I was about to write that it was nice to see a Republican standing up to the all-powerful anti-science wing of the party for a change, but then I checked, and Gov. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, which comes as no surprise at all: Evolution Bill Not Best for Education, Governor Says.

Background: a group of fanatically religious Missouri Republicans are trying to pass a bill that would allow parents to take their children out of science classes that teach the theory of evolution.

“I think we need to respect people’s individual religious beliefs obviously, and I certainly appreciate that,” Nixon said. “But I think extricating children from science classes is not in the best interest of our STEM Initiative.”

Nixon said creationism is “what we study on Sunday, not on Monday.”

The state’s STEM initiative is an attempt to boost education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.

State Reps. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, Paul Curtman, R-Pacific, and Dave Hinson, R-St. Clair, have said they think parents should be allowed to remove their children from classes that teach evolution.

The Republican Party is the party for you — if you reject the entire basis of modern biological science.