By Andy Roubik, Corvallis
Like most people, I respect the right of others to believe what they want. I do, however, have concerns when our elected official seems to believe that the earth is only 6,500 years old because decisions made with this idea in mind are dangerous to us all.
Gianforte’s $290,000 donation to a creationist museum seems to indicate that he believes as they do: That dinosaurs roamed the earth with humans and Noah had them on the ark. He is a member of a church that teaches that the Bible is the literal word or God. He wants your children to believe this too. When asked how old the earth is, he was very elusive, saying that “nobody knows how old the earth is” rather than what he must believe. He is apparently unwilling to say publicly what he truly believes. This should be a red light, a non-starter. We know what he believes. His $290,000 donation proves it.
Why does this matter? We are in the middle of a pandemic. Most of us are hoping for a vaccine to slow the spread and/or prevent us from contracting the disease. Diseases evolve. If our governor does not believe in evolution, how much support will he allocate toward getting vaccines administered? Will he encourage vaccinations? I don’t think so. With Ravalli County having the same low vaccination rate of Uganda, we are already behind the gun.
How much support will he give our Montana retirees when he has stated that “retirement is not Biblical”? He has said: “Noah built the ark when he was 600 years
old, so I have an obligation to keep working.” It must have been tough wrangling Tyrannosaurus Rex at that age! I don’t know about you, but I am going to have a hard time doing my job after about 100 years old!
We need a governor who believes in science. Our best hope of getting out of this pandemic and all our other problems is science. We need a greater understanding of the earth, all our systems and our impacts on these systems.
There is also the matter of Gianforte’s temper. If, by his age, he has not learned to control his temper, he probably never will.
We have had stable governors lead this state in the past. Let us keep it that way. My vote will go to Mike Cooney for governor.