Intellectuals are proving bad for America

OPINION:

Intellectuals are destroying America.

A Vanderbilt University professor recently wrote on Twitter that parents concerned about critical race theory teachings are “ignorant racist[s].” A known scientist who’s served in several scientific policy capacities to combat pollution wrote in one of America’s most esteemed scientific journals, “Scientific American,” that “Science Needs to Face Up to Its Racist History.” An associate professor and director of graduate studies at the University of Rhode Island once tweeted, “Science, statistics, and technology are all inherently racist.” And there’s a growing movement based on faulty, deceptive science pushed by agenda-driven so-called scientists that say, as The Daily Beast wrote in one headline, “Yes, Men Can Have Periods and We Need to Talk About Them.”

It’s getting so the more letters after a person’s name, the stupider the theories to come. Higher education degrees are rapidly becoming the modern illustration of William Shakespeare’s sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Set aside the ridiculous two years of coronavirus “science” — the science that said face masks work and vaccines work, but by work, it’s meant Not Really Work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to actually redefine “vaccination” and “vaccine” to make clear that these days, these words don’t suggest immunity so much as protection — and limited, very limited, ever-changing limited protection at that. Work, shmerk. It’s what the government says at the time, in other words.

But put all that aside.

And just look at how science is being similarly reshaped into something that’s not so much scientific and data-based and truthful as willed by a select few. Forget absolutes; forget accepted truths.

Medical professionals now say a swimmer can go from being a male named Will Thomas to a female named Lia Thomas and compete without compromising the integrity of the sport. Educators now say math is racist and pushing for students to find the correct answer to a problem is a show of white supremacy. Scholars now say the Constitution of the United States is inherently racist, filled with words that advance racial inequality to this day — and therefore should be abolished and replaced. Scientists say modern data make clear: it’s a ban on abortion, not abortion itself, that’s the real concern for harm of life.

On that last, from Scientific American, in August of 2019: “We are scientists, and we believe that evidence, not ideology, should inform health care decisions. … Scientists should, first and foremost, value evidence, and the evidence is clear: abortion bans cause harm.”

Sonogram, anyone? What a joy it is to be part of the intelligentsia these days, where words can mean whatever is wanted and data can be manipulated to show whatever is desired. 

It’s hard to take seriously the stuff and nonsense the highly educated say these days — especially when the most talked-about, least social media censored science and data these days seem oh so aligned with leftist agendas.

“Science has become a politically polarizing issue,” CS Monitor wrote in November of 2020. “A global [Pew Research] report found Americans are three times more likely to trust scientists if they identify as left-wing … ‘We saw an increase in confidence in scientists but that increase only came from Democrats and not Republicans,’ said Cary Funk, director of science and society research at the Pew Research Center.”

Interesting. So why is that?

Here’s a thought, because Democrats are only too willing to skew science for political purposes. Democrats rely solely on education for brain power, disdaining common sense — that’s for the little folk! — and God forbid, spiritual and biblical truths — that’s for the nut jobs! — in favor of higher degrees. To elitists, the more PhDs after a person’s name, the more that person is worthy of trust. Even if that Ph.D. is pushing an idea, say, that men can menstruate.

But formal education should never be mistaken for critical thinking.

Higher education should never supplant common sense.

And scholars, researchers, scientists and the like should never be allowed to stifle and stomp constitutional freedoms and God-given individual rights — as they did for two-plus years under the coronavirus.

Scholarly pursuits, educational quests and scientific discovery used to be building blocks of societal advancement — shows of cultural progression. Nowadays? Science has become something to mock; intellectuals have become tools of the left. 

Sadly, the very people most thought capable of advancing civilization have become so smart, they’re actually destroying all that’s great about America, about even humanity.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.