But just in case you still held out hope that it would stick to a scientific approach to teaching ,here is how it addressed the ticklish topic of Evolution.
Today there are an increasing number of attempts happening all across the country to promote the idea of "teaching the controversy" or offering both Intelligent Design and Evolution and "letting the students decide."
But of course there is NO controversy to teach. At least one that pits reputable scientists against other reputable scientists. The only REAL controversy is how the teaching of Evolution endangers the acceptance of the Biblical version of creation. And THAT is what so many people who would much rather have their citizens believe rather than to think, are battling against.
And they are still managing to do a frighteningly good job, as currently 4 in 10 Americans believe that humans were created just as we see them today sometime in the last 10,000 years.
Which is kind of interesting since the oldest known sex toy is over 28,000 years old. Hmm does that mean the vagina predates man?
I would find all of this almost laughable if it were not having such a potentially devastating affect on our young people, and our ability to move forward as a society.
Religion is fine, for what it is, but what it is NOT is a prism through which to view the future.
Just take "god" out of it. There will always be plenty we don't understand, but scientific inquiry will always be ahead of the "god botherers" beliefs.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, don't be questioning!
ReplyDeleteOf course, the vagina predates man.
It is called the Black Hole at the center of each Galaxy, and it swallows matter which enters the Event Horizon.
Whether that matter is then compressed within the black hole and a new star is birthed into another Universe is at this time still the Great Mystery, don'tcha think? Astrophysicists Rule!
As for Monsieur Jean Henri Fabre, I believe if someone had offered to take his skin, his "theory" would have disappeared at the first cut,just as Hannity's and other wingnuts' willingness to be waterboarded vanished when he was encouraged to undergo what he called "not torture".
Thanks for the morning mental exercises... fromthediagonal
This is outrageous - on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteThis is a singularly fundamentalist Christian viewpoint. Our Constitution forbids the government promoting one religion over others. Unless these books are used exclusively in private schools that do not receive tax payer funds, this is a violation of our Constitution.
I hope every parent shows up at school board meetings to protest in districts that adopt this or similar texts. I hope teachers can find a way to protest this propaganda without losing their jobs.
Not everyone is a fundamentalist Christian. Not everyone is a Christian. What gives these people the right to force their rigid, backward views on our children?
Why does God have to be defined as a some white dude who is a control freak? Why can't the awesome creative energy of the universe be enough? Do we really need a Big Daddy in the Sky to give us the courage to live and understand our world and ourselves?
It is entirely possible for people of faith to embrace both God and science. Why produce this rubbish to try and force everyone into an infantile understanding of the divine. Then again, why should you force anyone to believe in the divine. We have the right to believe or disbelieve according to our own hearts and minds.
It totally undermines the objective basis of all scientific investigation.
As an ACADEMIC homeschooler, AFAIK, A BEKA is sold primarily to the homeschool community (priate schools in most states) and larger private schools. Those schools should not be accredited; in my screwed up Constitution violating state of Indiana , tax dollars can go to religious schools teaching this crap via voucher.
DeleteThey dismiss carbon dating .
ReplyDeleteThe guy's name was Jean-Henri Fabre, not "Henri Fabre" (name of the inventor of the seaplane) - but why oh why stick to the facts in a book supposedly about science ?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why this book doesn't mention that Jean-Henri Fabre's very populars evening lectures for adults, on botany and insects, came to an abrupt end after only two years, when - as girls were first given access to secondary education (1867) - he became the victim of a cabal of clerical and conservative groups for "having dared to explain the fertilization of flowers in front of innocent girls".
He was accused of being subversive and dangerous. His lodgers (two elderly devout ladies) threw him and his family out, on the account of his (perceived) immorality ; he had to resign from teaching forever, and to relocate to another city...
He found himself pennyless and publicly discredited in his late forties, thanks to conservative religious people.
Thank you for these insights.
DeleteYou help us understand just how deeply the fundamentalists are immersed in lying or ignorance. Are they keeping Jean-Henri Fabre's full story from their audience or are they simply too lazy to research their sources?
Either way, your comments help us understand how deceptive and desperate the creationists are. Thank you.
Thanks. Fabre was a real scientist, valuing observation above all. Fabre valued "ignorance," he said, meaning that if he did not know the answers his mind was free to observe. The fundies look desperate.
DeleteUnfortunately for those who teach this nonsense, kids are smart, think about things, and have access to the entire world's information these days. Indoctrination isn't so easy these days.
ReplyDeleteThe youth are leaving 'the church' in droves according to studies.
And a good many Christians of all stripes don't buy this drivel; only the extremist fundamentalists do.
So all in all, it looks good for the future.
Now to get the dumb Tea Partiers out of office the ones that really religious folk voted in thinking they were really "Christian" thus terrific, now seeing they are not only dumb and recalcitrant, but highly motivated to turn the U.S. into a fanatical version of a theocracy. The fuzzy picture's become clear to all and the backlash has begun. The Repub establishment, so willing to use the Tea Party energy then watching in horror as it ran amok, is now squashing it like a bug at every opportunity.
