In A Word - Stupid. One may be intelligent, yet still behave foolishly or contrary to common good.
Gerald Eisman
July 11, 2006
Stupid: Slow to learn or understand; obtuse. Lacking or marked by a lack of intelligence.
There is a better definition for the word stupid. It is, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The following two examples, though totally opposite in scope, point up the potential of acting stupid to cause great upheaval in the country.
Number one, Georgia's requirement for a voter ID. For a second time, a Superior Court judge has blocked a Republican sponsored effort to require Georgia voters to present a government issued photo identification card before they cast a ballot. Judge Melvin K. Westmoreland said the requirement violated the state constitution by placing an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote.
The judge's temporary restraining order was a response to a legal challenge against the requirement. Former governor Roy E. Barnes, a Southern Democrat brought up the legal challenge by arguing such a restriction would increase the difficulty for minorities, elderly and other state residents.
The newly enacted law, signed by the current Republican Governor, Sonny Perdue, also must answer to a challenge in federal court put forward by a consortium of voters rights groups who claim it violates the United States constitution.
The law, which first passed in March of 2005, has see-sawed between the legislature and the courts. Georgia legislatures are trying in every way to put the measure into effect without coming afoul of either the state or federal voting acts. In its original incarnation, the bill required voters to have a driver's license or other government ID, or purchase a special state card (which by its own definition amounted to an unofficial and unconstitutional poll tax.)
Gov. Purdue declared the state's appeal would rest on ballot security.
"I respectfully disagree with Judge Westmoreland and believe that Georgia's law is not only constitutional, but a common sense, prudent protection of the election process," Purdue stated.
Georgia's Democratic Secretary of State, however, differs widely with Gov. Purdue. As overseer for elections, she said that there hasn't been a proven case of voter fraud in Georgia in almost a decade.
In the eyes of a thinking person, the law, an obvious attempt to once again put up a roadblock before certain voters to keep them from casting ballots, is stupid.
The second example is this. Scientists who engage in stem cell research using human embryos should be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo declared that researchers should be punished for their work in stem cell research in the same manner as women who receive abortions and doctors who perform them.
"Destroying an embryo," says Trujillo, "is equivalent to abortion. Excommunication is valid for the women, the doctors and researchers who destroy embryos."
According to current church law, excommunication for abortion is "latae Senentiae." What that means (for those who aren't Catholic or unfamiliar with canonical law) is that it is automatic and proclamation by any official is unnecessary. This kind of act is reserved for the most things so serious that no verdict or judgment is needed.
Other acts that result in automatic excommunication include violence against the pope and consecrating a bishop without permission. Now, thanks to Cardinal Trujillo, who heads up a group that proposes family-related policy for the church, engaging in stem-cell research might be added to the automatic category.
Once again, religion has reared its head and is trying to insert itself into the scientific field in order to control the minds of others. This is another example of how stupidity gets between man and progress.
The church maintains that early stage embryos are a viable human life. They are not to be used or destroyed. It maintains there are other ways to obtain stem cells for research purposes and point out umbilical cord blood as an example. The church does admit, however, that those other methods are cumbersome and nowhere near as viable.
The paradox is, one can be intelligent and still be or act stupid. All it takes is a whit of misplaced logic, a twisted fact, and a lot of intransigence.
There is a better definition for the word stupid. It is, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The following two examples, though totally opposite in scope, point up the potential of acting stupid to cause great upheaval in the country.
Number one, Georgia's requirement for a voter ID. For a second time, a Superior Court judge has blocked a Republican sponsored effort to require Georgia voters to present a government issued photo identification card before they cast a ballot. Judge Melvin K. Westmoreland said the requirement violated the state constitution by placing an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote.
The judge's temporary restraining order was a response to a legal challenge against the requirement. Former governor Roy E. Barnes, a Southern Democrat brought up the legal challenge by arguing such a restriction would increase the difficulty for minorities, elderly and other state residents.
The newly enacted law, signed by the current Republican Governor, Sonny Perdue, also must answer to a challenge in federal court put forward by a consortium of voters rights groups who claim it violates the United States constitution.
The law, which first passed in March of 2005, has see-sawed between the legislature and the courts. Georgia legislatures are trying in every way to put the measure into effect without coming afoul of either the state or federal voting acts. In its original incarnation, the bill required voters to have a driver's license or other government ID, or purchase a special state card (which by its own definition amounted to an unofficial and unconstitutional poll tax.)
Gov. Purdue declared the state's appeal would rest on ballot security.
"I respectfully disagree with Judge Westmoreland and believe that Georgia's law is not only constitutional, but a common sense, prudent protection of the election process," Purdue stated.
Georgia's Democratic Secretary of State, however, differs widely with Gov. Purdue. As overseer for elections, she said that there hasn't been a proven case of voter fraud in Georgia in almost a decade.
In the eyes of a thinking person, the law, an obvious attempt to once again put up a roadblock before certain voters to keep them from casting ballots, is stupid.
The second example is this. Scientists who engage in stem cell research using human embryos should be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo declared that researchers should be punished for their work in stem cell research in the same manner as women who receive abortions and doctors who perform them.
"Destroying an embryo," says Trujillo, "is equivalent to abortion. Excommunication is valid for the women, the doctors and researchers who destroy embryos."
According to current church law, excommunication for abortion is "latae Senentiae." What that means (for those who aren't Catholic or unfamiliar with canonical law) is that it is automatic and proclamation by any official is unnecessary. This kind of act is reserved for the most things so serious that no verdict or judgment is needed.
Other acts that result in automatic excommunication include violence against the pope and consecrating a bishop without permission. Now, thanks to Cardinal Trujillo, who heads up a group that proposes family-related policy for the church, engaging in stem-cell research might be added to the automatic category.
Once again, religion has reared its head and is trying to insert itself into the scientific field in order to control the minds of others. This is another example of how stupidity gets between man and progress.
The church maintains that early stage embryos are a viable human life. They are not to be used or destroyed. It maintains there are other ways to obtain stem cells for research purposes and point out umbilical cord blood as an example. The church does admit, however, that those other methods are cumbersome and nowhere near as viable.
The paradox is, one can be intelligent and still be or act stupid. All it takes is a whit of misplaced logic, a twisted fact, and a lot of intransigence.
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