God bless Roger Ebert (that’s a metaphor), one of Chicago’s greatest assets. And although he can no longer speak, his voice is getting ever louder on his website. In his December 2 entry he takes on the supernaturalists:
If you were attending a dinner party of community leaders in Dallas, Atlanta, Omaha or Colorado Springs and the conversation turned to religion, a chill might fall on the room if you confessed yourself an atheist. Yet at a dinner party of the nicest and brightest in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and (especially) Los Angeles, if the hostess began to confide about past lives, her Sign and yours, and her healing crystals, it might not go over so well if you confessed you thought she was full of it. . .
I adamantly support the right of any candidate to profess any faith, or none. And in the separate case of their New Age or Creationism beliefs, I emphasize my words “should not” rather than “can not” be President. If a candidate professes the story of Creation as an ancient legend or symbol, as so many do of Adam and Eve, that is quite understandable and has long precedent.
It is in the specific cases of those with literal belief in the scientific truth and application of such beliefs that I raise a red flag. We live in the harrowing early years of a century when the nation must compete in a new way, and this battle will be fought on the grounds of science defined by the traditional Scientific Method. We can have no patience with a chief executive who professes the value of ancient superstitions in the forming of policy.
My only purpose today is to state early and often that if a Presidential candidate believes early humans used saddles to ride on the backs of dinosaurs, as they are depicted at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, that candidate should not be elected President.
h/t: RichardDawkins.net
You Chicago elitists! So, you think irrational people shouldn’t hold high office? Maybe they shouldn’t vote, either? You wish!
Seriously, Roger Ebert is a great commentor. I used to watch his (and the late Gene Siskel’s) movie reviews when I lived in the Chicago area. I’m glad he’s still working and is a voice for reason.
“…if a Presidential candidate believes early humans used saddles to ride on the backs of dinosaurs, … that candidate should not be elected President”
… Or senator or congressperson or governor or legislator or mayor or on the city council or on the school board.
A hearty atheistic amen, New England Bob!
It’s understandable, but it isn’t reasonable. Candidates who think these stories have an governmental (or moral) relevance should not be doing anything other than menial labor.
All we are sa-ying, is give Bachmann a chance.
Huh. I had not heard about his thyroid cancer and surgeries that left him unable to speak. I also had no idea about any of his political/religious views. Thanks for posting this.
*cheer* Fucking right!