tagged w/ Creationism
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Every once in awhile we will, for a variety of reasons, pick out a word that has positive connotations and proceed to flog that mfer to death. Like “engineer.” Engineer is a word with a meaning. That meaning does not include garbage collector (sanitation engineer) or housewife (domestic engineer). Those are perfectly good jobs, but they are not engineering jobs.
Another one is science. And for obvious reasons...Every once in awhile we will, for a variety of reasons, pick out a word that has... more
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11dim
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3 months ago
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Researchers at Yale University have been tracking American opinion on climate change for some years now and showing how it differs according to political allegiance. It has not previously looked at the opinions of respondents who identify with the Tea Party.
Tea Partiers, unsurprisingly, tend not to believe in the phenomenon (the 53% who don't believe in global warming just outnumber the 52% who don't believe humans evolved from other animals) and are the most strongly opposed to all sorts of government action on the issue (yet quite keen, like majorities in all sorts of polling, on research into new energy sources).
They also distinguish themselves in their assessment of their knowledgeability, with 30% considering themselves very well informed on the issue and a majority happy that it needs no more information on the subject.
Where this certainty comes from the poll does not really reveal; when asked about possible sources of information on the subject, from television weathermen to scientists to the government, Tea Partiers were much more likely to react with strong distrust than any other group. However, they were not asked about blogs, and it is interesting that they were far more likely to say they knew about "Climategate", a massive release of e-mails by climate scientists that has been a staple of the blogosphere, than any other group.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/09/american-public-opinion-and-climate-changeResearchers at Yale University have been tracking American opinion on climate change... more
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The 9th Circuit Court ruled in favor of a high school teacher sued by a student upset over the fact that Christianity, literal interpretations of the Bible and creationism were mocked openly.The 9th Circuit Court ruled in favor of a high school teacher sued by a student upset... more
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Michele Bachmann is running for president. She should stop making stuff up. She can start by backing up her statements about Nobel Laureates who support creationism.Michele Bachmann is running for president. She should stop making stuff up. She can... more
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The components of DNA have now been confirmed to exist in extraterrestrial meteorites, researchers announced.
A different team of scientists also discovered a number of molecules linked with a vital ancient biological process, adding weight to the idea that the earliest forms of life on Earth may have been made up in part from materials delivered to Earth from space.
Past research had revealed a range of building blocks of life in meteorites, such as the amino acids that make up proteins. Space rocks just like these may have been a vital source of the organic compounds that gave rise to life on Earth.The components of DNA have now been confirmed to exist in extraterrestrial meteorites,... more
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Creationism "proves" the wicked were cast out from the Garden of Peanuts, so sayeth Chuck Missler.Creationism "proves" the wicked were cast out from the Garden of Peanuts, so... more
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An Austrian atheist has won the right to use a photo of him wearing a pasta strainer on his driving-licence claiming it is a "religious headgear".Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons. He has now finally won the right to have a pasta strainer on his head. Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.The Austrian authorities naturally thought that Mr Alm was crazy and told him to obtain a doctor's certificate that proved that he was "psychologically fit" to drive.You may think the pasta headgear is a bit bonkers but Mr Alm came up with the plan three years ago as a way of making a serious, if ironic, point about religion and its influence on society.A self-confessed atheist, Mr Alm says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted faith whose members call themselves pastafarians (not a joke people).The group's website states that "the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma".In response to pressure for American schools to teach creationism, as an alternative to normal biology, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote to the Kansas School Board asking for the pastafarian version of how we all came to be on this earth to be taught to their schoolchildren, as an alternative to the Christian theory.The next step, Mr Alm told the Austrian news agency APA, is to apply to the Austrian authorities for pastafarianism to become an officially recognised faith.I am a bit hungry after writing that up, are you?
Source: BBCAn Austrian atheist has won the right to use a photo of him wearing a pasta... more
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It’s the 59th anniversary of the Miss USA pageant. Over the years the lovely contestants have given us a bird’s eye view (though oddly no wardrobe malfunctions) into what makes a potential Miss USA tick.It’s the 59th anniversary of the Miss USA pageant. Over the years the lovely... more
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fossils show that Dragonflies started out very similar to hummingbirds, with only one wing on each side that beat many times every second. The development over time of an additional second, heretofore vestigial, wing on each side allowed the then-eagle-sized (~6-ft wingspans) insects to conserve more of their energy, as with TWICE as many wings, it only was necessary to flap them HALF as often for each beat-stroke.
