Ron Paul is the Enemy of Secular/Skepticism

Ron Paul is an enemy of secular values and reason.

I find myself baffled by the support my secular/skeptic counterparts in America have displayed for this Republican Congressman.  Over the past months I have watched support for Ron Paul come across my Facebook Newsfeed.  Some has come from right-wing Christians (this should tell you a lot about Ron Paul), but a number of supporters are those I know to be active in the secular/skeptic movement.

The simple argument given for this Ron Paul support is usually along the lines of, “well Obama is worse, bad, etc.”.  I fully sympathize with this feeling of anger and betrayal that American progressives hold towards Obama.  Regardless, I find it a sad commentary on the state of the American political landscape that secular/skeptics are being driven into the arms of a man who stands for everything we in the movement are working against.  Our movement is a divided one, there are a diversity of views so perhaps you do support Ron Paul’s economics stance.  I’m not here to make an argument regarding such matters.  My aim is to demonstrate how Ron Paul stands against a few specific ideas that unite us.

Ron Paul is the Enemy Reason #1

He opposes Church/State separation.

I’m going to presume that if you call yourself a secularist, that you stand for the separation of Church and State.  If not, you’re doing it wrong.  Ron Paul is often touted as a strict constitutionalist, which causes me to believe that his support for the Establishment Clause is taken as a given.  He, as many conservative Christians do, believes that the courts have wrongly used it to trample on the religious freedom of Americans.  His evidence he gives for this is as follows:

 ban children from praying in school, prohibit courthouses from displaying the Ten Commandments, or prevent citizens from praying before football games. 

Hmm, I have no idea why this sounds familiar.  When it comes to the Establishment Clause Ron Paul is as loony as his fellow Republican blowhards.

Ron Paul is the Enemy Reason #2

He doubts the theory of evolution.

Here again we see Ron Paul acting more like a typical Republican than an ally of skepticism.  He believes in the idea of creation by a creator and does not accept evolution as a theory. (Note: I strongly disagree with the ending statement given in the post from “reason”.tv.  Ron Paul holds much more than a “bit” of ignorance.  He holds a mountain).

Ron Paul is the Enemy Reason #3

He promotes woo and quackery.

First off, why in the hell is this man an MD?  You should be very worried if your doctor supports the things Ron Paul appears to.

From Respectful Insolence:

For example, here’s what woo-meister supreme Dr. Joseph Mercola, who runs one of the most popular “alternative” medicine sites on the Internet, which is chock full ofmisinformation and hypocrisy, says about Paul in a gushing article:

Ron Paul (R-Texas) has the power and the integrity to impact your health freedom, should he win the 2008 presidential elections. This is why I was thrilled to hear, and wanted to share with you, Paul’s unprecedented outpouring of support that earned him over $4 million in just 24 hours.This sets a record for one-day online fundraising by any candidate.

The fundraising drive was appropriately tied to Guy Fawkes Day (November 5), which is a British holiday commemorating the failure of a plot against the government. The day was undoubtedly chosen because Ron Paul supports the principles of the Constitution — and limited government involvement.

What does this mean for your health? Just as I encourage you to Take Control of Your Health, Ron Paul seeks to maximize your individual freedom, including those basic rights that pertain to your health.

Already, Paul introduced a bill (The Health Freedom Protection Act) that would strongly and positively affect Mercola.com and many other natural health organizations and advocates, along with the field of natural health in general.

Warning bells! They are ringing.  A natural health organization singing praise of a doctor.  Something’s not right.

More from Respectful Insolence:

Not to be outdone, über-crank Mike Adams of Newstarget (whom we’ve met before many times) really, really, really loves Ron Paul for President:

Only Ron Paul believes in genuine health freedom. He’s the creator of the Health Freedom Protection Act, a bill that would reestablish Free Speech provisions for makers of superfoods, herbs, nutritional supplements and other natural remedies. Under the HFPA, those individuals would be able to state scientifically-validated facts about the health benefits of their products right on the bottle! Today, the FDA doesn’t allow that. All truthful statements about nutritional supplements are presently censored! (It’s a way to protect Big Pharma and keep the American people ignorant about how plant-based medicines can prevent and even cure degenerative disease.)If elected, Ron Paul would work to restore genuine health freedom in this country, giving consumers access to accurate, scientifically-validated information about how cherries can ease arthritis inflammation, for example, or how pomegranates can prevent prostate cancer, or how broccoli sprouts can prevent breast cancer. There are thousands of healing medicines in plant (herbs, foods, superfoods, etc.), and the public currently isn’t being allowed to know about any of their benefits. It’s a state of outright censorship promoted by the Big Pharma/FDA criminal partnership, and Ron Paul is the only candidate with a realistic shot at winning who would put an end to it.

Medical standards are strict (or they should be) and with good reason.  ”Free Speech” for alt. med. practitioners means a clear field for these charlatans to peddle their “treatments” to good, honest, and decent people just seeking a cure for what ails them.  People who are not medical experts.  Restrictions should be put in place to prevent anyone from taking advantage of another person simply because they lack proper knowledge of health matters.

The Respectful Insolence articles goes on and I highly suggest taking a look at it.

Ron Paul is the Enemy Reason #4

His stance on global warming is rather fuzzy.

Taking a look at this article, Ron Paul appears to have moved from, it may be caused by humans but there are other factors to consider, to calling it a hoax.  Another instance in which Ron Paul stands against the scientific evidence.

Ron Paul is the Enemy Reason #5

He’s intellectually dishonest.

Referring to Ron Paul as “intellectually honest” seems to be in style these days.  A 10+minute Ron Paul ad that was playing before some Youtube videos for a time had one moment in which clips of people referring to him as “intellectually honest” were spliced together.   Does Ron Paul deserve that credit?  For all of his failings can we at least give him that much?  No, obviously not.  Intellectual honesty means not allowing one’s own personal beliefs to interfere with the pursuit of truth or to distort facts based on your own biases.  Given what we have learned, would you still contend that this describes Ron Paul?  I would hope not. Ron Paul has cleared shaped his views on evolution, and global warming upon his conservative Christian world-view, not, as he would likely argue, through an objective view of the world.

Ron Paul is the Enemy

Many will argue (rightfully so) that the secular/skeptic movement is not a homogeneous voting block.  There are free-marketers, libertarians, liberals, socialists, communists, anarchists, and plenty of folk from a variety of backgrounds that make up this group.  However, there should be some uniting factors.  As a capitalist, you may drool over Ron Paul’s economic plans, but as skeptic you should be offended by what else he stands for.

In the long-run our community gains nothing if we are willing to back politicians who so clearly stand against what we are working for.  To so readily abandon principles is detrimental to the advancement of objective, science-based thinking.