A Fundamental Problem
If you had to go to the hospital, would you want the hospital to have a doctor on staff who didn’t believe that germs exist? For proof, he would merely pull out his pocket Bible and ask you to show him where the Bible mentions germs. Can’t find it? Then it doesn’t exist. The Bible very clearly speaks of diseases being transmitted through the will of God, not germs. Anyway, don’t worry, the doctor says, “I have promised to act just as if I believe this lie is true. It will not change the way I treat you.”
Want a new doctor? Want to know how a hospital could let a loon like that wear a labcoat?
Well, fortunately, the news story isn’t about a doctor, it’s about a ocean biologist. But, knowing full well that any reasonable person with whom he interviewed for a job would expect him to accept evolution, he concealed his disbelief and took a job at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. When he suddenly sprang the fact that he didn’t believe in the science he was supposed to be doing, he was fired. And he should have been.
Now he is suing because he was fired for his religious beliefs. I’m sure this was cooked up by his cohorts at his new employer, Liberty University – Jerry Falwell’s safe-haven for those who refuse to understand the world around them. Even if it wasn’t, it’s still a frivolous and stupid lawsuit.
A person should divulge at the time of interview any beliefs that might not mesh well with the institution’s guiding principles. I did so several times when I worked as a substance abuse councilor because I do not believe that chemical dependency is a medical disease (a medical condition, yes – but addiction itself is a sick social cycle that includes many more people than the one in treatment). In each case I was asked if that would keep me from using the twelve-step method that they preferred. My reply was that I always let experienced twelve-steppers handle moving someone through “the program” and I focused on addressing the psychological and sociological causes and/or problems caused by an individual’s behavior. Until George W. Bush was elected Governor of Texas and spending on drug treatment dried up overnight, I had no problem finding or maintaining employment.
I’m sure this will be used by right-wing nutjobs as proof that science is unfriendly to religion. They simply don’t know what they are talking about. Science is ambivalent about religion. But anyone who holds a non-scientific belief concerning their own research has no business whatsoever pursuing a job in that area. Do you want a nuclear plant operator who doesn’t believe in atomic theory operating the power plant next to your home? Would you think NASA was wrong to fire an engineer who didn’t believe in gravity?
But there is a faction among the far right-wing that could care less for truth. They are pushing their ideological agenda and anyone who doesn’t go along with them will be denounced. I generally file this in the “who cares” bin, but when it opens the door for bad science that could effect us all (National Science Foundation grants given out for “the healing effects of the image of Christ on foodstuffs” research?), I have to raise my voice. These morons make all people of faith look stupid. They are entitled to believe any moronic thing they want. They are not entitled to have the rest of us coddle them for their beliefs.
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