The same was true in our own development. Our ancestors were one of two varieties of great apes to descent form the trees (of African forests that were shrinking into Savannah’s due to climate shifts several million years ago.)
One kind developed into what we know today as Baboons and mandarins; the other ventured out onto the growing Savannah, developing knee joints that could lock in a straight position (ape’s knees can’t, so they must walk bow-legged, which is more exhausting of more energy).
[see: Lucy, and the recent Ardi discovery).
This allowed our ancestors to see up and over the tall grasses of the plains to scan for threats or for potential food sources.This adaptation also freed their front limbs, which developed more dexterous finger, and opposable thumbs separate from the other four; which could then be used to more accurately grasp objects picked up off the ground, or out of overhead trees; be it fruit from a bush, or a long stick or heavy rock for use as a defensive weapon or tool.
Again, with each passing generation, those who were least well able to adapt to changing situations did not survive, whereas those with particularly advantageous variations which allowed them to adjust to changing conditions persisted to produce healthier and stronger prodigy; and in the process passing on the advantageous adaptations to the next generations.
Life on earth started in the water about 4 Billion years ago, with single-celled algae-like plants, which fed on our planets richly methane-saturated atmosphere; and the amoeba-like animals that fed on them. Plants spread to inhabit the land about 3 billion years ago, followed quickly by arthropods (insects); but animal life, for the large part, remained confined to the oceans, which soon became overly crowded with hundreds of different kinds of fish. Some of these fish developed from exoskeleton (like crabs and lobsters and octopus/squid; to grow backbone, or spine, and skeleton of first cartilage, and then calcified-rich bones. These first vertebrates, or "bony fish" out-competed the invertebrates, but were outnumbered by the cartilaginous fish, and crowded out. The quickly growing land-plants had developed photosynthetic chloroplast structures out of the watery chlorophyll fluid that had first filled their algae predecessors; and had begun introducing what was, at that time, a highly noxious pollutant in the Chlorofluorocarbon-abundant atmosphere of the planet: OXYGEN. The product was a third atmosphere, mostly nitrogen and water, but rich in oxygen and carbon-dioxide, good for plants. It also allowed the over-crowded-out bony vertebrates, to adapt to an amphibious lifestyle; mostly in the oceans, but coming onto land to breed and lay their eggs (much like modern-day green leather-backed sea turtles.)
These amphibious fish were known as Lobe-fins, after the FOUR rounded peripheral flippers. The shape of these limbs was unusual as well. Like today's sea turtles and seals; when they spent so much time in the water, they remained aerodynamic flippers; but because they had to crawl up onto the shore, they developed bony fingers inside their lobe-fins (like the fingers of a bat inside its wings); giving the flippers their extraordinary shape, and dexterity. These animals spent more and more of their lives on land, until they only returned to the water to breed and lay eggs, like frogs and salamanders. Eventually the fingered lobes extended into legs for walking, the scales hardened to trap in moisture; and the amphibious lifestyle was no longer necessary: the first reptiles had come int being, a branch of the tree of life that, by 300 Million Years ago, had grown to dominate the planet: as the Dinosaurs, (literally meaning "thunder lizards").
Dinosaurs became birds as follows:
Certain different species of small bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs (appropriately enough called "raptors", meaning "birds of prey") evolved to feed on insects (such as dragonflies the size of present day red-tailed sharp-shinned hawks); in order to catch their prey, they became very light on their two hind feet, running fast and being able to jump high enough to snatch flying bugs out of the air. As the temperature of the climate fluctuated, many species of dinosaurs developed hairs on their skin, (similar to the fluff-like fur that covers bird hatch-ling chicks)
These smaller raptor-like lizards soon adapted this fur to grow longer, allowing more aerodynamic design for speed and maneuverability; They also learned to climb up the trunks of the giant trees (similar to the redwoods and Sequoia of today) and out onto the branches, in order to catch perching insects and other small creatures (including the tree-nesting shrew/rat-like ancestors of all modern mammals)
the hairs on their limbs assisted them in this, and soon grew longer on their fore and hind limbs.
