Umm... Pat? Earth To Pat!

From New Republic, by way of Digby, by way of Atrios (pause for breath) - Ben Adler asked a bunch of prominent conservatives their views on evolution and intelligent design and creationism, and whether they should be taught in schools. Pat Buchanan seems to have a rather... shaky grasp on the scope of evolutionary theory:

Whether he personally believes in evolution: "Do I believe in absolute evolution? No. I don't believe that evolution can explain the creation of matter. ... Do I believe in Darwinian evolution? The answer is no."

What he thinks of intelligent design: "Do I believe in a Darwinian evolutionary process which can be inspired by a creator? Yeah, that's a real possibility. I don't believe evolution can explain the creation of matter. I don't believe it can explain the intelligent design in the universe. I just don't believe it can explain the tremendous complexity of the human being when you get down to DNA and you get down to atomic particles, and molecules, atomic particles, subatomic particles, which we're only beginning to understand right now. I think to say it all happened by accident or by chance or simply evolved, I just don't believe it."

How evolution should be taught in public schools: "Evolution [has] been so powerful a theory in Western history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and often a malevolent force--it's been used by non-Christians and anti-Christians to justify polices which have been horrendous. I do believe that every American student should be introduced to the idea and its effects on society. But I don't think it ought to be taught as fact. It ought to be taught as theory. ... How do you answer a kid who says, 'Where did we all come from?' Do you say, 'We all evolved'? I think that's a theory. ... Now the biblical story of creation should be taught to children, not as dogma but every child should know first of all the famous biblical stories because they have had a tremendous influence as well. ... I don't think it should be taught as religion to kids who don't wanna learn it. ... I think in biology that honest teachers gotta say, 'Look the universe exhibits, betrays the idea that there is a first mover, that there is intelligent design.' ... You should leave the teaching of religion to a voluntary classes in my judgment and only those who wish to attend."

So is Pat's beef with evolution, or with SCIENCE? I certainly don't recall anyone ever claiming that evolution explained the origins of matter or subatomic particles...

And I'd like to hear more about how evolution has been used by non-Christians and anti-Christians to justify horrendous policies - the only ones I can think of are social darwinism and eugenics, and my recollection is that their advocates were mostly, if not all, Christians. Christians of Pat Buchanan's political persuasion. You almost have to admire the pair on Pat.