Herschel Walker knows football, not biology
“At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not?”
No. Science never said “man came from apes.”
But that’s what GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker told a congregation on Sunday, March 13, 2022 (story here), adding for good measure, “If that is true” (it isn’t) “why are there still apes?”
What does science say?
It says modern apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor along parallel but separate evolutionary tracks (see chart below). There’s no logical reason why they can’t co-exist. If that’s too complicated for him, I guess that’s his problem.
And for what it’s worth, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), whom Walker will face in November if he wins the primary, says his faith “has no quarrel with science,” nor does Warnock have Walker’s domestic violence and mental health baggage (see story here).
But when people like that try to dictate what’s taught in public schools, that’s our problem (see article here). (Let’s skip discussing the fact that indoctrinating public school students with their religious beliefs is unconstitutional, because we already know they’ll violate the Constitution, as we saw when they tried to overthrow the 2020 election.)
It’s one thing if they send their kids to religious schools teaching their beliefs and their kids can’t get into medical school. It’s something else when they try to prevent public schools from teaching our kids what they need to know to become scientists and doctors.
The National Academy of Sciences puts out a short pamphlet that explains why “our education system and our society as a whole are best served when we teach science, not religious faith, in science classrooms” (read it here).
It’s just a bad idea to put science deniers in a position where they can decide what’s taught in public schools or control public policy on issues like climate change and pandemic response. Don’t vote for Republicans.
Related story: Eons ego, Earth was silent except for wind and waves; now it’s a cacophony of creature sounds. Where did this music come from? Read article here titled, “Animal sounds are a marvel of evolution.”
