Did everyone suddenly become very stupid?

[stoney321]

Not you, of course. Everyone else.

So.... creationism is coming to Texas schools, possibly. Note: creationism is not science. It is religion. <-- I'm still shocked that this is debatable. It is RELIGION. Religion doesn't go in public schools. That was why we left England and made our own country. (Well, a part of it. Minuscule part, but still a part.) How do I know it's religion? Because it's about GOD. Also, it's only ONE religion's theory. I've discussed my thoughts on this before, so I won't expound, except to say that why can't these people consider evolution to be the "intelligent design?" OCCAM'S RAZOR, PEOPLE.

HOWEVER!

A letter to the editor today got me shaking with frustration.

Here's his letter:

[Another writer that doesn't like creationism] believes intelligent design should be removed from science classes because it cannot be tested and supported or disproved by scientific standards. I could not agree more. This is theory and should be taught in a theory course, just like the theory of evolution, which has been disproved by the scientific method.

Thousands of species of animals, insects and plants live on this planet. They are totally distinct from one another. The idea that they evolved from the most primitive forms of life through random mutation, natural selection and survival of the fittest is disproved by fossil history. Fossil history suggests that some species have gone through some evolving, but a fish did not walk out of the water and become a bird, or a dinosaur, then a lion, then a kangaroo, then an ape, and finally a man. It simply didn't happen that way [note: I AGREE, freaking moron] And as ludicrous as it is, this theory is promoted as science.

~Butt-scratching mouth-breather

OH MY GOD, THE STUPIDITY IN THIS LETTER. *head desk times a zillion*


Okay. After cracking my knuckles, I wrote back. (I have a pretty good track record of getting published, so I've got high hopes. I've got high apple pie in the sky hopes.)

EVOLUTION SCHMEVOLUTION?

re: [Butt-scratching Mouth-Breather's Letter to the Editor, Thursday, Dec. 27th "Teach Theory as Theory"

I shouldn't still be shocked by the proud ignorance of our populace. And yet... It baffles me that people who profess "evolution can't be science because it's only a theory" don't understand that in science, a theory isn't the same as some Joes sitting around a table theorizing about chicks. Gravity was only a theory for centuries, and we're all pretty confident that things fall down, yes?

Mr. [Rama lama ding dong] pooh poohs the "science" of the fossil record, then continues to completely not understand the science behind evolution (even differentiating between the same thing: natural selection and survival of the fittest), not realizing that there are billions of species on the earth (not "thousands"), and then making the ludicrous claim that the fossil record doesn't support evolution.

Perhaps if he (and many others) actually listened in science class, they would know this. But hey - keep writing in,folks. It just shows that not only do we need to keep science classes, perhaps we should add more science classes to the roster. (And if Creationism is added, I'd like more than the southern Christian snake talking in a tree course. Let's throw in Ra, the turtle shell concept,and the Spider that threw a Web and created the Stars and Mother Earth.)

Nyah nyah nyah Nyah nyah,
Awesome McSmarty Pants <-- not my actual signature

[ETA} I just realized that I posted my first draft, which was full of errors. Including an extra "s" some awkward sentence structure, and forgetting that GRAVITY IS A LAW. *cough* Newton's Law, to be exact. I win the Awesome Sauce Award for ragging on someone's stupidity while being stupid myself. :D Now posting the ACTUAL letter I sent.... *g*


At the top of my list of Things You Shouldn't Talk About When You Don't Understand The Concept:

EVOLUTION.

Oh, hey. The small, raccoon sized rat-like creature that was recently discovered to be the ancestor to the WHALE would like to have a word. Uh, BOOYAH. (Isn't that awesome? YAY PRECAMBRIAN EXPLOSION FOSSIL RECORD!) I like how the first link (YAY) shows the SCIENTIFIC METHOD involved in supporting the Big Bang Theory. *loves science like whoa*

Finally, if anyone knows of excellent post series Freaks and Geeks fanfic, I'd like a link, kthx. (And I've been futzing with a fic idea for two days now.) *cries* Never again will I watch a series that has been canceled before resolution is achieved. That show hurt me, guys. <3

Comments

[ruric.livejournal.com]

*reads Mr Mouthbreather's letter*

*headdesk to inifinty too*

Good luck with getting your reply published!

