It is truly amazing and horrifying that in the year 2012, so many of our officials and aspiring officeholders lack so much basic understanding of elementary science, particularly in biology and chemistry. Is this a manifestation of the low caliber of our officeholders, or is it a condemnation of our educational system? Let me cite three examples.

First, and most recently, we learned one U.S. Senate candidate lacks any real understanding of the human reproductive process and the consequences of human sexual activity. Can this ignorance be more than an isolated case?

Second, so many of our school boards seem to be rewriting the high school biology textbooks to conform to their political and religious beliefs. We are faced with a mini-revolution in overthrowing Darwinian evolution, which was established in the scientific community in the 1850s. This is being replaced by or downgraded to a form of creationism. Is this any better than the book burning of the 1930s?

Third, despite overwhelming evidence from multiple sources, so many elected officials supported by coal and oil companies, refuse to accept "climate change" also known as "global warming" as reality. Many forms of data exist, some dating back 400,000 years, to clearly corroborate more recent evidence that climate change is real and it is accelerating. I understand many people do not want to face the stark political and economic decisions required of these findings, but please do not deny the scientific evidence that shows it exists.

Clearly, we have much to learn as a modern society.

Allan M. Lefer

Hilton Head Island