Science Advisor == Wingnut Ph.D
Thanks to a tip from Plutonium Page over at DailyKos I looked into Senator Brownback’s science advisor, a Dr. David Prentice. He has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas and was a Professor of Life Sciences at Indiana State University. Pretty impressive credentials.
These days, Dr. Prentice is a Senior Fellow for Life Sciences at the Family Research Council. It is a sad day in America when I automatically assume that anything with “family” as a prominent part of their name is a wingnut organization, but in this case it is true.
The Family Research Council is, well, I’ll let them explain:
The Family Research Council (FRC) champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society. FRC shapes public debate and formulates public policy that values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family. Believing that God is the author of life, liberty, and the family, FRC promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society.
Now doesn’t that sound like a rational, scientific mission? A “Judeo-Christian Worldview”? It doesn’t exactly sound objective. What is a scientist trained in biochemistry doing working for the Family Research Council? It appears that he is trotted out like a mustachioed show pony every time there is debate on stem cell research to claim that although we don’t know all of the possible benefits of embryonic stem cells, we certainly should not study them.
So just remember that Senator Brownback’s science advisor works for an organization that is fighting to protect the “wellspring of society”.
All I have to say is “Keep your hands off my seedbed!”
Blogging Against Senator Sam Brownback Since March 2005
June 2nd, 2005 at 7:09 am
Okay, the guy could stand to get a trimmer out…
But the FRC, and their desire to have the family (ie; one man and one woman, etc) as the foundation of covilization sounds reasonable to me. My family has known several gay people (a short list, but nonetheless) and we have no beef with them. But let us not assume that they, on their own, could create and sustain a civilization (reproduction).
June 3rd, 2005 at 6:17 pm
Your comment lies at the heart of the problem. You make several assumptions that are not true. Obviously a world made up entirely of homosexuals could not reproduce naturally. Luckily, not all people on earth are born homosexual. Now I would imagine that you’ll take issue with the idea of “being born” a homosexual but the scientific research has led in the direction that all gay people already knew. Did you ever make a conscious choice to be heterosexual? I know I didn’t. I just like women. Could you suddenly decide to be a homosexual? I couldn’t. I’m just not aroused by men. So if you and I were born heterosexual and cannot change who we are, how could you assume homosexuals choose to have that orientation?
Once you accept that people are born homosexual then I wouldn’t think you would have a problem with gay parents. They aren’t going to force their kids to be gay. In fact, I know a college age girl who has two mothers. She is well adjusted, blazingly intelligent and completely heterosexual.
The whole point of this article is to say that Senator Brownback should not be getting his sole scientific advising from a guy who so obviously has gone a bit off the deep end. If he was his religion adviser, fine. But as a science adviser he is completely compromised.
February 22nd, 2006 at 11:00 am
Good post, and I agree about being suspicious anytime I see the word “family” these days. Sad, but true. They have done more to trash the word than gay people could ever do. But hey, some of my friends are straight, and I have no beef with them. I really dont mind straight people if they will just act gay in public.