*hearts you*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Is that letter not the most ridiculous piece of "i don't get it" ever? I'm sure his former science teachers are banging their heads. (Or nodding to themselves, saying, "that's why you failed.") :D

<3 <3 <3

[nwhepcat.livejournal.com]

You rock!

Alas, though we're descended from people who moved here for religious freedom, we're also descended from crazy-pants religious nuts who couldn't get along with other people. And, y'know, they bred.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

BWAH HA HA!!! Can't we get them to breed less? I'll see if I can't find some obscure scriptural reference to help that along. (Hey, it's how they operate!)

:D

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

My latest letter to the editor headdesk was someone who wrote in with the "Wah wah, we can't wish each other Merry Christmas anymore" BS.

YES YOU CAN, DICKSMACK! GAH!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*helps you hit people*

Man, you can wish people a merry christmas! This purported "{War on Christmas" drives me crazy. You (not YOU you) just have to give EQUAL TIME to others, JEEEEEZ.

[setauuta.livejournal.com]

*reads first letter*
But...that...I mean...

*reads again*
No, I read it right the first time. The man's a git who doesn't understand most anything science related. I was a Spanish Lit-Theatre major in college (read: second most useless degree EVAR), for crying out loud, and even I know that doesn't work. *headdesk*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I KNOW!!!!

Isn't his letter shocking?! Like, it's breathtakingly stupid. Talk about missing the point ENTIRELY! (I firmly believe the editorial staff printed that in hopes of a flood of "WTF, no seriously, WTF?" letters. *G*)

(Hahahahah to your icon!!)

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

It's on my top ten list of Ludicrous, Facile, and Contemptible Arguments, the idea that, "oh, evolution is only a theory."

JEEZUM CROW. This is the most basic of taxonomies in science, how we order investigations, that "Theory" is just one step away from "Law". The only reason we still term it a Theory is that we're discovering more hypothesis that can be verifiably tested and grouped together under its aegis, so there needs to be a certain flexibility to it to continue to account for greater nuances supporting what we already know.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*loves you for understanding how SCIENCE WORKS*
*also loves you for many, many other reasons as well*

We as humans only have TWO "laws!" The creationists simply don't understand how science really works. I've heard ID detractors explain (wonderfully) that ID/Creationism can't be considered "science" simply because it's a negative concept, it doesn't further thought, only stops it. <3

It's a science of No. Which... isn't science. Science is "what if" and supported by testing, data, etc. Evolution has undergone serious testing/etc. for 150 years and is still here. Um... getting more and more supportive data every day, in fact. :)

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

One of the saddest things is that science has become a dirty word in this country. That your "gut instincts" should be listened to over reason and logic. And I see this trend continuing and getting stronger, which in the end, will bring this country to its knees faster than any terrorist.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE TO FIGHT!!!

*plays Guitar Hero and eats fudge*

I'm... not helping, am I? *g*

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* It would be funny of it weren't so sad and scary. "I shouldn't still be shocked by the proud ignorance of our populace." Thanks for throwing a spotlight on stupidity, Awesome McSmarty Pants.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA. YOU ARE WELCOME.

*hugs you* Hope you had a good holiday!

[earth-vexer.livejournal.com]

a fish did not walk out of the water and become a bird, or a dinosaur, then a lion, then a kangaroo, then an ape, and finally a man
Uh, if that's what they're teaching as evolution these days, then clearly somebody's doing something wrong.

And I clearly remember being taught that in science "theory" does not mean what you think it means. I guess Mr. Mouth-breather was away that day.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Exactly!! Clearly this guy has NO IDEA how evolution works, right? And I want to say, yes, you're right: "that's NOT how it happened. Idiot."

I think Mr. Mouth-Breather wasn't available for MOST of his science classes. Sheesh!

[pernickety.livejournal.com]

The theory of intelligent design: MAGIC MAN DONE IT! (Oh, I love Robin Ince. :D)

Oh, you're so hot when you talk all scientific and pwn people all over the place.

MOUTH-BREATHER NEEDS TO DIE IN A FIRE. Surely we can get a death sentence on charges of crimes against the species, the universe and everything.

Mmmh, tasty precambrian explosion links.

I just went looking for a site about fossils deposits in (somewhere I can't remember which is what let me to google), and the third (3rd!)result google returned for a "precambrian explosion" search was a site that tries to prove Noah's Flood is trufax. *flail* While I was reading I kept yelling words at the screen. (mostly: LAYERS! DEPOSITS IN LAYERS! MILLIONS OF YEARS!!!! ARGHHH!)

