by Terry F. Defoe

Terry Defoe was educated at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia (BA, Sociology, 1978), Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (M.Div., 1982), and the Open Learning University, Burnaby, British Columbia (BA, Psychology, 2003). Defoe served as a chaplain at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. He has been interested in the science / faith dialog for more than 30 years. His intellectual journey took him from young earth creationism to an evolutionary perspective. Details at www.evolvingcertainties.com. In 2018, two years after he retired, he published Evolving Certainties: Resolving Conflict at the Intersection of Faith and Science, which received endorsements from scientists affiliated with the BioLogos Association, including a Foreword from its first president, biologist Darrel Falk of Point Loma University, as well as scientists holding membership in the American Scientific Affiliation, a group Defoe joined in 2019.

Introduction: Science Under Attack

Science in the United States is facing an unprecedented challenge. Scientific authority and methodology are being undermined by a coalition of like-minded individuals whose goal is to transform science into the servant of political masters. This ongoing conflict is not new. Issues causing conflict in the past have included: 

• The safety of leaded gasoline
• Linking tobacco consumption with lung cancer
• In-vitro fertilization
• Genetically modified organisms
• The efficacy and safety of vaccines

An ongoing assault on science in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is clear evidence that this struggle continues and, if anything, is intensifying. 

Politicized science is science under new management, so to speak. Politicization suppresses the ability to speak scientific truth to pseudoscientific power. Politicized science gives young earth creationism a little breathing room and allows the fossil fuel industry to continue with business ( and profits ) as usual. It allows the fossil fuel industry, in addition, the ability to reassure the general public, and U.S. voters in particular, that they can sleep soundly at night, knowing that global warming is just another radical left hoax. The tacit alliance between science-denying evangelicals and captains of a major polluting industry, working together, effectively muzzles scientists who have amassed a great deal of data buttressing their warnings of the catastrophic damage global warming is about to unleash on us all.. 

Corporate Profitability and Christian Fundamentalism

The fossil fuel industry is aware that widespread acceptance of climate science would lead to policies that would negatively impact profits. They share an interest in undermining scientific authority with a significant proportion of U.S. evangelicals. They have a far greater impact working together then working alone. For decades, most American Evangelicals have been uncomfortable with the scientific consensus on the development of living organisms through time, and the fact that the earth is far older than young earth creationists (hence the name) have been claiming. This alliance of convenience allows science-denying evangelicals to avoid the task of updating their creation theology to match scientific reality.

This alliance exploits the evangelical Christians’ lack of scientific literacy and the fossil fuel’s industry desire to put science on a short leash with regard to environmental stewardship. The fossil fuel industry has the funding, and Evangelicals have the numbers to make this work especially well. Numerous studies reveal that approximately 30 million individuals in the United States do not accept the theory of evolution. With the election of Donald Trump to a second term, this vested interest coalition continues to have a leader who openly supports their agenda, giving them a platform to test out and implement their ideas. Science that has lost its voice and its moral authority becomes science in name only, subservient to political masters rather than to the data. For now, and for the foreseeable future, pseudoscience is in the ascendancy in the U.S.

The Politicization Toolkit

This informal alliance, which could be called “The Coalition” has been working tirelessly in its quest to politicize U.S. science. It has developed a set of sophisticated tactics designed to influence public opinion and erode trust in scientific institutions. This is accomplished, for example, through challenging scientific findings and the deliberate manipulation of scientific information. Scientific data is misrepresented in such a way as to appear to support the coalition’s preferred positions. This typically involves emphasizing uncertainties and downplaying scientific consensus. A classic example from the past is a campaign waged by the tobacco industry, casting doubt on the link between smoking and cancer. These techniques are used because they have been found to be effective in establishing doubt in scientific findings and eroding trust in science generally.

Attacks on Scientists and Institutions

Should scientific findings challenge political or economic interests, the scientists who communicate such information often face personal attacks and smear campaigns. Dr. Anthony Fauci, for instance, faced intense public vilification during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did Dr. Rochelle Walensky, former CDC Director. These attacks are designed to discredit the messenger and by extension the message itself. This fear-based tactic is an effective tool in keeping other scientists from speaking out as they would normally do. The personal and professional cost for scientists who dare to challenge prevailing political narratives is high. Scientists may face threats, harassment, and career repercussions which would not normally be a concern.

