The monkey in Buchanan's tree

Dorothy J. Cattle (cattledj@WFU.EDU)
Mon, 19 Feb 1996 07:46:27 -0500

with David B. yesterday can correct or add to my recollection. As I
heard it, in response to a question about creationism, Pat Buchanan said
'well, *he* didn't believe we were descended from *monkeys*' [close
paraphrase], delivered with his typical snarling haughty look and
tone. He went on to say something like he believed in the Bible and its
account, and when pressed by the panel members, he said that the Bible
and the Christian viewpoint should be in the schools.

Now, if you remember a few months back, there were several members of this
list who had good advice [and experience] about how to "address" the
creationists. You might also recall the thread about how relevant is
anthro anyway, esp. in light of how often it has been "co-opted" by
others. So...below gives you the means to address the issue...

Pat Buchanan's on-line page is http://www.buchanan.org/
There's a link to his Message Board where you can leave a message; I
didn't actually click on it, but I think you can also read messages
others have left him. This means others will be reading your message
about the monkey in his tree and what his own denomination says about
evolution.

A parody of it is found at http://www.buchanan96.org/
And for watching Newt look at http://www.cais.com/newtwatch/

Also, since Buchanan is[?]/was[?] a Catholic, does anyone know the
various papal encyclicals in which one or more popes set forth the
Catholic Church's position on evolution and science? I am thinking there
was an encyclical in the 1940's that stated +/- that the Bible wasn't
meant to be a book on natural history, that science and the study of
evolution were valid enterprises, and that as long as science didn't
presume to deal with matters of the soul, there was no conflict with the
Church. If someone could cite the relevant official documents, maybe
Pat's campaign should know about them and also about how limited is their
candidate's understanding of evolution.

Have at it.

Dorothy