major banks in America will be coming into office with a crashing stock market.

Although, you will be happy about his view on creationism.