(see: feathered dinosaurs, or four-winged lizard)
There soon became another, more energy-efficient method of getting from tree to tree, using the elongated "feathers" on their four limbs to glide amongst the canopy, rather than running about on the ground. This conserved more of their energy for hunting, and allowed them to even occasionally snatch bugs that flitted between tree branches.
(See: Archaeopteryx ["feathered lizard"])
The species that did not die out developed more and more “feathers” on their arms, and their legs, less necessary for climbing trees, grew shorter, with more pronounced toes and gripping talons instead of feet with claws for running.
And THAT is how the first birds came into being; a slow, gradual process of one beneficial adaptation after another; as those without the necessary “variations in design” (mutations) died out over the generations; and those with the required adaptations survived longer and better in order to produce more, stronger, and healthier offspring, thus passing on their particular variation of adaptation to their prodigy.fossils show that Dragonflies started out very similar to hummingbirds, with only one... more
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The problem as i see it with the major organized monotheistic religions is this: They are, ALL of them, far too obsessively focused on BEING right for ANY of them to actually BE right.
The primary reason, among many numerous others, why i choose science over organized religion any given day is, if anything quite simply, the complete LACK of facts.
Evangelical fundamentalist zealots and ideologues face a significant disadvantage in their perpetual quest to eliminate science; and it is on of their very own invention. Religious extremists most often fail in their attempts to undermine scientific understanding of the physical universe primarily because of their pre-ordained determination of the assumption that such science is a kind of doctrine, much as the dogma to which they blindly subscribe.
Quite simply, They Could Not Be More Wrong if they tried.
These fundamentalists take the point of view that everything in their narrow, yet all-encompassing, doctrine is just that, absolute FACT, not up to interpretation, not metaphorical, not interchangeable, not open for discussion.
They therefore, not unsurprisingly, assume that scientist view their naturalistic "laws" in much a similar way.
Very directly to the contrary, the most extraordinary thing about science itself, and the reason it has persisted throughout 2+ millennia of constant siege, is the simple reality that in Science There ARE No Facts.
The term "scientific law" is a misleading misnomer, there are only theories.
The most repeatedly affirmed scientific theorems are as follows:
The THEORY Universal Gravitation, proposed by Sir Isaac Newton in Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica; 1687
The THEORY of Descent with Modification through Natural Selection, proposed by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species; 1859.
The THEORY of Friction was first proposed by Leonardo Da Vinci.
The THEORY of Quantum Mechanics was put forward by Niels Bohr, Michael Farraday, Max Planck, Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein.
Science is not perfect, and it does not answer every question, but it is based on observations which can be predicted tested, and proven.
The scientific process, as first put forth by Rene Descartes [ Cogito Ergo Sum: "I Think ThereFore I Am"] proceeds as follows:
Problem
Hypothesis
Experimentation
Observation
Conclusion
I have yet to find an organized religion which incorporates any, very much less all, of these elements.
In any Religion, the operative word is Faith, a concept demonstrated repeatedly time and again by the very existence of some belief systems
In summary:
FAITH - FACT =FICTION +FEAR + FRANTIC FANATICISM = SUFFERINGThe problem as i see it with the major organized monotheistic religions is this: They... more
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"Louisiana students can't compete with kids across the country and around the world if we're not being taught evolution," said Zack Kopplin, 17.
Most high school students are concerned about their grades or getting into a good college, but 17-year-old Zack Kopplin is focusing on conducting a national campaign to challenge a congresswoman on her basic understanding of the separation of church and state.
Kopplin, a student from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, is working tirelessly to repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), a piece of legislation that Kopplin said is a way to sneak the teaching of creationism into Louisiana public school science classrooms.
Initially presented under the guise of "academic freedom," LSEA singles out evolution for specific criticism. The bill allows local school boards to approve supplemental classroom materials specifically for the critique of scientific theories.
The text of the bill suggests that this is all designed to aid critical thinking, and calls on the Board of Education to "assist teachers, principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories."
And what are the areas in need of "critical thinking," you ask? Coincidentally, the hot button issues the Religious Right have turned into legislative crusades: evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.
Kopplin is horrified his state has adopted the pro-creationism law. "It is embarrassing," he said, "The New York Times covered this law, and I have friends and family around the country who called me up and asked me about it. No one should be embarrassed by their state."
Beyond the personal humiliation of living in a state that teaches a fairytale about a sky daddy alongside real things like carbon dating, genome-mapping and gravity, Kopplin fears for the future of Louisiana's educational system.
