I’m getting sick and tired of politicians and people in the media saying they “believe in” or they do not “believe in” evolution or climate change, as if it were a matter of faith.
“Uh, yes, Mr. Governor, do you believe in evolution??” That’s like asking, “Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy??”
A more reasonable question would be, “do you accept evolution as fact,” because evolution is a fact. Climate change is also a fact, like it or not. It’s not a matter of faith, like believing in something, like god, or the Boogey Man. That’s a faith issue. Believing something is true or false, despite a lack of evidence to support either conclusion, is pretty much the definition of faith and belief.
When presented with actual facts and evidence that point to one conclusion or another, you have a choice to make; accept the conclusion (evolution is real, duh) or don’t accept the conclusion (god made me), or ask a few more questions that help you decide one way or the other. Let’s all try to pay attention to the language, here.