Monday, December 19, 2016

#1764: Randy Hultgren

It’s truly depressing how many of these we need to cover, but Randy Hultgren is another US Representative, this time for Illinois’s 14th congressional district (since 2011; prior to that he sat in the Illinois General Assembly). According to some, Hultgren has gained a reputation as an ardent supporter of research and science education, and NBC Chicago claimed that he has “carved a reputation as a pro-science, pro-STEM education supporter.” He has even won some awards, and praise from various people in powerful administrative positions at major universities; Fermilab Director Pier Oddone, University of Illinois President Robert Easter and University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer even said that “Congressman Hultgren provides a strong voice for science in Congress,” which, I suppose, comes close to clinching a place in our Encyclopedia for all three of them.

Hultgren is a climate change denialist and, apparently, an intelligent design creationist who wants to allow school districts to teach this kind of pseudoscience. A pretty illustrative example of Hultgren’s scientific credentials is his claim that, unlike “dangerous” sex ed, abstinence-only programs have “incredible success records”. He has worked to get funds assigned accordingly. The evidence, which consistently shows the opposite, be damned.


Diagnosis: Anti-science extremist.

3 comments:

  1. What in god's name has pushing your sex ed agenda got to do with science? Aren't you crossing over a bit into confusing your cultural preferences with science? Be careful lest you reveal you actually hate Christians and feel they should be unable to serve in government. By the way, I'm an atheist.

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    1. Wtf? It has nothing to do with "agendas". Whatever you think about sex-ed, abstinence-only programs have not had "incredible success records", and claiming that they have is delusional denialism with regard to the empirical facts.

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    2. And what on Earth does it have to do with Christianity?

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