Anti-Evolution Bills Create State Image Problems

Is Oklahoma’s corporate power structure ever going to fight against the right-wing religious folks who consistently embarrass the state with their absurd protests against evolutionary theory and their disingenuous attempts to allow the teaching of creationism in schools?

Surely, the state’s power brokers can see how much damage these people do to the state’s image. This, in turn, hurts basic economic development.

Perhaps we should ask these questions: What is the symbiotic relationship between big corporations in Oklahoma and the religious right? Do these corporations cultivate the religious right in order to maintain the state’s conservative political culture, which then rewards them with tax breaks and less business regulations? If that’s true, then certainly there’s an eventual downside in terms of financial development and population growth. Have we reached it here in Oklahoma? Perhaps it doesn't matter to large energy companies here, but other companies and small businesses need customer growth. The state's national image is important to that growth.

These are larger questions, but what we do know is twice this legislative session conservative politicians have introduced measures attacking the theory of evolution, a theory which is as much as a fact as the theory of gravity.

First, state Sen. Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso) introduced a bill that would have allowed teachers to present arguments against evolution (i.e., creationism, wink, wink). The bill, which was defeated in a committee, was seen by many as a way to get intelligent design rubbish in the state’s classrooms. Intelligent design, which argues a designer created the world, is simply a disguised version of creationism. It’s religious subterfuge.

Brogdon’s bill claimed evolution theory is controversial, but it’s only controversial on religious grounds for some people, not scientific grounds. Evolutionary theory, which argues life forms evolve or change through the years, is open for scrutiny, and anyone can try to disprove it. But it has never been disproven. Never.

Then, another legislator, state Rep. Todd Thomsen (R-Ada) filed a resolution criticizing the appearance of noted evolutionist and retired Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins on the University of Oklahoma campus. The resolution claims Dawkins’ views “are contrary and offensive to the views and opinions of most citizens of Oklahoma.” I’m unsure of this bill’s status, but we do know that Dawkins made fun of Thomsen’s bill during his Friday speech, and the YouTube video of it, posted above, is making its way around the Internet.

So it goes in Oklahoma, and there’s no end in sight.

But fortunately there’s help from the outside for those fighting to uphold the scientific method. Dawkins donated $5,000 to Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education, which has diligently opposed attempts to bring creationism into science classrooms.