Kevin Marshall's America
It shouldn’t surprise me or anyone reading this that contestants in the Miss American pageant aren’t going to be providing stiff competition for a Fullbright Scholarship. Still, this video – where contestants are asked if evolution should be taught in schools – had me at a loss for words.
Look, I don’t expect any of them to know the intricacies of the process, nor do I expect anyone in the general population to be educated on the finer points of science. However, I would expect that out of 51 people, more than 3 of them would say “hey, of course it should be taught in schools, because it’s a real thing.” Instead, they think that either it should not be taught or only as one possibility and weighed evenly with the Judeo-Christian story of Creation. After all, isn’t evolution “just a theory?” Yeah, in the same way gravity is a theory.
My favorite answer came from the contestant who cited her Catholic upbringing. The Catholic Church’s official position since 1950 has been that exploration and teaching of evolution is not in conflict with faith. Its unofficial position – expounded by all but a formal decree by the Pope – is that evolution is a real, scientific fact. Of course, they say God had a hand in it and all that. Which is fine. But they don’t deny evolution.
I’m opening up a can of words and, I’m sure, tons of rude comments I most likely will have to trash when I ask this, but I have to: what the Hell happened in the last decade? Why, all of a sudden, do we have so many people believing that evolution is some sort of cockamamie scam and that the Civil War was fought simply on the basis of State’s Rights?
Evolution is a scientific principle. We know this because of over a hundred years of scientific evidence, research, breakthroughs, and observations. The Civil War was fought over slavery, and not simply on the vague notion of “State’s rights.” We know that because that’s what they f***ing said they were fighting about.
For all the wonders and conveniences of the 21st Century, we as a nation are trending backwards intellectually. In areas like math and science we have fallen woefully behind. What’s worse, though, is that we are electing people to positions of power and giving consideration to uneducated and proudly misinformed pundits that tell us evolution didn’t happen, the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, the Founding Fathers fought to abolish slavery (“we’re 3/5ths of the way there!” they proclaimed after the 3/5ths Compromise was reached), and so on and so forth.
It isn’t a partisan issue. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be. It never was when I was growing up. It was only when I became an adult that Stupid became vogue and a pride was placed in having convictions in things that were unequivocally wrong. The possibility exists, of course, that this sort of ignorance has been widespread throughout my lifetime and we’re just now being made aware of the extent. The other, more plausible, and scarier possibility is that my nieces, nephews, and any children I may have will be schooled in a country that thinks science is optional and the truth even less so.
I laugh at videos of beauty pageant contestants, because it keeps me from crying at the thought of these words coming out of our next President.
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39 Responses to Miss America contestants’ views on evolution reveals a very real epidemic in our country
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STALK ME
Hey Man, don’t forget the Mason Dixon Line starts at the southern border of Pennsylvania.
IQ drops with the latitude.
kev – these girls are trained to have open ended answered to all questions they are asked… they don’t want to alienate anyone – especially judges.
Kelly - I’d love to accept that explanation if their answers didn’t run hand in hand with many elected officials. Also,if that were the case how do we explain responses that invoke a very specific religious belief? And the bigger question: when and why did such a basic, fundamental scientific subject become something that people become “uncomfortable” with and why is that even remotely acceptable?
I love how they keep saying “everything” should be taught. What about the people who say they believe they were created by a flying spaghetti monster? Can we teach that one, too? Personally, I would have been much more entertained in class if I’d learned about the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Mormons? Muslims? Buddhists? Hindus? Voodoo! We should teach about Voodoo as well!! How effing long do these girls want the school day to be?
and when was the last time you ever heard an elected official actually tell us what’s they really thought? they are all puppets! just like these girls – they don’t want to give a controversial answer.
Kevin Marshall hates America, Jesus, kittens and rainbows.
The real problem is they equate evolution with belief, then feel it should be fair to teach all beliefs. Also I really don’t think these women understand what they are saying, it is really sad.
all i’m trying to say is that i don’t think this extremely selective group of people could be used as a comparison against the general population.
and i’m all for evolution being taught!
Kelly - But if they can’t be used as a comparison against the general population, why do politicians on the federal level and some running for President echo the sentiment? Why would they worry about offending a small portion when they’re running for the whole country?
I think you’ve got blinders on here. Optimistic blinders, but blinders none the less.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_public.htm
And as recently as 2009, a poll from Gallup was released on Darwin’s birthday showing only 4 in 10 believed in evolution:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/114544/darwin-birthday-believe-evolution.aspx
rAmen, Jen!
4 in 9 is better than 3 in 50!!
Many of the founding fathers were abolitionists. Not all, but more than we’re taught. The 3/5ths compromise has nothing to do with a person’s belief on slavery, but who would get the most influence in government. The issue of slavery wasn’t discussed when creating the nation because no resolution would have been met.
