Does Rape Prevent Pregnancy? Views Differ!

by tristero

Disgusting. You may have read this article as a thorough debunking of extreme religious nuttiness. But you would be oh-so-wrong.

There’s a hoary rightwing strategy called “Teach the Controversy” that’s been a genuine pain in the neck to deal with for those interested in teaching evolution in science classes rather than lies. It’s the same con being worked here.

Willke and that Harvard egghead – hey, they’re both doctors, so who’s to say who’s right, huh? Let’s keep an open mind, shall we?

But, you might ask, what about that thorough drubbing Wilke got? Well…

Who cares what the article says or the context? No one will remember in a week. But Harvard! The New York Times! What associations for Willke! This screwball’s status as a national spokesman just increased dramatically. These mainstream guys take Willke seriously enough to engage his arguments. He’s been waiting his entire career for this moment. Mission accomplished.

Here’s the problem: Every moment spent engaging the “Teach the Controversy” scam by pretending there actually is a controversy – be it Ryan’s nutty budget, a creationist’s lies, or a misogynist’s rape fantasies – is a moment not spent addressing our badly depressed economy, expanding our real knowledge of evolution, or grappling with the real horror and consequences of rape.

This country doesn’t have the time to take the far right’s crackpot notions seriously.  You simply don’t give the Willke’s of the world the satisfaction of soliciting a reaction from prominent physicians. Everyone has better things to do.

Disgusting.

UPDATE: I hope it’s clear that I’m not suggesting that people ignore the extreme right. We know where that’s got us, namely here. But we can’t react to the right, either.

The physicists have a phrase: “It’s not even wrong.” That’s about right. We need to make it very clear that these ideas don’t have so much as a toe-hold in serious discourse. Not ban them, of course. Not ignore them. Not engage them. But pump the discourse so full of good ideas, real ideas, important ideas and genuine controversies that there is little space left for nuts like Akin and Willke and Ryan and Romney.

UPDATE: Akin clarifies further. A far more sensible article than the Times story. (I’m not being sarcastic.)