The crazies will be always with us, but they're such a minority, and losing numbers fast, that they'll have to slide back into only minor relevance.
Obama couldn't be President at a better or more crucial time. His decency, kindness and intelligence have just thrown the the meanness, ignorance and hatred of dissenters into high relief, put them to shame. The contrasts in the coming election are stark.
It looks really good for the home team. Thanks, Mr. President.
Troglodytes invoking "Intelligent Design."
ReplyDeleteThat's rich.
I've noticed that they are as apoplectic about extending health care to every American citizen as they are about evolving from monkeys.
ReplyDeleteThey sure take things personally.
OF COURSE God must have created the first man out of the dust on the ground, because any other explanation would sound silly. Wait... what?
ReplyDeleteThe cover of the book says "Third Edition." Makes you wonder what was wrong in the first two. But since God is infallible, it must have just been printing errors. Does God outsource proofreading?
ReplyDeleteSo.. these folks don't believe in separation of Church and State..and they want creationist texts taught along science texts...therefore, they wouldn't mind atheist texts placed in the church pews next to the hymnals, right? After all..there IS no separation of Church and State
ReplyDeleteAnd if that's the case. Then these "churches" should have to pay taxes just like the rest of us.
DeleteWhen confronted with someone who wants to teach "Creationism" in the science class I ask them a few questions. - the Socratic method of discussion.
ReplyDelete1. What is the definition of science? or Scientific Theory? "The scientific method or process is fundamental to the scientific investigation and acquisition of new knowledge based upon physical evidence. Science manages new assertions about our world with theories,hypotheses and observations. Predictions from these theories are tested by experiment. If a prediction turns out correct, the theory survives, but if a prediction fails the theory fails. Any theory which is strong enough to make verifiable predictions can then be tested scientifically in this way. These are the underlying methods of scientific practice. With them scientists determine which theories, hypotheses and observations are true. The scientific method is essentially an extremely cautious means of building a supportable, evidenced understanding of our world."
2. How does the theory of Creationsim test itself? Can there be experimentation? Is it repeatable?
3. If you cannot do "experiments" to demonstrate Creationist principles, then it is not science. It's really as simple as that. Creationism is theology, it is philosophy, but it is NOT, nor ever will be SCIENCE.
When confronted in this manner, most creationists get very upset and flustered. They cannot grasp the concept. They just can't because it goes against some very deep seated beliefs.
This is so pathetic. And indicative of the desire by low intelligence people, to believe that God put on a MAGIC SHOW to create the universe.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they form a mental picture of a very white Jesus, wearing a top hat and tails, and waving a magic wand about, to have things pop into being, instantly...to the applause of.....whom?
Why its so hard to imagine instead that the natural order of things, is wonderously magical on its own--is the issue.
Believing that a Supreme Being orchestrated this magnificent creation, or random chance, is up to the individual.
But to try to con the youth into believing fairy tales of Jesus riding on a dinosaur into town on Palm Sunday, is absurdity at its most extreme.
religion is the opiate for the masses.
ReplyDeleteChristina Rad on teaching the controversy. Everybody can see that the Sun goes around the Earth, right? Yet some people claim that the Earth goes around the Sun…
ReplyDeleteGryphen, as usual, your facts are slightly askew: while it IS true that the oldest sex toy is 28,000 years old - and apparently showing quite a bit of wear after almost 30 centuries of hard use - it wasn't until the invention of the Hitachi Magic Wand in approximately 6,000BC that masturbation began to rise, if you will, in popularity. Of course, demand for the devices really started throbbing when electricity was invented in 1264AD and the true purpose of the vibrator's power cord was revealed to mankind. And womankind, also, too.
ReplyDeleteBeing the known heathen that you are, you neglected to mention that masturbation was Satan's signature invention, for which many remain grateful to this day. Critics of Satan like to point out that he also invented curdled milk, the tsetse fly and navel lint, but supporters remain convinced his good works outweigh the bad. Perhaps the devil is in the details, as the saying goes.
+ 1
DeleteI don't know how those who believe this drivel can stay in denial when Scientific proof exists to refute it. My kids go to public schools, and a few years back, one "teacher" (I use the term loosely, because this person is the polar opposite) took it upon himself to pass out an "addendum" of his own to promote Creationism while "teaching" Science to my son's freshman class. It's not listed in the curriculum, and he's since been replaced.
ReplyDeleteHe would preface a true historical fact with "God placed a kernel of truth in this person's heart.... God led his hands to invent...."
Thankfully, the school listened to us parents and fired him for some other reason (So he couldn't play the legal system and make it a huge issue). And replaced him with a true educator.
If they insist on teaching this, make it part of their Religious instruction, but don't stunt people's ability to expand their minds and get a real education.
Separation of Church and State is vital, Churches need to start paying property and sales tax, just like any other business.
+1.5
ReplyDelete