Happy Darwin Day!

Today's the day we celebrate the anniversary of one of science's most influential practitioners. We also celebrate today the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, one of America's most influential leaders. Whereas science, especially biology, has become ever more capable in the years since Origin of Species was published, the Party of Lincoln has become divided between the drooling insane and the merely idiotic.

One aspect of Republican foolishness that bears consideration on a day in which science is celebrated is the Republican denial of science. It may be true that some of this denial is merely a ruse to excuse practices known by science to be harmful to the health of individuals or to the planet but which provide huge profits to a small percentage of people. Nevertheless, many people, including some holding elected office, strongly disbelieve what has been demonstrated over the past years, whether that be evolution, climate change, geology, or various other subjects. For those die-hard disbelievers, there is truly a culture war in which, as famously put by Pastor Ray Mummert during the Dover (Pennsylvania) Creationism affair, "we've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture."