Update: Following backlash to his anti-LGBTQ and racist comments, Dr. Mark Green has withdrawn his name [1] from consideration for Army secretary. Citing a mischaracterization of his religious beliefs, Green posited that his nomination had become a distraction.
"While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve," Green said in a statement, "I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world."
Original Story: If Pope Francis, leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, can defend evolution [2], it might be time for so-called "creationists" to reevaluate their arguments against it as well. However, President Donald Trump [3]'s nominee for army secretary, Dr. Mark Green, has continued to deny evolution, despite widely accepted scientific claims indicating otherwise.
In a speech given in 2015, Dr. Green attempted to discredit evolution [4] by comparing it to a lawnmower (a man-made machine). First, Green criticized evolutionists' theories as lazy explanations for complexities outside of their imagination. "The evolutionists have their bad argument, too. They say, 'Well, I can't explain how it went from this to incredibly complex, so it must have been billions of years,'" Green said to a Cincinnati church congregation. "That's kind of where they put their faith. The truth of the matter is is the second law of thermo fluid dynamics says that the world progresses from order to disorder not disorder to order."
Green then tried dispute evolution with an illogical metaphor. "If you put a lawnmower out in your yard and a hundred years come back, it's rusted and falling apart," Green claimed. "You can't put parts out there and a hundred years later it's gonna come back together. That is a violation of a law of thermodynamics. A physical law that exists in the universe."
Green is, of course, right, that you cannot use a century-old lawnmower. But his rationale implies that humans and machines are equivalent in development, which is simply not the case.
This nowhere near the first time Dr. Green has been criticized for his controversial opinions. Green drew the ire of LGTBQ activists [6] when he suggested being transgender was a medical condition on Sept. 14, 2016. "If you poll the psychiatrists, they're going to tell you that transgender is a disease," Green said.
Some Republican leaders have expressed doubts [7] about Green's nomination as well. On May 2, Arizona Senator John McCain told USA Today that Green's past comments about the LGBTQ community are troubling. "There's a lot of controversy concerning his nomination," McCain said. "We are getting some questions from both Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services Committee. I think there are some issues that clearly need to be cleared up."
USA Today noted that McCain chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is responsible for approving Green's confirmation. It appears that Green's hearing might not happen anytime soon since his nomination has yet to be formally submitted.