To Kaneda: Why the Evolution Issue Matters

Earlier, you said "I fail to see how ones opinion on our existance is relative to running a country." I would like to share my opinion on that.

Like you, many presidential candidates, especially Republican candidates, have denounced questions about evolution as irrelevant. They assert that these are questions for scientists rather than presidential candidates. From a certain perspective, they're right. It really doesn't matter whether or not a president can distinguish sympatric from allopatric speciation. But the evolution issue in context to politics transcends any scientific questions behind it.

First, and most importantly, it says something about the rationality of the politician. Is he willing to listen to the experts? If he rejects expert opinion in a case where the experts are claiming they are certain about the issue at hand, why will he listen to experts on any other issue? A president who neglects expert opinion irrevocably poises the nation for a debacle. This has been repeatedly evinced by the abject regime currently in power.

A politicians viewpoint on evolution is also indicative of whether or not they are amenable to science. There are many important scientific issues that need to be addressed now, such as global warming, stem-cell research, research into alternative power sources, and conservation of endangered species. Our next president needs to have a basic understanding of the political and ethical issues surrounding these topics and needs to trust the experts' scientific opinions on these topics.

Lastly, we get into the absurd intelligent design debate. A president who is a proponent of "teaching the controversy" is doing a disservice to the nation, and is an all-American embarrassment. While it may be true that the president can not directly influence education policy, he certainly affects it indirectly. What's at stake here is the future of this nation. So yes, the question of evolution is pertinent.