It should come as no surprise that the Bush administration is silencing science to push its political and religious agenda. A string of government scientists, from the National Institutes of Health to NASA, has criticized Bush for ignoring scientific evidence demonstrating the promise of embryonic stem-cell research and the dangers of global warming.
The latest official to protest the administration’s tactics is former Surgeon General Richard Carmona. Dr. Carmona told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday of the office’s increasing politicization.
“Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda,” Carmona said, was “often ignored, marginalized or simply buried.
“Much of the (policy) discussion,” he continued, “was being driven by theology, ideology [and] preconceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect.” The Washington Post reports that Carmona encountered resistance “at every turn,” especially in sex education decisions.
Carmona told the panel that he had no voice in the matter. “There was already a policy in place,” he said, “that did not want to hear the science but wanted to just preach abstinence, which I felt was scientifically incorrect.” Carmona was also told to “stand down and not to speak about” embryonic stem-cell research when Congress debated a funding bill last year. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services removed positive references to the research from his speeches.
Dr. Carmona said the American people through their elected representatives should ensure his successors are nominated “based on merit and without political, ideological or theological filters.”
Carmona’s testimony is a sobering reminder of how dangerous theologically based government can be. Public policy should be built on sound science, not sectarian dogma. President George W. Bush is Commander-in-Chief, not Theologian-in-Chief. We tread a dangerous path when our leaders turn to religious doctrine before science to regulate public health.
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