"This hurts Louisiana students' chances of getting the good science-based jobs we want. Research centers, like Baton Rouge's Pennington Center, are not going to hire Louisiana kids because they won't know whether we were taught the science we need to work there," he said, adding that in a world constantly making rapid advancements in scientific understanding, Louisiana can't afford to backslide into the dark ages.
"Louisiana students can't compete with kids across the country and around the world if we're not being taught evolution," Kopplln said.
Such anti-science behavior is even bad for tourism, according to Kopplin. "The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology pulled a prescheduled convention from New Orleans after the law passed, and other groups have made it clear that they don't plan to come back while the law is in place."
Kopplin supported a bill designed to repeal LSEA, which also shared the backing of more than 40 Nobel science laureates, national science organizations, university professors, high school biology teachers, the Louisiana Association of Educators, and a petition with more than 60,000 signatures.
Despite the overwhelming pressure from the scientific community (not a single state or national science organization lobbied on behalf of LSEA), Sen. Karen Carter Peterson's Senate Bill 70 died in committee Thursday. Kopplin blames the repeal's demise on the oppositional pressure coming from the Louisiana Family Forum, an affiliate of Focus on the Family and a powerful lobbying group.
LFF enjoyed another victory this month when it successfully urged the Louisiana legislature to kill House Bill 112, also known as the Safe Schools Bill, which sought to better protect school children from bullying. LFF's executive director, Gene Mills, referred to the piece of legislation as the "Homosexual Bullying Bill."
Read the rest here
http://www.alternet.org/news/151120/17-year-old_challenges_michele_bachmann_on_law_allowing_creationism_to_be_taught_in_public_school_science_classes"Louisiana students can't compete with kids across the country and around... more
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The Creation Studies Institute is warning members that, like the Nazis, gay-rights activists are using public schools to indoctrinate students. While many Religious Right groups have alleged that safe-school and anti-bullying programs lead to “homosexual indoctrination,” the Creationist Studies Institute claims that the “gay agenda” has taken over schools because schools have “fully embraced Darwinian Evolution.”
“Indeed, the rampant teaching of evolution in our schools that is effectively undermining belief in God and absolute moral standards is not only creating an atmosphere of ‘tolerance’ for homosexuality, but for just about anything,” writes Tom DeRosa, the organization’s founder and executive director, who adds: “Of course, in a purely evolutionary world, homosexuals would naturally be bred out of existence.” DeRosa goes on to compare homosexuality with polygamy and pedophilia, and asks members to purchase Focus on the Family’s Secure Daughters, Confident Sons booklet:
Those who hold godless ideologies have long understood that the best way to transform societies and change the way people traditionally think is by indoctrinating children from the earliest stages of education. In the last century, this methodology was effectively employed by those who held the atheistic ideologies of Nazism in Germany and Communism in countries such as the Soviet Union, where the state assumed total control of the educational system—even to the extent of turning children against parents. Of course, both of these worldviews fully embraced Darwinian evolution as a way to justify their actions and nullify the beliefs of their largely Christian populations. While U.S. federal government does not have that kind of authority in our school system (not yet, anyway), is it any wonder that those who lack a biblical worldview in our country, including those with a gay agenda, have seized upon our primary schools as the main vehicle of transforming our nation more to their liking?
In America, the adoption of evolution in our schools has paved the way for the introduction of the gay agenda. Those pushing it understand that nothing will more thoroughly and quickly undermine the traditional biblical foundations of our country than the normalization of homosexuality among our nation’s school children, regardless of their parents’ beliefs. Currently, under the banner of “tolerance” or “equal rights,” states like Massachusetts, New York, California, Wisconsin and Minnesota are actively implementing a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) curriculum in their public schools. But those behind the effort to legitimize LGBT lifestyles won’t be content until this kind of curricula is taught in all of our nation’s schools. So what is being taught, you might ask, that should concern those of us in the creationist community?
