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Originally Posted by CandleInTheDark
That is a little misleading. The internal combustion engine exists, as does gravity. But theories of thermodynamics, chemical energy and reactivity, the mechanics and cause of gravity, or the mechanisms of evolution are all debateable, updateable (yes I made that up), and refutable theories. Science has to, and does, work that way. One does indeed believe in scientific theory, and while such belief is certainly more logically sound than beliefs in toothfairies and gods, it still requires an analyzation of evidence and comparison with competing theories.
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No, evolution exists - it's been proven both in the wild and in controlled conditions. The "how" of evolution does get tweaked now and again as we learn about the different ways populations are affected by different stresses and opportunities, but general evolutionary principles are scientific facts.
"Belief" is simply faith - and there is a role for faith in everyone's lives, whether that is faith in God or gods, faith in your favourite sports team, or any other uncontrollable, undefinable, thing that is not affected by logic or experimentation.
You cannot "believe" in science. You can debate certain theories, you can offer proofs or evidence that may change certain theories or expound upon them but that is a different animal from "belief" or "faith".
I don't require the science minister to be able to explain or debate every scientific theory under the sun, but I'd hope he understand the difference between belief and science, between proveable fact and unproveable faith.