Don’t forget those that believe that Paul Revere warned the British ’bout takin’ our arms away!
When Sarah Palin said that, her supporters actually went on the Wikipedia entry for Paul Revere and attempted to edit it to coincide with her idiotic statement. It’s a perfect example of something a little more insidious than stupidity – it’s an attempt at historic revisionism and disregarding science to the benefit of fanatical religions to make the “truth” fit whoever wants to be in power. Then again, in the case of Sarah Palin, it was an attempt to alter the truth to make her not look so f*ing dumb.
I agree this is appalling, but don’t confuse historical motivations with scientific certainty. It’s not my opinion that evolution exists, it just simply does. While I agree that the Civil War was partially motivated by slavery, it was also intertwined with a problem of state’s rights, BUT– and this is important– historians and the public alike can interpret the impetus for the war any way they can support it. Science is formed by testable hypotheses that become a gray area when applied to things like history. Science is about testing things, and you can’t really do that with history; you’re left to just examining things as they are. Because you must examine things as they are, you must do what you can to understand the situation, which includes the maturity to realize that everything that is said is not always how things are.
I, too, hope that the educational system will improve, particularly for the sciences. Unfortunately, with anti-science groups political activism the past few years, it’s become hard to justify to the public the need for science, even though science has largely provided them the everyday luxuries of life. Once again, politics keeps us from thinking.
I think just the word ‘evolution’ quickly encourages the brain to believe it is the opposite of ‘creation’. And I don’t feel that this is a new way of thinking, in fact I think that this way of thinking has been handed down over many generations. Perhaps teaching both evolution and creation would help to break this black and white way of thought.
If I was a biology teacher and they ruled that “everything” should be taught, all my students would hate me. Show up to class with a box full of books on every creation myth ever contrived by man. “Allright, students. Today we’re going to be learning about Unkulunkulu, the creator God of the Zulu people.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_creation_myths
@15
Creation and Evolution are not compatible, they are not equal.
They are in two entirely different realms, creation can be taught at any christian school that wants to teach it, but it should never be taught at any public school.
Creation may seem like the opposite or equivalent of evolution, but one is based on the fact, the other based on assumption. The problem is the less informed see these as two valid arguments for how life emerged.
If creationism is to be taught in the science classroom, then creationists at the Discovery Institute should put forth a testable hypothesis, and see where the data takes them. The fact they are unwilling to do so, is why this should never be allowed in a science class, it is clearly not science.
Yes, evolution is a fact. Creationism is a belief. Science deals with facts, religion deals with beliefs. If it is a science class, evolution should be taught, but no beliefs. If it is a religion class then by all means go crazy with the creationism stories.
I cannot fathom Sara Palin -I guess guys think she’s hot and that’s why we still hear about her? I have no idea.
If it’s a Miss America pagent, don’t look for brains. If it’s a politican speaking, ditto.
Hey, as a culture, we embraced the dumbing down of America. Lower school test requirements, make the SATs easier, IQ means nothing, anything more than 30 seconds is longer than the average person’s attention span, why spell correctly when you can make up words – SyFi??Really?? – could go on but that would just make me depressed and homicidal.
@cb
WTF? Of course they’re compatible to some people’s beliefs. That’s actually literally one of the main points of general deists: that God “started” the universe, then “backed off” and evolution ran wild to get us where we are today.
I’m not a creationist or religious, just wanted to point out that for many people they ARE compatible.
Kevin:
It’s not so much the opening of it that is fascinating. It’s the ‘HOW’ of getting the words into the can in the first place that’ll really blow your mind.
-gen
The 3/5ths compromise was actually an idea constructed by abolitionists. They wanted to curtail the south’s power through the Census. Too long to write about, but research it. Pretty fascinating stuff. They don’t teach that in High School.
Henry – Right. Abolitionists wanted the slaves counted as zero persons. They felt Southern States shouldn’t have bodies in the House that reflected a population that didn’t have any rights, let alone were able to vote for them and be counted as being truly “represented.”
@17 That all depends on what your beliefs are. I believe that both should be taught. Some people can and do see the grey.
First of all I couldn’t tell one woman from the next except some were blonds and some were brunettes.
But to the subject at hand…bahahahaha!!
As a scientist I was puzzled, as an American I was terrified!
One contestant said that evolution should not be taught because it’s a theory and not fact, but isn’t religion a theory and not fact? Where is proof of the ark, of the 10 commandments…etc?
I am baffled why they ask these inexperienced ‘girls’ their insights on global/national influential issues when all they care about is using the best hair gel and the right color lipstick. Leave the thought provoking questions to those who think…
You have made the credible argument that religion shouldn’t be taught to children at all. When fairy-tales generate demand for dominance, or even equal treatment, over institutions actively engaged in searching for truth, we then become vulnerable to manipulation by segments of our population (the corporate rich at the moment) who can play upon our fears and deeply held superstitions and myths, all to serve their need for a simplistic, uninformed easily placated population of clueless dolts, willing to buy any line of crap they are fed.
