It's no secret that some very important cases will be heading to the Supreme Court in the near future. One of these will probably be evolution v. intelligent design. Should creationism - or its beard, intelligent design - be taught in public schools? What next - the feds shut down the Ice Age wing at the Smithsonian? And what does this have to do with Harriet Miers?
Plenty and here's why. With or without saying so, President Bush has injected religion into all branches of government whenever he can (once proclaiming "Jesus Day" when he was governor of Texas, as if Easter were not enough). In fact his literal interpretation of the Bible, including the view that there will be an actual Second Coming of Christ, is what's driving the war in Iraq (not some so-called neo-con cabal for which Bush is the unwitting Howdy Doody) - see my comprehensive article on Bush's evangelicalism and its connection to policy in the Middle East (written before the invasion), which originally appeared in The Nation.
After reading Molly Ivins' great piece about Harriet Miers the other day, and finding out that she belongs to Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, I decided to explore the site. On a page marked "Some Useful Links/This is not an endorsement just some links we enjoy," there's a dinosaur logo with a link to the Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Texas. Its founder suggests that humans and dinosaurs "co-habited" (isn't this illegal?) - in Texas no less - and he further asks and answers some questions about what it was like before the the flood, by way of a Q&A for kids:
"Were humans different before the flood?"
"...They had no diseases, no asthma, no aches and pains...They never got depressed or scared...They could have jogged for miles without even getting tired!"
"Did people back then have to wear sunscreen?"
"No!...Before the flood there was a canopy of water that stretched around the Earth like a huge bubble...It will be like that again."
"...That's so neat!"
Now for my own Q&A:
If Harriet Miers' church links to the Creation Evidence Museum, does that mean she agrees with the views of the museum?
No!
Does that mean Harriet Miers believes in creationism?
Perhaps! The Valley View Christian Church believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible!
If Harriet Miers is confirmed, will she vote yes on teaching creationism in public schools?
We don't know! But we do know that Bush wants it to be added to the curriculum! Whenever the law offends him, he rewrites it based on phony data or bends it to fit his views!
Now isn't that special?