I´ll stop reading creationist sites now, or I'll get so annoyed I pop a blood vessel in the brain.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, there's a popular talk show here called "The View" (I can't stand it - it's a bunch of women talking over each other) and they had a "guest" on the show.

Who wasn't convinced that the world was ROUND.

I truly believe some people are too stupid to be free. We should lock them up.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*laughs at your icon*

Omg, I am ACHING like I've got a phantom limb.

[jennem.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend is an AP Physics teacher in a Texas school district.

Someone approached him about teaching creationism in his classroom, and he told them that the purple spaghetti monster was not going to be a part of his curriculum, and to kindly go the fuck away.

LOL.

Since AP Physics teachers are hard to come by, he has a degree in rocket science, is duel certified in math and applied sciences, and has an assload of experience teaching AP courses for someone his age, the school district pretty much kisses his ass.

Its great.

He really love shutting down the ignorant parents. Once, a parent was arguing with him about something, and tried to be like, "Well. What do you know. Your degree is in education." And, he was like, "Actually. I'm a rocket scientist. But, even if I weren't a rocket scientist, you'd still be wrong."

Bwah.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Heee! I love the snark! The problem isn't the teachers in Texas - they all seem to be united in a "Oh, HELL no!" mindset. It's the new head of the Education Board trying to bring it to a public vote, which means it'll be in the textbooks. I hate when administrators refuse to listen to TEACHERS. Um, and reason. That, too.

[that_mireille]

You know, what makes me the saddest? I went to a conservative Christian private school in the southern half of Georgia. (Seriously. Half the practice sentences in my grammar book were straight out of the King James Bible.) And my biology teacher in high school? Taught evolution. And said, completely happily, "There's no way a process this complicated could have happened without God directing it."

That's the way to reconcile faith and science, people.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

See, that's my point! Why can't evolution be intelligent design?! There ya go, your faith and your brain, hand in hand.

[copykween.livejournal.com]

I keep seeing "We support BlahBlah County Bible Curriculum" bumper stickers around here. Makes me want to start STABBING THINGS! There is a place to learn about the bible: Church. Plz to be keeping it OUT of our schools, asshats.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Just tell them that if they get the Christian Creation story in, there should be the Muslim Creation story, too. That'll get them too hopping mad to notice you letting the air out of their tires. :D

[adnault.livejournal.com]

mouth-breather! ::dies::

I completely agree! Dont' label creationalism a science unless it's a social one.... and then include all the other creation stories from other cultures.....

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!

I don't see why that is so HAAAAARD, gah!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

GREAT letter, Laura. I am very sad that Texas is saddled with the Creationist morons at the state level, as they will cause you *so* much trouble. Keep sending those fighting words to the Editor; they give courage to the hearts of readers out there on the side of sweet reason.

I especially like the "YAY" link. What a wonderful synopsis of so many important topics.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

So much foolishness, you know? So one-sided!! My kids are on "creationism" alert for their science classrooms. Fortunately, I know all three teachers, so I know we're safe for now.

There was an excellent letter a few days ago from the entire science department of UT. There's as many "No Creationism!" letters as "No Evolution!" letters being printed, but they haven't reported how many of each side are coming in... I'd be curious to see that number.

[jgracio.livejournal.com]

Good luck in getting published, though I fear no amount of reason, proof or anything short of a note going "Evolution is real!" and signed by GOD him/herself is ever going to change the minds of the true believers.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I don't care if they want to believe it. Heck, they can believe a man was in a fish belly for three days, the world was completely covered in water for over 100 days, and that the earth is literally 6000 years old. I just don't want them funded by our state government in my public school system.

Pennsylvania got rid of them, I'm hoping we can prove to be as intelligent overall.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I don't remember where I got this from so you may have seen it already, but here:

Make your own Flying Spaghetti Gingerbread Monsters! (http://flickr.com/photos/fsmcookies/) Celebrate the holidays by eating the undisprovable creator of the universe!

[mbangel10.livejournal.com]

The FSM guys have been all over this. They've been sending letters by the droves stating that if Intelligent Design is taught in Texas schools so should FSM as they both hold as much weight (= nada, none, zilch...) in actual scientific theory.