The Outrage Machine

The wildcard in this situation is social media. One scholar has dubbed social media as  “The Outrage Machine.” For those who concoct false information and seek to distribute it far and wide, social media is manna from on high. Those who use these platforms to distribute disinformation take advantage of the fact that they are designed to trigger emotional reactions, reward sensationalism, and reinforce pre-existing biases.  Social media makes it difficult for nuanced scientific findings to be heard. On social media misinformation spreads faster than the truth, leading to an erosion of public trust in  scientific expertise and a rejection of evidence-based practices.

Dark Money

Dark money is, by definition, funds provided by donors who do not want to be recognized. The Coalition spends approximately one billion dollars each year with the explicit goal of interfering with the public understanding of climate change. Dark money funds media campaigns and pseudo-experts in organizations that create a false appearance of scientific debate. The Cornwall Alliance, for example, is a group that publishes anti-environmentalist propaganda, including a manifesto called “Resisting the Green Dragon” (Wanliss, 2014) which employs extreme rhetoric designed to scare people away from environmentalism. The Cornwall Alliance, with its fire and brimstone style, exemplifies the manner in which these groups, playing to their evangelical base, use scriptural justification to demonize and resist scientific consensus. The Cornwall Alliance has labeled climate action an attack on civilization itself.

The Consequences of Politicization

The politicization of science has serious consequences for policy making. When science is viewed through a partisan political lens, objective truth loses its status. Scientific consensus on critical issues like climate change or public health is rejected in favor of pseudo-scientific ideological beliefs, which may in fact cause harm or even death. Francis Collins, former head of the National Institute of Health, estimates that the number of unnecessary deaths in the U.S. from Covid-19 is around 230,000. These individuals failed to take heed of advice about vaccines, masks, and social distancing. When the general public loses trust in scientific institutions, implementing effective policies (whether to combat a pandemic or transition to clean energy) becomes orders of magnitude more difficult. 

The politicization of science poses a significant threat to evidence-based policy making. Policy decisions are increasingly made with a political agenda in mind rather than by the normal scientific process of assessing reliable data. Politicization also skews the allocation of research funds from government and other funding bodies. Funding priority is given to research that aligns with a particular political ideology, potentially neglecting very important areas of inquiry. 

The Trump Administration and Project 2025

The second Trump administration has been a tireless advocate of science denial. The first Trump administration served as a testing ground for radical right wing ideas, and the second Trump administration is implementing those concepts on a grand scale. A planning document known as Project 2025 explicitly outlines plans to dismantle and restructure the federal government, including science agencies. Project 2025 reveals that a primary goal of this process is to bring these agencies under direct political control, which will ensure that their findings and communications will align with administration goals and agenda. This unprecedented situation clearly impedes scientific investigation and potentially reduces or eliminates research that could threaten the faith and fossil fuel alliance. 

Conclusion

The politicization of science in the United States is well underway. And the ability of science to address pressing issues facing humanity is being stifled. In the next few years, the United States faces a crisis of truth and trust driven by a powerful alliance between economic and faith-based groups. By manipulating information, threatening scientists, and leveraging the power of this alliance, the scientific narrative is already being controlled to a degree that has not been seen before. (Heeney, 2015)

In order to resist blatant attacks on science, such as those communicated by the Cornwall Alliance, it is imperative that scientific literacy be raised across the board. Scientific autonomy must be defended and eventually restored. Political leaders must be encouraged to defer to scientific expertise in formulating important social policy. The future of evidence-based policy making and humanity’s collective well-being depend on the ability to distinguish objective truth from political ideology. In order to achieve that end, political leaders must be held accountable for the decisions they make. This is not merely a debate over policy; it is a battle for the soul of our society — a battle that must be waged with courage, clarity, and a powerful commitment to the truth.