Aside from this utterly hilarious 90s-era Creationism vs. Evolution school assembly speech (Come on, who came up with these graphs?), it’s the cutaway shots of the totally bored teens that are the true gems in this mess. One male teen in the audience is so bored that he actually starts to nibble on his hand to pass the time. Others bite their nails, yawn, give the side-eye to one another and so forth…
They definitely don’t want what he’s selling. You can’t blame them with lines like, “That stupid theory of evolution that’s included in the books as if it is a fact and it’s nothing but a Pagan religion.”
Creationist tool Ken Ham—who believes that the Earth was created 6000 years ago and in the literal truth of Noah’s ark and the great flood (where did the animals on the ark shit, Ken?) has some fightin’ words for Bill Nye, “The Humanist Guy” in response to Nye’s Big Think “Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children” viral video.
Schoolchildren in Louisiana are to be taught that the Loch Ness monster is real in a bid by religious educators to disprove Darwin’s theory of evolution.
These private schools follow a fundamentalist curriculum including the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme to teach controversial religious beliefs aimed at disproving evolution and proving creationism.
One tenet has it that if it can be proved that dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time as man then Darwinism is fatally flawed.
The textbooks in the series are alleged to teach young earth creationism; are hostile towards other religions and other sectors of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism; and present a biased version of history that is often factually incorrect.
One ACE textbook – Biology 1099, Accelerated Christian Education Inc – reads: “Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
Another claim taught is that a Japanese whaling boat once caught a dinosaur. It’s unclear if the movie Godzilla was the inspiration for this lesson.
Well, If you believe in the existence of one mythical being, why not believe in them all?
Perhaps one day the popular BBC kids show The Family Ness will be revered as gospels:
I like Pure Evil‘s Darwin portrait made up from hundreds of stenciled barrel monkeys. The print is currently “not available,” but if you write Pure Evil at their website—they might bring it back. Who knows?
plan to subvert ‘Darwin Day’ on November 19, 2009—a date marking the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species.” Cameron says that he and like-minded activists plan to deliver 50,000 copies of an altered version of Darwin’s book to students at dozens of U.S. universities.
Cameron explains that this “very special” edition of the “Origin of Species” will include an introduction explaining “Adolf Hitler’s undeniable connection” to the theory of evolution, and highlighting “Darwin’s racism” and “his disdain for women.” Cameron’s edition also exposes the “many hoaxes” of evolutionary theory, while presenting a “balanced view of Creationism.”
PARADOX ALERT: if you’d like to hear how Cameron thinks our (theoretically) constitution-backed country is stripping us of our many “God-given” liberties, click here. You’ll be far more amused, though, watching ZOMGitsCriss’ video response below.
And when you’re through, mark your calendars for November 19th. But rather than going all “town hall” on Cameron’s book giveaway, why not do as as ZOMGitsCriss suggests: simply take as many copies as your ape paws can grab, and use that intro for something less meta and more physical. I know Darwin would approve!
Small town, right-winger busybody know-nothings strike again!
The Scopes Monkey Trial was decided 84 years ago this past July, but in Sedalia, Missouri, you’d think it’s the summer of 1925 again.
That’s because the band director at the town’s Smith-Cotton High School recently got in hot water for making T-shirts that depict primates evolving into man. The shirts—based on the popular illustration above—were designed to promote the band’s fall program, “Brass Evolutions,” that explores how brass instruments have changed from the 1960s to today.
On the T-shirt, monkeys and early humans hold trumpets throughout their various stages of evolution.
That didn’t sit well with Sherry Melby, a teacher in the school district and mother of a band member. Yesterday Melby told the Sedalia Democrat: “I was disappointed with the image on the shirt.” Melby said. “I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school.”
Fascinating article in Scientific American that possibly answers why depression still plagues roughly 30-50% of all people, everywhere. Since the brain plays such an essential role in promoting survival and reproduction, and depression can debilitate so thoroughly, why hasn’t mankind simply evolved beyond it?
Well, according to Doctors Paul W. Andrews and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., maybe it’s time we start considering depression a “useful” disorder. One which is, “in fact, an adaptation, a state of mind which brings real costs, but also brings real benefits.” The pair backs this up with some brain-confusing brain chemistry, then moves on to make some simpler sense:
This is not to say that depression is not a problem. Depressed people often have trouble performing everyday activities, they can?