Talk about anything here that there isn't another specific forum for. General chit-chat between the SG regulars. The Moderators will be sad pandas if you spam... too much.
Ms. Comer, 56, of Austin, is out of a job, after forwarding an e-mail message on a talk about evolution and creationism — “a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” according to a dismissal letter last month that accused her of various instances of “misconduct and insubordination” and of siding against creationism and the doctrine that life is the product of “intelligent design.”
I was really hoping that Kitzmiller v. Dover (a United States Federal Court case which ruled that Intelligent Design was nothing more than a front for biblical creationism) would have put an end to the entire fiasco of whether we should be instructing our students about ideas that have no supporting empirical evidence, but I guess I was wrong.
Am I the only one who still doesn't understand why people are so threatened by evolution? Am I the only one who's still surprised that people fail to understand that science does not exclude the possibility of a god, but rather, it simply seeks to describe natural phenomena using measurable explanations?
I'm kind of at a loss for words. It doesn't bother me so much that people still feel this way (so long as they don't call themselves biologists), what bothers me is that some of these people are also in a position to influence what we teach as fact, and make these decisions irrelevant of the evidence that actually exists.
Then again, our country has also elected people who have never read the Geneva Convention and don't seem to know what interrogation practices qualify as torture.
The bible-thumping domination of the US is going critical mass lately. It's only a matter of time before the government institutes a mandatory 10% tithe and forces all citizens to attend Christian services every Sunday.
Fuckin' hell. Austin is supposed to be an oasis of sanity in Texas. The RDM can only imagine how bad the rest of the state is.
This is dumb on so many levels. The agency has to remain neutral but can't individuals still have their opinions? In fact, one could go as far as to say that denying them the right to have and voice personal opinions goes against the constitution. As long as the person is not passing off personal opinion as the agency's stance it shouldn't be a problem.
So how does forwarding an email regarding a discussion on the topic become someone imposing their personal view as the agency's view?
*wants someone to take this to court for the unconstitutionality of it*
Pareto's Law dictates that 80% of the world are idiots and 20% of those idiots contributes to 80% of the world's problems. This will stay true until the end of humanity.
I was reading something just yesterday about a biologist getting fired for saying he doesn't believe in evolution. That one actually makes sense though.
Lord Golbez wrote:I was reading something just yesterday about a biologist getting fired for saying he doesn't believe in evolution. That one actually makes sense though.
Watched it. Two hours of misquotations, semantics and reducto ad absurdum, peppered with pseudo-scientific jargon and very quickly flashed charts and other "evidence". Basically, a giant crock of shit, but wildly convincing to a stupid person in how confusingly it is presented.
I wonder if the bible has answers for how to avoid getting cornholed in prison? As far as I know, it just has that thing about sodomy being an abomination, but there's no instructions on how to prevent it from happening.
Mitsurugi CP wrote:I wonder if the bible has answers for how to avoid getting cornholed in prison? As far as I know, it just has that thing about sodomy being an abomination, but there's no instructions on how to prevent it from happening.
Actually, you're supposed to offer up your daughters instead.
Mitsurugi CP wrote:I wonder if the bible has answers for how to avoid getting cornholed in prison? As far as I know, it just has that thing about sodomy being an abomination, but there's no instructions on how to prevent it from happening.
Actually, you're supposed to offer up your daughters instead.
You mean the RDM, right? I mean I'm only pointing out that he was correct (oh God no, he's going to do it now). He's the one who actually mentioned it.
Lord Golbez wrote:You mean the RDM, right? I mean I'm only pointing out that he was correct (oh God no, he's going to do it now). He's the one who actually mentioned it.
I mean you too. How did you know he was correct, bible boy?
Lord Golbez wrote:You mean the RDM, right? I mean I'm only pointing out that he was correct (oh God no, he's going to do it now). He's the one who actually mentioned it.
I mean you too. How did you know he was correct, bible boy?
I know the bible pretty well. I did go to catholic high school and college and had religion classes in both.
The RDM read it a ways back, and he has a pretty good retention rate. There was a time when he fashioned himself an amateur student of theology. He read a lot of that sort of thing.
I've read most of it too. I got stuck somewhere in Chronicles, because it's just Kings all over again told slightly differently. I should have just skipped it and then I probably would have gotten through the whole Bible except Chronicles by now (I say I've read most because I still have read some books past Chronicles like Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Job, all of the New Testament, probably some others I'm forgetting).
Mitsurugi CP wrote:I wonder if the bible has answers for how to avoid getting cornholed in prison? As far as I know, it just has that thing about sodomy being an abomination, but there's no instructions on how to prevent it from happening.
Actually, you're supposed to offer up your daughters instead.
Know your bible!
What if your cell mate isn't into the ladies? You'd think there'd be some charts or something for a salad shooter thing you stick up there to prevent unauthorized rear entry.
I'm kind of at a loss for words. It doesn't bother me so much that people still feel this way (so long as they don't call themselves biologists), what bothers me is that some of these people are also in a position to influence what we teach as fact, and make these decisions irrelevant of the evidence that actually exists.
Are you really surprised? Hell, our President probably believes Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to work. Most of the US is religious and any threat to their indoctrination (even if it is just a perceived threat) engenders a defensive retaliation. Religion isn't just a part of them, it pervades every aspect of their lives and any posit with or without evidence that crosses the border of their religion is seen as an attack on their very identity.
But then what do I know, according to Bibleboy Bush, I'm neither a citizen nor a patriot, I must be in the army just for the superfluous salary.
Yup. We are a nation of Christians. If The King's English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for our children and all that good stuff. Religion's on a major upswing in the US, and it's getting scary.
cybersuh wrote:
Religion isn't just a part of them, it pervades every aspect of their lives
I don't see a problem with this in and of itself.. I feel this way about religion myself. The difference being that part of my religious belief is that God is not deceitful and therefore honest and properly done research into the workings of the world cannot but reveal the truth behind God's creation. Also, I feel that treating the creation story in the Bible as a literal historical account reflects almost a dismissive disrespect to the true intent behind the story.
That's the kind of religion the RDM can be fine with, but that kind of religion appears to be a shrinking minority these days. Everything is "Literal" this and "every word" of that. The RDM is a consumate atheist, the product of years of religious study...and he can't help but agree with Dawkins on most counts. This stuff is madness.
