I Know Nothing! Nothing! LALALALALALALALALA!
Buckingham seesaws on the stand
Maybe it's the panda's fault.
There's a panda on the cover of "Of Pandas and People," the "Intelligent Design" textbook. It's a sad panda, or at least it makes people sad, because then they can't read the book. It's this not-reading-of-the-book that allows them to not know that the book is about creationism.
And, you HAVE to not know it's about creationism to put the book into your science classroom. You have to, because if you DID know the book was creationism, well, then, if you go ahead and put it into your classrooms, you are breaking the law. And breaking the law is bad, because then you have to go to jail or pay fines. Separation of church and state, that hoary, nostalgic old fantasy, still has some supporters that won't seem to let it die.
But, nobody knows the book is creationism, so it's Perfectly All Right to cram it into the classroom cirriculum in Dover, Pennsylvania.
The Dover Area School Board member, Bill Buckingham, was the member responsible for obtaining the 60 copies of the books they made their students read. Which were about creationism, but Ssshhhh! Don't say that word! It's science, unless people actually notice what's in it.
This article, by Mike Argento in the York Daily Record, illustrates the mental contortions you have to acclimate your brain to, in order to be a proponent of ID, or "Intelligent Design." You have to not know things you clearly MUST know.
Bill Buckingham, for instance, does NOT know where the money came from to pay for these donated books. He stood up in his church, and mentioned to the parishioners that money was needed to purchase these "science" "textbooks," and he does know that he did this. He accepted money from the people who saw fit to hand it over to him, and he does know that he accepted the money. He then wrote the check to pay for the books. And he does know that.
But he does NOT know where the money came from. He doesn't know who donated these books. He doesn't know how the district got the books. Knowing those things would be bad, because if he knew THOSE things, he might know the books weren't science at all, but religion.
So, Bill doesn't know what he doesn't know, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him. You know?
posted by annekat at
12:06 PM
4 Comments:
I don't know that intelligent design is necessarily wrong, but it's not science. I've had this argument with people I know online that seem to think that if ID isn't taught in science class, then neither should evolution be taught there.
I've tried the argument that
1) ID isn't science and shouldn't be taught in science class, especially since it's being taught in church.
2) if evolution isn't taught in science class, then ID would be the only explanation available to people learning it in church.
Sadly, few people will be unbiased about it. They want either none or both. This, naturally, wouldn't be fair to evolution unless ID is no longer taught in churches.
So I think the only solution here is that for those areas teaching ID in science class, and pushing the misconception that is IS science, they must stop teaching it in Church. After all, why would Church teach science?
So therefore all towns doing this must outlaw teaching of ID in church. NO SCIENCE IN CHURCH!
By
Anonymous, at 2:37 AM
You're probably being facetious about this, but I have to say, who cares what's taught in church?
The point is, schools are a place where we force information on the entire pre-adult population. If that information is propaganda or fantasy, then that's a problem.
But churches are free to propagandize and misinform all they want, with their own children, in non-public schools. Which is why we can't just shut down the school that teaches Scientology.
People don't want evolution taught in public school if ID isn't taught there? That just indicates they have a flawed understanding of what science is.
Saying that ID is as valid as evolution is equivalent to saying that astrology is as valid as meteorology.
By
annekat, at 6:25 AM
I was being facetious in order to show my point.
These people that are pushing for ID in schools are saying ID is science in order to make it more acceptable. It's not science but they are making the claim it is. Unfortunately, they are having some success with this line of bs.
We could simply point out the sillyness of that arguement by going with their statement and taking it to the logical conclusions. If it's science, then science is being taught in church, in which case these churches should be teaching evolution too.
Who cares what's being taught in churches? Should be the same people who care what's being taught in schools. If they get what they want, which is for either both or neither taught in schools, then the only place kids will learn about either is in church. I consider that a problem.
Next, we can have the church teach sex education.
By
Anonymous, at 1:41 PM
The church already teaches sex education.
The education consists of the directive to not have any sex, ever, until you're married, and then, have it, but don't enjoy it too much.
Sure, they're having success spreading "Intelligent Design." But only among people who have no actual understand of the world or what science is.
They're still getting stopped at the door of the school by lawsuits from angry parents when people find out what they're trying.
They're still being ridiculed nationwide when they do adopt creationism.
And they're being shut down.
By
annekat, at 10:59 PM
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