When I read the story in The New York Times last Saturday that U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (N.J.-12th District) had introduced a resolution designating Charles Darwin’s birthday — Feb. 12 — as Darwin Day, my first thought was: Uh-oh! You’re gonna get some grief for this!
There he was in the photo that accompanied the story, looking professorish (which shouldn’t surprise anyone, since he is a nuclear physicist by training, taught physics and religion at Swarthmore College, and was the assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory at Princeton University before being elected to Congress in 1998) and a lot like Mr. Rogers in a better suit, talking about the need to “recognize the importance of science in the betterment of humanity.”
“I hope we can hold hearings, where people can hear about Darwin and science and the jobs it creates, the lives it saves, everything,” he said. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and they would have to approve it before it could come to a vote before the full House. In other words, I’d look for the official designation of Feb. 12 as Darwin Day by the U.S. House of Representatives at about the same time that Paul Ryan introduces a bill for same-sex marriage ceremonies.
One stumbling block will likely be Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), a member of the committee, who last year said, “All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang theory, all of that is lies, straight from the pit of hell.” Talk about a tough audience. Meanwhile, in your mind’s eye, you could almost see Rep. Holt’s critics warming up their typing fingers to denounce Holt’s foray into the weird zone when there are so many real problems facing the country that nobody is dealing with. Look for letters to the-editor on that theme in the very near future.
Still, I say it’s the thought that counts, and since Feb. 12 falls between Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day on Feb. 11 and Get a Different Name Day on Feb. 13, it turns out I don’t have anything special going on that day (it’s also Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, but I seem to have lost the top hat I used to wear to mark the occasion), other than getting over the effects of Jell-O Week and National Pancake Week, which both run Feb. 10-16. The only question is how I’ll honor the day (they were fresh out of Galápagos tortoises, which Darwin studied, at the A&P and from which I might have made a tasty soup, as did Darwin and others on his famous ship, H.M.S. Beagle). Maybe I’ll just see if I can find some reruns of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” (who looks a lot like Mr. Rogers and Mr. Holt) and call it good.
Fact is, now that I’ve had a chance to think about it and do a little research about the background of the Darwin Day movement, I find I’m in complete agreement with the whole notion. Turns out, Holt’s resolution is the result of a collaboration between the congressman, the American Humanist Association, and one of its ancillary organizations, the International Darwin Day Foundation, which has been working for years to have Darwin and his theory of evolution get its rightful place in our nation’s educational institutions, as opposed to creationism and intelligent design, which have their basis in some interpretations of religious doctrine. They tried to get a similar resolution passed a couple of years ago with Rep. Pete Stark (DCalif.) as sponsor, but it failed, so they’re trying again.
You’d think that since evolution is the accepted scientific principle explaining the diversity of species on this planet, it would be standard teaching in our schools, but that isn’t the case. According to Eugenie C. Scott, executive director for the National Center for Science Education, 13 percent of biology teachers in America openly advocate for creationism as opposed to evolution, and 60 percent of teachers are reluctant to teach evolution in the way science understands it for fear of public and professional retribution. In large part, that’s because almost half of all people don’t believe in the evolution theory at all.
Even in relatively liberal New Jersey, a Monmouth County/Asbury Park Press survey last May found that a full 42 percent of state residents don’t believe in the theory, as opposed to 51 percent who do. At this point, evolution is part of the core curriculum for science classes here, its teaching is required, and creationism isn’t, although there’s a continuing debate about whether it ought to be.
I certainly don’t intend to argue the religious sides of this argument — even though many religious scholars say Darwinism and religion are not incompatible — but I will argue that Holt’s proposed resolution is an exercise in representative government, since a clear majority of his constituents agree that evolution is the way to go. That being the case, those of us who agree with Rep. Holt ought to tip our hats to Mr. Darwin on Feb. 12, even if Congress doesn’t recognize his birthday. The question remains, however: how best to observe the momentous occasion? With Galápagos tortoises in such short supply, does anyone have a decent recipe for primordial soup?
Did anyone catch the news last week that perennial blowhard and legend-in-his-ownmind Geraldo Rivera (who once threatened to treat me to a knuckle sandwich at some undisclosed restaurant in Red Bank over something I wrote about him or his wife) is thinking about running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican against either Frank Lautenberg or Cory Booker? He says he’s been in contact with influential GOP movers and shakers in this state, and will make his decision known after spending a few months honing his platform. “I figure at my age (69), if I’m gonna do it, I gotta do it,” he said last week. All I can say is: Please, God, convince Geraldo to run! For pundits (I hate that word) like me, that would be the gift that keeps on giving. Gregory Bean may be reached via email at [email protected].