Room for many voices in Legislature

Gov. Schweitzer is usually quite adept at navigating around the potholes that are so common on the byways of the Montana political landscape.

But a few days ago he blundered big time.

The governor was talking about global warming in Bozeman when he decided it would be a good idea to bring religion into the mix. He asked the crowd, which included schoolchildren, how many of them thought the Earth was hundreds of millions of years old. Then he asked how many people thought the planet was less than a million years old.

If he had wanted to use this as an example of how divergent people's thinking is on even the most fundamental points of information, then the governor might have been justified. But it appears he instead wanted to belittle people who hold different beliefs than him, and for this there is no excuse.

Present in the crowd was Bozeman legislator Roger Koopman, who was apparently the target of the governor's comments. Koopman is a supporter of the "intelligent design" theory, which contends that there must have been some governing force in the design of the universe beyond chance and natural selection.

With his scientific background, it is not surprising that Gov. Schweitzer is not a believer in intelligent design or creationism, but he is governor of all the people including creationists. He doesn't need to go out of his way to offend people for their religious beliefs or even for their divergent scientific beliefs.

When he said he didn't want people in the Legislature "who think the Earth is 4,000 years old," he was thumbing his nose not just at Koopman, but at many other Montanans as well (and also mis-stating the age of the earth according to the biblical count, which is more like 6,000 years). Koopman is probably speaking for thousands when he says the governor's comments were "incredibly bigoted."

Gov. Schweitzer is entitled to his own beliefs, but he shouldn't expect to work with a Legislature that has the same exact philosophy and beliefs as him. He also should not invite ridicule of people for their sincerely held beliefs in any case, unless those beliefs could harm others. Our core strength, after all, is that we cherish our diversity, and rise above it - e pluribus unum.

Hopefully, the governor's navigation skills will return quickly, and he can avoid further detours into needless confrontation and insult.