My Religion, The One I Never Lose

I believe in data. http://www.wesjones.com/specter2.htm

Steven Hyman, the provost of Harvard University and a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School... was appointed to run the National Institute of Mental Health during the Clinton Administration and remained in his job after Bush took office. He is still troubled by what he saw as the intrusion of church onto state territory. "The first inkling that things were different under Bush was when I put in a slate for my national advisory council," Hyman said. "I got a call from one of the people I had nominated and he said, 'Steve, is this normal? I was just called by somebody saying he was a White House liaison to the Department of Health and Human Services. He asked me whether I made political donations, and if so to whom, and who did I vote for.' "


"I swear to you that there is no such thing as right-wing or left-wing molecular biology." Hyman became increasingly disturbed by the effects of what he saw. "It wasn't just politics, it was an unyielding bias," he said. "They were asking people if they believed in needle exchange"--which, like Clinton, President Bush has always opposed. "As a scientist, the answer has to be I believe in data." The data showing that shared needles are the most efficient way to spread H.I.V. are compelling. So are the data showing that needle exchange does not turn people into heroin addicts. "Asking the question 'Do you believe in needle exchange?' is a real violation of science. It so happens that needle exchange is a good public-health measure. And we need also to understand that there are issues in society that will trump scientific information. For many people, this is one of them. That is a political decision, and I have no problem with politicians making it. But that is a terribly unfair question to put to a scientist."