OPINION:
“What you have just seen is the difference between those who voted on the basis of religion versus those who voted on the basis of science.” — Ron Reagan, 2004
This quote comes from the son of former President Ronald Reagan. It was on the night of the 2004 presidential election, and the younger Reagan was serving as a political commentator for CNN.
As the polls closed and the nation’s votes were being counted, a major news flash was developing. It was the story of the “values voters.” Millions of people had cast their ballot saying that “social issues” and yes, even religion had been a determining factor for their respective votes. It was a story about “red states” vs. “blue states.” In Ron Reagan’s opinion, it was a story about science vs. religion.
When he looked in the camera on that election evening, Mr. Reagan was visibly discouraged. He was chagrined that so many people would permit their religious convictions to influence their political opinions. The left-leaning son of our former president was disgusted. It was apparent that he, as well as the entire CNN team, simply couldn’t believe that in the modern era, an election could be swayed by a bunch of uneducated red-state buffoons who actually thought Christianity had a place in the public square.
Recently, Joe Biden, tweeted, “We need a president who believes in science.” At first blush, this seems like a no-brainer. Of course, we all want a president who believes in facts and not fiction. Who would suggest otherwise?
But don’t be deceived by the apparent simplicity of Mr. Biden’s comment. There is obvious sleight of hand here.
By suggesting that President Trump does not believe in science, Mr. Biden, like Ron Reagan before him, is clearly implying that anyone foolish enough to vote for a Republican is a science denier on the level of a flat-earther.
Never mind that it is Mr. Biden who denies the genetic fact that human life begins at conception. Never mind that it is Mr. Biden who denies the biological reality of what it means to be a male and female. Never mind that it is Mr. Biden who repeatedly ignores the proven facts of economics and, like a dog returning to his vomit, reflexively returns to the disproven models of socialism time and time again.
Never mind that it is the party of Crazy Joe and Little Ronnie that somehow thinks it’s good science to put 38 million people out of work and then print trillions of dollars of monopoly money as a solution to the problem. Never mind all this. Nothing to see here. You’re the science denier. You’re the ignorant dope. You’re the deplorable. You’re the uneducated, superstitious rube.
But, even more egregious than this thinly-veiled insult of your intelligence is the left’s relentless drumbeat to remove religion from the public square. Their claim that Christianity and the Bible have no place in politics is a lie. Stated differently, the Democratic Party’s attempt to sever religion from politics is, well, unscientific. It is inaccurate and does not comport with reality.
Consider the following by way of proof.
“We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul.” — Harry Truman
“America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelation of Holy Scripture.” — Woodrow Wilson
“The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and intertwined with our whole civic and social life … if these teachings were removed, we would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals …” — Teddy Roosevelt
“The Bible is the rock on which our Republic rests.” — Andrew Jackson
“A free government cannot exist without religion and morals, and there cannot be morals without religion, nor religion without the Bible.” — Zachary Taylor
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people and is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” — John Adams
And this from Ron Reagan’s own father (a better president than Joe Biden could ever hope to be): “The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual — rights which they found implicitly in [Christianity’s] teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual.” — Ronald Reagan.
Yes, we do need a president who believes in “science.” We need one who builds and organizes his knowledge based on facts, not progressive arrogance or popular fads, and the fact of the matter is that without the goodness of religion, there is no such thing as good science, nor is there such a thing as good politics, or good men.
• Everett Piper, former president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, is a columnist for The Washington Times and author of “Not A Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery 2017).
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