In her Aug. 30 letter to the editor, “Accept scientific fact,” Norma Coccari was right to be worried about the overt appeal to the anti-scientific that has become almost a trademark for some Republican presidential candidates. Coccari then speculates on the etiology of this development. What Coccari’s letter alludes to is that the diminution of respect for the faculty of reason is the fundamental cause. When faith — the belief in an idea in defiance of even the need for evidence — is elevated to on par with (or above) reason, anything goes. To many, a “fact” reached by faith is considered equal to a fact reached by reason and logic. Creationism and “intelligent design” being co-taught in some schools with evolutionary biology is evidence of this fact. To reverse these alarming trends, the enshrinement of reason and the banishment of faith are necessary.
