# % of Democrat and Republican Senators that deny Evolution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338 "2011-05-01T00:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/21 "2011-05-01T17:37:15Z")
For a while my only news source was the N.Y. Times. One day I was surprised to read an Opinion letter by Brownback denying that he disbelieved in evolution. I Googled around to discover he was reacting to the backlash from the high-IQ types (100 and up) after his pandering to the morons in his base. But this letter “supporting evolution” was quite strange. I don’t think he ever admitted that species evolve into other species, just hinted that he understood things like dog-breeding. I sent a letter to his campaign asking for clarification but never got an answer. > [@jayjay](#): > > There is no such thing as a bright-line connection between the Democratic Party pre-60s and the Democratic Party post-60s as far as civil rights and race are concerned. Both modern parties have flip-flopped on that subject. There’s little relationship for either party between its form in the more rational era and that of post-modern post-rational America. Whenever I read any Doper mentioning oldtimer’s party affiliation as though it had relevance to today’s politics, I think: _There’s a Doper who needs his ignorance fought._ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/22 "2011-05-01T18:00:33Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Yes, that’s why hooded men still beat up blacks who try to vote. While that doesn’t happen (often) anymore, there are more…“civilized” methods actively in use by the Republican Party. Vote-caging, deceptive advertising (flyers to heavily minority precincts saying that election day is X date, where X is the day AFTER election day), intimidation (flyers to heavily hispanic precincts saying that you need 3 forms of ID to vote or you’ll be deported by INS), purging voter rolls of anyone with a name similar to a convicted felon’s, disparity in voting machines/stations/polling places that disadvantage minority precincts, etc. Florida was an archetype for this in 2000. They purged their voter rolls of primarily black voters based on an erroneous list of convicted felons. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/23 "2011-05-01T18:05:10Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > There’s little relationship for either party between its form in the more rational era and that of post-modern post-rational America. Whenever I read any Doper mentioning oldtimer’s party affiliation as though it had relevance to today’s politics, I think: _There’s a Doper who needs his ignorance fought._ Yes, I shouldn’t have said “flip-flopped” so much as “filtered”. The anti-civil rights Democrats pretty much all became Republicans, and the pro-civil rights Republicans eventually got completely marginalized or purged. The fact that there are only 2 (possibly 3) moderate Republicans (out of what? 47?) in the Senate shows this. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/24 "2011-05-01T18:05:56Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No, the Civil Rights are now a settled issue, not flip-flopped. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S38VioxnBaI/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AGOA4ACpAKKAgwIABABGGUgWihPMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAyeTHMiKRC5pb2c-_v03mn3eYPkg "TEA PARTY RACISM: What The Media Won't Show You About Teabagger Racism") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S38VioxnBaI) No racism in politics. Wrong again kid. But we know what party the racists are in, don’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/25 "2011-05-01T18:22:43Z")
We’re getting away from evolution here, but the Pubs are big on voter restrictions. Here’s a [linky](http://www.dlcc.org/taxonomy/term/149) about voter ID laws: > [@](#): > > According to data from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, at least 27 state-level voter ID bills – from Alaska and Arizona to Wisconsin and West Virginia – have been proposed in recent months. > [@](#): > > “Definitely students are a target here. It’s totally clear to me that you saw in 2008 this unprecedented historic turnout among African-Americans, Latinos and young people – and those happen to be the exact groups of people that are being targeted by these laws to disenfranchise them, and that’s really sad,” Wang said. > > Wang said the most restrictive bills are in Ohio and Wisconsin, which Wang said require identification issued by the DMV. “Perhaps most interestingly, it doesn’t even include student ID even from schools that are public universities,” she said. Hey, if students are voting Democratic, just don’t accept student ID’s as valid and you can keep them from voting at all. Plus poor people are more likely not to have an ID from the DMV- people who happen to be more likely to vote Democratic. Clearly the will of the people is Republican leadership!! :rolleyes: It’s a mandate!!! :rolleyes::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/26 "2011-05-01T18:27:36Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No, the Civil Rights are now a settled issue, not flip-flopped. Tell that to the queers. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/27 "2011-05-01T18:41:16Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yes, … The anti-civil rights Democrats pretty much all became Republicans, and the pro-civil rights Republicans eventually got completely marginalized or purged. The fact that there are only 2 (possibly 3) moderate Republicans (out of what? 47?) in the Senate shows this. Yes, I was agreeing with you. I quoted your sentence as a convenient fact in agreement leading to the segue. (Is there a message board shorthand convention to imply agreement with a quoted post?) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/28 "2011-05-01T18:44:51Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Yes, I was agreeing with you. I quoted your sentence as a convenient fact in agreement leading to the segue. > > (Is there a message board shorthand convention to imply agreement with a quoted post?) I didn’t take your post as disagreement, but as pointing out a more accurate interpretation, which it was. No worries! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/29 "2011-05-01T18:51:05Z")