…
From the patriarchal days of Sodom and Gomorrah to the Law of Moses to the New Testament, God’s Word consistently declares that homosexuality is sin and warns of the condemnation it brings to the individuals who practice it and to societies that promote it. Indeed, the rampant teaching of evolution in our schools that is effectively undermining belief in God and absolute moral standards is not only creating an atmosphere of “tolerance” for homosexuality, but for just about anything. As the truism goes, “Without God, everything is permissible.” So, in reality, there’s nothing to prevent the same rationale being used today to justify homosexuality and homosexual marriage from being used tomorrow to sanction polygamy or pedophilia or… As one very honest evolutionist wrote a while back (a piece that quickly disappeared from public view), if evolution is true, then rape is a very valid and/or efficient way for a man to spread his genes. After all, why not? It’s the survival of the fittest. Of course, in a purely evolutionary world, homosexuals would naturally be bred out of existence, as well. But you won’t hear that from pro-evolution advocates.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/creationists-warn-teaching-evolution-leads-homosexual-indoctrinationThe Creation Studies Institute is warning members that, like the Nazis, gay-rights... more
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The facts of my case are fairly simple. Chad Farnan, a 15-year-old self-described Christian fundamentalist student in my AP History class, sued me for a "pattern" of statements unconstitutionally hostile to religion. His claim was based on hours of illegal and surreptitious recordings. In my attorney's opinion, the law was on our side, so he advised me to seek a summary judgment. I now believe that was a critical error...The facts of my case are fairly simple. Chad Farnan, a 15-year-old self-described... more
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Cabal
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Creationism, also known as the theory of intelligent design, holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection or evolution. Because many schools only teach the latter, the whole concept of creationism can be a confusing concept.
link: http://theologydegreesonline.com/understanding-creationism-the-top-12-creationist-blogs/Creationism, also known as the theory of intelligent design, holds that certain... more
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eva2
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Breaking News Updates Today Inherit The Wind is an intense drama that will make you laugh, make you think, but ultimately challenge you to examine yourself and what you believe. Rather than picking out a couple of five-minute clips to show the whole class, I would break students into small groups and have each group watch a different twenty-minute segment of the movie.Breaking News Updates Today Inherit The Wind is an intense drama that will make you... more
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Don't be surprised if one day your high school kid asks you how humans came into being. Wondering why? Well, majority of the U.S. high school teachers fail to effectively teach evolutionary biology, states a new survey finding.Don't be surprised if one day your high school kid asks you how humans came into... more
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Alstom
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I will start things off with a heartfelt disclaimer to assure that I will not feel any personal regret for any of the things I am about to say:
I try really hard to think of religion as something that is personal and special to all. It is somewhere to turn in a time of need, and it gives comfort when thinking about the daunting nature of the unknown. Because of this, attacking it as I attack all other bullshit is always, for me, toeing my line of decency. This is good, however, because it proves to me that I still have one. But, when people start forcing their religion on others, killing in the name of their god, fucking little boys, or substituting spiritual beliefs for rational thought, I tell my conscience to take the rest of the day off. Guess what, assholes? There are billions of people in this world that think their religious beliefs are correct. But no, it's fine, I'm sure yours is the one that's right. Let's do this.
It was recently brought to my attention that Northern Kentucky will soon to be home to a new theme park that will not, I have been assured by its website, be funded by taxpayer dollars, but will obey the physical laws of buoyancy, which I find ironic. The theme of said park, which is set to open in 2014, will revolve around the main attraction: a full scale model of Noah's Ark.
For those who are unaware, the biblical story of Noah and his great big friggin' boat can be summed up as follows:
More at link: http://itslonelyuphere.blogspot.com/2011/01/well-at-least-now-no-one-in-kentucky.htmlI will start things off with a heartfelt disclaimer to assure that I will not feel any... more
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KevJ
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Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced Wednesday the building of a religious theme park teaching creationism, and using tax payers money in the form of tax subsidies to do it. The park’s developers are seeking $37.5 million in state tourism development incentives.
The park will be called "Ark Encounter" and is expected to feature a huge replica of Noah's Ark. The park is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014.
Governor Beshear is selling the venture as an economic development project. Preliminary indications are that the attraction could draw as many as 1.6 million guests per year and would cost at least $24.5 million to complete.
However, there are legal and ethical concerns about the state sponsoring a religious enterprise that threatens the intellectual health of the public. In addition, advocates for church-state separation argue the tax incentives violate the spirit of the First Amendment.
http://www.examiner.com/progressive-in-portland/will-kentucky-tax-payers-subsidize-religious-theme-park-teaching-creationismKentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced Wednesday the building of a religious theme... more
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