My Favorite Republican Philosophical Irony

[Yavin4]

Republicans don't want evolution taught in schools, but they want our government and our economy to practice Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest.

[gottaB]

1. That's a practical irony too

Very telling.

[yardwork]

2. How did you choose just one Republican philosophical irony?

There are so many!

[StClone]

3. Yeah that has been a source of repeated head scratching

They don't really get Darwinism but somehow they do get it when works in their favor.

[Ian David]

4. They also want their Christian agenda taught, but not "the gay agenda"

I propose that every school have a bible club so long as they also have a gay-straight Alliance.

I propose that creationism be taught in every science class, so long as tolerance for EVERYONE is taught in every social science class.

Fair compromise?

[Az]

5. Careful, social darwinism is the result of a poor understanding

of the complexity enabled by evolution and in particular of social structures. Social Darwinism does a disservice to the name Darwin IMO.

[spunky]

6. I was thinking the exact same thing the other day! n/t

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

7. Only giving welfare to Corporations and not Individuals

In 'Murika your supposed to pick yourself up by the boot straps and work...unless you are a huge billion dollar corporation, then you don't need to pay taxes and get subsidized by the govt!

[eallen]

8. The name is social darwinism's only connection to evolution.

And even that is erroneous, since Darwin had nothing to do with it. Evolution has no direct implications for politics or morality. Those who tried to conjure otherwise failed to see the great divide between pure statements of fact and normative commitments.

[sendero]

9. "survival of the fittest"..

... is often used to describe the evolutionary mechanism, even though it is by no means a complete definition. "Survival of the fittest" is certainly a fair description of the Republican approach to the economy and life in general.

I have noted the same hypocricy here before and I think it is in fact a valid comparison.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Man is evil unless fearing hellfire, so we prefer voluntary regulation

Fundies will tell you over and over again how sinful and wicked man is, and how without sucking up to the thundergod we'd all be running willy-nilly, yet they'll claim to be morally superior to those who live an honorable life without belief. Voluntary pollution standards are the biggest lie against this: by the fundamentalist definition of man, NONE OF THEM would ever decrease profits because of the goodness within.

[Az]

12. The irony is humans are basically good

We have to be taught we are evil.

[kiki]

11. How about

the fact that they worship a Jewish socialist from the Middle East?