More information on anti evolution Republicans can be found in _The Republican War on Science_. > **[Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.](https://www.amazon.com/)** > > Free shipping on millions of items. Get the best of Shopping and Entertainment with Prime. Enjoy low prices and great deals on the largest selection of everyday essentials and other products, including fashion, home, beauty, electronics, Alexa... > [@](#): > > Drawing on new revelations dug up by the pro-evolution camp in preparation for the trial, Jones also explored the “history and historical pedigree” of the pro-ID textbook introduced into the Dover school district, Of Pandas and People. Published by a Christian organization called the Foundation for Thought and Ethics, it was originally authored by several creationists in the late 1980s, with drafts completed before and after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1987 ruling, in the landmark case Edwards v. Aguillard, that “creation science” could not be taught in science classes. What Jones found about the early drafts of Pandas absolutely devastates ID: In early versions, “creation” had the same definition used in later drafts for “intelligent design“; references to creationism in these earlier versions were then “systematically replaced” with references to ID; and most importantly, these telltale changes came right after the Edwards ruling that put an end to “creation science” as a political and legal strategy. From all of this, Judge Jones concluded that ID is simply “creationism re-labeled.“ > > In one of his most powerful passages, Jones underscored just how damaging the ID fight had been to the Dover community: > > > [@](#): > > > > This case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on ID, who in combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy. The breathtaking inanity of the Board’s decision is evident when considered against the factual backdrop which has now been fully revealed through this trial. The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/30 "2011-05-01T21:12:22Z")
**GIGObuster** , I’ve shortened the quote in your post. When you’re quoting from someone else’s work, please use just a couple of paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/31 "2011-05-01T21:21:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **GIGObuster** , I’ve shortened the quote in your post. When you’re quoting from someone else’s work, please use just a couple of paragraphs. Sorry for that, the quote came from an even longer article, this came from a portion of page 4 of the actual internet article quoted. I thought the limit was indeed to not quote the whole article, just a portion of it, is this a new rule limit? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/32 "2011-05-01T21:29:04Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I thought the limit was indeed to not quote the whole article, just a portion of it, is this a new rule limit? No, it’s not a new rule. We don’t have a specific word limit, but we ask people to keep their quotations short. The registration agreement says this: > [@](#): > > You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the operator of the SDMB, except as permitted by the “fair use” provisions of the U.S. copyright laws (in general this means brief excerpts only). Your quote might’ve been a small portion of a much longer article, but it was fairly long on its own terms. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/33 "2011-05-02T00:12:49Z")
[QUOTE] > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > :rolleyes: Please. There’s plenty of systematic discrimination against them still. Then why’re Asians more successful than whites? > [@](#): > > Do you support gerrymandering to ensure blacks have no political power? Yes, of course you do. Ah yes strawmanning. :rolleyes: I don’t support any sort of gerrymandering-just divide the state into as natural districts as possible (ie all of one metropolitian area if small enough going into one Congressional district) > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Tell that to the queers. I believe the context indicated it meant ethnic/racial minorities. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/34 "2011-05-02T00:31:17Z")
Please take the discussion of minorities and civil rights to another thread. It’s off-topic here. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/35 "2011-05-02T00:32:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Please take the discussion of minorities and civil rights to another thread. It’s off-topic here. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/36 "2011-05-02T02:00:36Z")
According to this 2007 gallup poll 68% of republicans deny evolution (vs 37% of independents and 40% of democrats). That doesn’t tell you what the senators themselves say though, but it is a reasonable guide to the nation as a whole. [![](http://media.gallup.com/POLL/Releases/pr070611ii.gif) ](http://media.gallup.com/POLL/Releases/pr070611ii.gif) A different poll found only 14% of the public believe in evolution by natural selection, the remainder believe in creationism or intelligent design with 4% unsure. So it is hard to say. Part of me thinks politicians just pretend to promote creationism or theism when they privately believe in evolution, but who knows. Part of me thinks most probably do the opposite, privately believe in creationism but not profess it openly for fear of losing support. The motive to say one thing in public and something else in private exists for both viewpoints. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/37 "2011-05-03T01:17:55Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Thurmond was a former Democrat. When the Democratic party was coddling racist sewage, yes, he was. Like the Republican party has being doing for the past 50 years. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/38 "2011-05-03T03:34:20Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > When the Democratic party was coddling racist sewage, yes, he was. > > Like the Republican party has being doing for the past 50 years. Which it is not with a few isolated exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/39 "2011-05-03T04:35:34Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Which it is not with a few isolated exceptions. Wrong! The Republican party has being counting and coddling and fishing for the racist vote since the 1970’s. If you disagree, you are dismissing History, and Reality. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338/40 "2011-05-03T04:36:26Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > Wrong! > > The Republican party has being counting and coddling and fishing for the racist vote since the 1970’s. > > If you disagree, you are dismissing History, and Reality. How about some evidence. And being tough on crime doesn’t count. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-democrat-and-republican-senators-that-deny-evolution/580338.md?page=3)