March of the bird brains

This is as unbelievable as it is inevitable. Conservatives are hailing the documentary film "March of the Penguins" as a shining example of how humans should think and act. It would be hilarious if they weren't so serious:

• On the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com, an opponent of abortion wrote that the movie "verified the beauty of life and the rightness of protecting it."

• At a conference for young Republicans, the editor of National Review urged participants to see the movie because it promoted monogamy.

• The Christian publication World Magazine said the movie makes "a strong case for intelligent design."

• Conservative film critic and radio host Michael Medved said the movie "passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy, sacrifice and child rearing."

• Ben Hunt, a minister at the 153 House Churches Network in Ohio, said of the movie, "Some of the circumstances they experienced seemed to parallel those of Christians. The penguin is falling behind, is like some Christians falling behind. The path changes every year, yet they find their way, is like the Holy Spirit."

Not all conservatives, however, consider the movie a rejection of Darwin. "If an Intelligent Designer designed nature," George F. Will wrote, "why did it decide to make breeding so tedious for those penguins?"

Indeed. And why did it make conservatives so tedious for the rest of us?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/science/13peng.html