It is with some amusement that The Skeptic Tank has worked an extremely
little bit with Sen. Traficant's office on the disappearance of Philip
Kramer. I had known that Sen Traficant was poorly educated about science
but I didn't know that he was... well, words can't describe the insanity.
- flr
Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 02:36:41 -0600
Dear Frederic-
Here's a piece for your skeptic webpage (Which I thoroughly enjoy by the way)
The following is a one minute speech given to the House of Representatives
by Rep. Jim Traficant one August 3rd, 1998.
(http://www.house.gov/traficant/1998speecharchive.htm)
SEVEN PERCENT OF SCIENTISTS BELIEVE IN GOD
August 3, 1998
-----------------------------------
"Mr. Speaker, a new report says only 7 percent of scientists believe in
God. That is right. And the reason
they gave was that the scientists are `super smart.' Unbelievable. Most of
these absent-minded professors cannot find the toilet.
Mr. Speaker, I have one question for these wise guys to constipate over:
How can some thing come from no thing?
And while they digest that, Mr. Speaker, let us tell it like it is. Put
these super-cerebral master debaters in some foxhole with
bombs bursting all around them, and I guarantee they will not be praying to
Frankenstein.
Beam me up here. My colleagues, all the education in the world is worthless
without God and a little bit of common sense. And
I yield back whatever we have left."
---------------------------------
Wow. After I read that, I had to take a minute to actually swallow the
fact that these kinds of things go on in the United States House of
Representatives.
Maybe I'm just naive, but I'd like to think that speeches given to the
Speaker of the House should have some validity; they should not be
emotional tirades without facts.
I wrote him a reply:
---------------------------------
While recently perusing the net for information and readings on science and
religion, I came across an article that mentioned your name and some
comments that you made. The article quoted you as saying the following on
August 3rd:
INSERT SPEECH FROM ABOVE HERE
It disturbs me that someone that sits on the House Science Committee would
give an emotional, slandering, anti-scientific statement.
You seem to be misunderstanding the whole point of science. Science seeks to
understand the universe through rationality, reason, and skepticism. At no
point, does science make the claim: "All this 'something' comes from
nothing." Science does not have all the answers, but it seeks to find
them in a self-correcting manner. Religion seems to be making the very
claim that you deem ludicrous, by claiming that the universe came from the
hand of an all-powerful god that we can never understand, and for which
there is not a shred of scientific evidence.
Your perception of scientists seems to be based more on comic books than
reality. Scientists do not "Worship Frankenstein." Your proposal of the
experiment to put scientists in a foxhole and drop bombs on them seems like
a personal attack on science. Your claim that "Most of these absent-minded
professors cannot find the toilet" is downright stupid. Stupid remarks
reduce your debate to mere mudslinging, and I am ashamed that a United
States Representative would say the things that you said.
Please write back and tell me if the quote is authentic. If it is not,
please e-mail me the correct version. If it is true, then I have lost all
respect for you.
Sincerely,
Brian Beitlich
-------------------------------------
I hope Jim actually reads my letter and bothers to consider that what he
said is dangerous to society.
Thank you for your time, Frederic.
-Brian Beitlich
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From: Brian Beitlich
Subject: Main-Index-Page
To: frice@raids.org
University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse
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