I feel for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, he looks to be a nice family person and has had a skyrocketing career. But he is the wrong candidate for the VP slot on McCain’s ticket. Gingrich is out pushing Jindal for VP:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal “would be far and away the best candidate” to appear on the Republican presidential ticket with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

Gingrich, who appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” heaped praise upon the former congressman, saying that he is a “spectacular” governor and predicted that Jindal would be a presidential candidate in the future.

Why do I say that? Becaue Jingal brings along baggage in the form of far-right mythology and silliness:

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal defended intelligent design as a legitimate scientific discipline that has a place in the nation’s classrooms Sunday on Face the Nation.

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The moderator in the video below asked Jindal if he has doubts about evolution since Jindal was a biology major in college.

“I’m a Christian,” Jindal said. “I do think that God played a role in creating not only the earth but mankind. Now the way that he did it, I’d certainly want my kids to be exposed to the very best science. I don’t want any facts or theories or explanations to be withheld from them because of political correctness.”

Well, how about having totally wrong and unscientific concepts thrown out? Evolution is the creation of God – the sooner the far right comes to grip with that the better. Evolution, and its related biological mechanism genetics, are proven out every day. I won’t go into the unending proof of genetics and evolution, the field is so broad and so established it is as predictable as many physical sciences. Even projecting how bodies work in gravity have error bars and secondary forces (like friction, movement of air across the surface, solar heating) that perturb what should be straightforward equations of motion.

But there is no call to throw out the basic science simply because we have more to learn, like some feel with genetics and evolution. When we broke the genetic code and started to unravel the sequences of genes we opened up whole new library on life. We now see in 1 and 1/2 day old chicken embryos some vestiges of dinosaur traits that are only genetically active for a few days in the egg, and then disappear before hatching. This proves out how some animals today retain genetic markers from millions of years ago.

Sometimes sea mammals show vestiges of their previous genetic code when they were land animals, such as a dolphin found by Japanese scientists with vestiges of hind legs in the form of extra fins. BTW, the skeleton structure of dolphins and other sea mammals indicate places were legs might attach, hips were/are, etc.

Intelligent Design is the effort to think up excuses to deny the obvious. God created this world, and one of his most fascinating writings is in the genetic code. It is the very same genetic code that proves why abortion and embryonic stem cell research is the act of killing young human individuals. It is the genetic code of the embryo (and later fetus) which demonstrates scientifically that the young organism growing inside the mother is NOT part of the mother, but a hybrid of genetic combination (evolution) which shares its genetic code with mother and father.

The same legally binding and legally recognized DNA testing that convicts murderers and frees the innocent in courts across this land will show, without any doubt, that an embryo is a human individual, unique and distinct from its mother.

To hide minds from evolution and genetics is to mentally disarm in the fight for human life and dignity in the face of some who see humans as a commodity to exploit for personal gain. Science didn’t kill God, it is the detailed picture of God’s creations which we have been privileged to uncover because God gave us a brain, but not just any brain – a specialized brain (there’s that genetics again). Science is not bad, nor does it kill people. People kill people, people go bad by making the wrong decisions (and many times they do this with the best of intentions).

So when someone is so far right they say we must forget science, we must shun knowledge, we must dismiss reality, we must disarm ourselves in the fight to make humankind wise and pro-life then I say we would not be doing God’s work, we would be doing the work of ignorance. And we know who runs that game. Science has been a hidden treasure trove of blessing from our creator. It allowed us to unlock the human immune system and save millions of babies and young children from disease. It has brought about enormous potential for all sorts of ailments through adult stem cell research (another offshoot of genetics and evolution).

And stem cell research is the perfect example of why the path of ignorance is the path to defeat for humanity. One form of stem cell research, that based on killing embryos, is science used for greed and false promises and failed results. It is evil using a tool that could be good. Adult stem cell research, on the other hand, uses science to save or better lives without taking a life, and it is producing lots of results. It is science in the hands of God’s children doing right with his gifts of knowledge.

But only those who embraced science could have proven that embryonic stem cell factories, filled with young humans created so they could be slaughtered as cattle, were wrong and there was a better path. Same thing with nuclear power. It can save our planet or destroy it. But to pretend it doesn’t exist or is not real is not how to handle the nuclear genie.

We don’t need more quasi-scientific mysticism like we get with Tom Cruise and his Scientology cult. We need educated, humble and respectful people in science who believe in God and can keep their faith as the details of God’s creation unfolds in front of us. We need these good people to learn how to use that knowledge for good instead of greed and evil. McCain doesn’t need baggage of this kind on his ticket. He is up against the Messiah as it is. Jindal is the wrong choice for VP.

Addendum:  I wanted to add one more thing to pull this all together.  If God created mankind, he created the genetic code (which I still think is an insight into God’s universe than a conflict with his goals) and the minds we used to discover this treasure and use it.  QED:  The book of genetics and evolution IS the book of Intelligent Design. And thankfully that book includes the ability to appreciate beauty, our loved ones and each other.  That too is in our genes – we are not mindless creatures who live our lives solely to feed and reproduce.  If God is inside us, then so is his handiwork at all levels.  And now some may understand why I don’t relate to any given organized religion or to atheism.  We have a lot to learn about what we have been given.

Tags: 2008 Election, Adult Stem Cell Research, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Evolution, Genetics, McCain