@ HomeTownGirl,
I’m not quite sure to what extent you think creationism should be taught in schools, but I’d be ok with a mention of it in the classroom during a unit about basic scientific theory and methodology. It would be a great example of of a non-scientific theory, but it definitely does not make a good example of an equally valid alternative to evolution.
@victoria roth
Creationism can be taught in mythology class…along with the other myths from different cultures. Evolution should be taught in a science class because it is based on SCIENCE.
What the Hell happened last decade? A fun little thing called the No Child Left Behind Act.
I remember first hearing that man “came from monkees” in 2nd grade. We all got a good laugh at that, but at least it was introduced to us. I remember reading “Inherit the Wind” in the Catholic High School that I attended. Thankfully, the Theory of Intelligent Design didn’t exist in the 90’s.
Judeo-Christian-Islamic beliefs have no place in a high school science class. If a comparative religion class wants to get into it, great, but to elevate myth to the status of a factually based scientific principal is preposterous.
Speaking as someone who graduated from a Western NY Evangelical Christian College (Houghton College), what I discovered is that they don’t understand what a theory is. Evangelical Christians define a theory as an uneducated guess, where in fact it is a conclusion based upon layers and layers of fact. As opposed to Judeo-Christian-Islamic creation stories which are profoundly mythological in basis.
So, as Evangelicals can’t prove their alternate theory of creation based on facts they must redefine what a theory is as a way of discrediting the theory of evolution, however, by doing so they also implicitly discredit their own beliefs as well for lacking any proof other than that feeling they get inside, which they call faith, but I assert is probably gas.
Also, the beauty pageant circuit has a significant number evangelical Christians who participate such as the lamentable Carrie Prejean. Of course, how orthodox Evangelical Christians rationalize their faith against the relative spiritual value of standing around in bikinis (or Prejean’s topless photos) is an act of rhetorical gymnastics worthy of Olympic level aspirations.
Kevin, I’m of the age where I can remember guys waiting eagerly every year for the Miss America Pageant, and back then there were no controversial questions or dumba_ _ answers. It was the 1970s and there were no illusions by the girls whichof their assets they were being judged on, and it wasn’t for their rhetorical skills.
What has happened? It’s conservative reactionism. Look at it from the Evangelicals P.O.V. Kevin. Gay marriage is inevitability, if not this year, then soon. They turn on TV, and while I love Family Guy and South Park, these shows can be found on TV or the Internet at any time of day. Porn has become commonplace. They see their whole world fading away and they must cling dearly to anything that makes them feel superior to everyone else, otherwise, Evangelcials may wake up one day and realize they’re no better, and no better off, than the rest of us.
In the end, Evangelical Christianity is little different than Orthodox Judaism or militantly extreme Islam. They have their roll in society, but not in a science classroom.
You’re still wrong about MMA though…
People can see evolution quite easily in a laboratory situation with microorganisms. Or using lysol. It kills 99.9% and that .01 lives on and eventually becomes a super-bug. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a big problem these days because an environmental stressor (us) is altering the environment these bugs live in. Survival of the fittest – those that survive reproduce and eventually become dominant.
Evolution as an explanation for the start of life is difficult for a layperson but it quite easily explains the diversity we see before us.
@cmg, indeed.
HTG,
I am not talking about beliefs, believe whatever you want, I am saying that they are not both equal explanations. Please read my comment again.
George,
Compatible might not have been the right word. They aren’t…..see my previous comment.
The Miss AMERICA organization is a scholarship program where girls are awarded money for college(Over $45 MILLION a year) and contestants have personal platforms they promote while providing thousands of hours of community service each year. The Miss USA pageant(which are the contestants in the video) is the Donald Trump owned pageant that awards modeling contracts.
I’m sorry what is the discussion about, I wasn’t paying attention to the audio…
Models with no brains? who would have thought?
Jackson Powers, yep, that remark by Palin was almost as bad as Obama saying there are 57 states or the US was founded 20 centries ago and
Europe is a nation. No wonder they don’t let him talk without his teleprompter.
Chiss, great point, I think it was about how people can be such hypocrites.
“Jackson Powers, yep, that remark by Palin was almost as bad as Obama saying there are 57 states or the US was founded 20 centries ago and
Europe is a nation. No wonder they don’t let him talk without his teleprompter.”
Almost as bad. Almost as bad! Wow.
What has happened is that the religious right has exerted undue influence on people who should know better. What has happened is that science is dismissed because people don’t understand it and don’t try. Remember the OJ jury dismissed compelling DNA evidence like it was hocus pocus.
I am a church goer. And a scientist. We are letting people dumb down our country and we need to stop.