[semby.livejournal.com]

I'm so sick of stupid people. They really need to stop breeding. What kills me is that it often really seems like they have *more* people taking their arguments seriously than scientists do. We can't let the stupid people take over!

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

ITA.

Thank you for sending in that letter. Please let us know if/when it's published.

One common and much perpetuated misunderstanding in the press coverage of this issue makes me crazy: the invariable failure of the interviewer, newscaster, article writer - whatever, or even the interviewee, to distinguish and emphasize the difference between the definition of "theory" as it's used and understood in science and its meaning in the common vernacular. It seems to me that this point should be first and foremost in any discussion about why evolution is science and intelligent design is not. Until that distinction is finally pounded into the heads of the public and generally understood, then even people without a particular religious agenda will continue to give the question of intelligent design being taught in public schools the misplaced dignity of serious consideration.

I watched and adored Freaks and Geeks when it was broadcast. One of the few network shows I liked and committed to so of course they yanked it off the air. Can't help you with fanfic for it though.

[lynnenne]

Is this a done deal? Are they actually going to teach this in school?

*cries for you, Argentina... er, Texas*

[andymcnope.livejournal.com]

Oh man.

I kind of want Evolution to be wrong, because believing we're all related to this guy? Kind of sucks. In fact, I hope genetics in general is completely wrong and that there's no way in hell this guy's children will get his genes.

Here's a link for ya: http://objectiveministries.org/creation/sciencefair.html

It's a Creation "Science" Fair link I found a few months ago.

For the Elementary School Lever:

1st Place: "My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)"

Cassidy Turnbull (grade 5) presented her uncle, Steve. She also showed photographs of monkeys and invited fairgoers to note the differences between her uncle and the monkeys. She tried to feed her uncle bananas, but he declined to eat them. Cassidy has conclusively shown that her uncle is no monkey.

And my favorite... From the middle school level:

2nd Place: "Women Were Designed For Homemaking"

Jonathan Goode (grade 7) applied findings from many fields of science to support his conclusion that God designed women for homemaking: physics shows that women have a lower center of gravity than men, making them more suited to carrying groceries and laundry baskets; biology shows that women were designed to carry un-born babies in their wombs and to feed born babies milk, making them the natural choice for child rearing; social sciences show that the wages for women workers are lower than for normal workers, meaning that they are unable to work as well and thus earn equal pay; and exegetics shows that God created Eve as a companion for Adam, not as a co-worker.

[neko-hime-lj.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD. Why did I click on this link? OMGWTFBBQ people like this exist?!?!?!?!?!?! It makes me shudder. I am now forever scarred. O_O

"Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria"?!?!?!?!?! For my HS project I extracted anthocyanins from grapes and tested its effectiveness as an antimicrobial agent against common anti-acne antibiotics. In retrospect I should've just prayed to the Lord to kill all the bacteria in my experimental group. Maybe that would've worked better, as the anthocyanins didn't work at all.

[neko-hime-lj.livejournal.com]

Ack. Watching the ID proponents in the documentary speak made me squirm so much. My bf was laughing so hard, both at my incessant squirming and the absolute absurdity of the ID people's statements.

Oh, and the lady who said "'In the beginning, God created...' To me, that's all I need to know."? The documentary said that 1/3 to 1/2 of America believes the same. Well no wonder America is lagging in education measures compared to the rest of the developed world.

Srsly, the state of science education in America makes me cry. We immigrated here for this???? T_T

[neko-hime-lj.livejournal.com]

Oops, the documentary I was talking about was in your previous post that you linked. Y'know, the Nova one. :P

[draconin.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already, you might enjoy watching a TV program that (I think) liz_marcs posted the link for some time ago....

Judgement Day: Intelligent Design On Trial (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/program.html)

This is a web-based TV documentary concerning a court case in the US where science teachers and parents in Dover, Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the town's school board in federal court in order to stop them trying to force Intelligent Design being taught 'as Science' in the local school. It thoroughly covers the arguments for and against and basically exposes ID as simply Creationism in disguise. Highly recommended.

[tabaqui]

Oh, gods, i just....
I get so *pissed* at this shite. And yes, please, if you really, really think that you should put your not actually creationism!haha!'Intelligent Design' into schools then i want *all* the damn creation myths in there, too, because they all hold *exactly* the same amount of water.

*flails around like a loon*
Dear gods.