Science good, bigotry bad. Science has certainly been misused, misunderstood, and misapplied over human history, but it is the engine of understanding and change that drives us toward a clearer and clearer picture of the universe and our place within it. Understanding helps us be less afraid of what we don't know and make better decisions.
So it bittersweet to see this. Science. In the White House. A pathetic sum up of the Bush presidency that this is somehow new and exciting.
Ironic to juxtapose this with bigotry and superstition, the safe havens of the lazy and incurious. I'm speaking, of course, about Rick Warren.
More than ironic, it's sad. Sad, because I will now treat the regular emails from David Plouffe the same way I treat books by Orson Scott Card. 4 years ago, Card wrote this and I decided to stop buying his books.
He has a right to his opinion. I have a right to disagree and not give him money.
So, David, I'll still be thrilled that science is going to return to our government and proud of the dozen or so friends helping with the transition, but I won't pay to support bigotry like Warren's.
Monday, December 22, 2008
irony
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1 comment:
Thanks for the post, Cory...I'm in 100% agreement here. To me, there's no way for the Obama team to positively explain the choice of Rick Warren. It's either a cynically calculated choice to bump up support with fundamentalist opponents at the expense of supporters who have nowhere else to go, or a mind-bogglingly poor pick that they don't feel that they can pull out of now.
I'd actually rather it be the second, but I haven't seen that level of non-analysis from Obama. I think it means that the level of political pragmatism he tolerates is more than I can handle. I want to reach across the aisle as much as anyone, but I can't do so by giving a voice and tacit approval to a bigot.
And as for the Orson Scott Card essay...gah. Thanks for that link as well. I've seen several of his columns in the past few years that made me wonder if this really was the same guy that wrote the early Ender's books, but somehow I missed that one. Hit me the same way as you; you've free to have you opinions, and I'm free to not buy your books because of them. (The fact that his authorship seems to continue to deteriorate as well doesn't hurt either, but that essay in and of itself is more than enough).
Take care, keep writing, and Happy New Year! I look forward to see what happens at EMI in 2009. There's a lot of opportunity for innovation.
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