The Neanderthals are amongst us
It’s Tuesday and I’m in Warsaw. I arrived on Sunday and since then have been extensively catching up with news in the local press. And although it is the end of October and the main stories in the Polish papers are about the anniversaries of Budapest and Warsaw’s protests against Stalinism in 1956, the prize for ‘most shocking news of the week’ goes to the revelations made few days ago by the Polish minister of education and his deputy. To sum it up, they both stated publicly that Darwin’s theory of evolution was dubious and biology books for Polish schools should be corrected on the subject and include a theory of creationism as well. On top of this, the father of the minister – who is a European Parliament Member and an expert in plant genetics – said, also publicly, that proof of the theory’s invalidity lies in the fact that Poles remember a dragon living in Cracow a long time ago, while Scots still claim to have Nessie. Hence, the minister’s papa said, it was clear that dinosaurs were our contemporaries and Neanderthal man was “not at all extinct but still alive and kicking – just have a look at photos of some American boxers”.
The independent press and Polish scientists have already reacted strongly to these statements and Polish society right now is dividing itself actively into “these who have undergone the process of evolution” and “those who haven’t”. But unfortunately the reality bites more cruelly than that and the discussion doesn’t end there.
Apparently some “more enlightened” parents have already started complaining about school biology programmes and are demanding it to be changed into a more “God-creation-friendly” subject. And if the will of the masses is introduced, well… I love reading about crazy situations and usually enjoy repeating them as a joke to my friends but here we are talking about my own country so no, I don’t find this story particularly funny. For years I have been claiming that the Polish education system is one of the best I have ever experienced (and I experienced quite a few during my long and eventful career as an eternal student), but it seems I will soon have to change my judgement. Not that I care too much about whether we come from a monkey or are made of clay. Any theory will do me as I am just grateful to be alive. Still, as far as I understand, we all agreed some time ago on the fact that the earth was round, goes around the sun and some other similar claims. Now, oops, thanks to some of my own compatriots, it might all be proven a total mistake. How embarrassing…
Thank God, Polish ministers are not the only ones who say things that make us wonder about clarity of their mind and vision. We all know that the Brits have a similar problem with their Prince Phillip, Americans with George Bush and Russians with president Putin. And if you don’t know what I am talking about in case of Putin (lots of things have been happening in Russia recently) it is about comments that, according to some papers, he has recently made in reference to Israeli president Moshe Katsav (who the Israeli police say should be charged for rapes and sexual harassment of several of his female employees).
Now, I don’t know if you have been following the story (I have because of its similarities with our local Cypriot case: of the ambassador and its secretary) but if you haven’t, last week Putin was quoted as telling Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his visit in Moscow: “Say ‘Hello’ to your president. He really surprised us… He turns out to be a really powerful guy! Ten women! We all envy him.” Some people gasped. The Kremlin tried to explain the quote as a joke, inaccurately translated. But even if the translation was bad and missed Putin’s well-intended sarcasm and good-faith belief that Katsav was innocent, did he really have right to joke on the subject?
Firstly, as far as I know the charges against Katsav are serious and there is a high possibility that he will be forced to resign over them. Secondly, no one can just say something like: “I envy a man his strength to have sex with ten women, no matter if it was with or without their consent”. Unless, the Polish minister is right, the Neanderthals are among us and there is no such thing as evolution.
