Comments on: Dotty dentist wants creationist crap taught in Texas

By: to brago

to brago — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:11:27 +0000

To Brago….Catholics teach only evolution in schools (and have for many decades) and like most mainline Protestants believe the Bible teaches religious values not literal history (esp. Genesis). By the way, those “faith schools” exist in both Britain and the USA b/c they offer a better education and produce kids with higher test scores than their public counterparts (not to mention that many parents like a school that tries to teach values to impressionable minds). In the USA, Catholic schools started in the 1840s because WASPs only had Protestant prayers and the King James bible in public schools and wouldn’t allow anything else. Now it looks like Texas Catholic schools will be the only ones teaching evolution solely in that state (note: the rule says public schools must mention Creationism and has no control over Catholic schools). Also before anyone on this post bashes Texas, keep in mind the per capita income of that state is higher than Britain, it is one of the few states in the USA to have a balanced budget, and more fortune 500 companies are based in the state than any other in the USA.

By: barry_duke

barry_duke — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:02:09 +0000

And what precisely are \\"the basic realities of life\\", Graeme. We would all dearly love to know …

By: Graeme

Graeme — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:38:26 +0000

The complete lack of intelligence here is revolting. You all have a problem with understanding the basic realities of life. Ignorance is bliss eh?

By: Broga

Broga — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:13:55 +0000

Why isn’t God coming through with the goods in Texas and other places in the USA, land of the devout? Many of these fundies are in the crap, big time. The USA owes China zillions of dollars. The answer, dear readers, as I discovered in an answer to a letter from a weepy Xian in a Church Magazine from the USA is that he is. He is inflicting punishment on the USA for not holding to the words of the good book; refusing to be bathed in the blood of the lamb; and going on holidays to beaches where there are naked women. Worst of all he is in a total strop about something that was allowed in California involving gays. I don’t what upset him there as I was sent a clipping from a friend with the comment, “I had to send you this or you wouldn’t believe it.”

Once the USA is brought to its senses in this reality check they will once more be that “Shining City on the Hill.” I assume on that one they have abondened their literalism. Or maybe not, as god can do anything.

Only they ignorant, they suckers, those who want others to tell them what to think could be taken in by this junk. The last paragraph in the magazine was to thank everyone who volunteered to park the cars at the church service.

By: Godless not gormless

Godless not gormless — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:48:06 +0000

Let’s hope this is just a last ditch effort to try to swing things their way by a dying breed. From what I’ve been reading lately, I don’t think they are actually increasing in numbers, or at least percentage of population, but they are definitely becoming more determined to influence every area of everyone’s life.

Hopefully this is just the death throes of a dying breed. But, like newspaniard, I worry that they will have too much influence on young minds which definitely shapes the future. Still, many young minds easily see through this stuff and as long as they still get some balance from that and real science and knowledge we should still be heading in the right overall direction as a species.

By: Broga

Broga — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:43:45 +0000

Alex. Thanks for the comment on Texas. I know that many in Texas are disturbed and ashamed by the performance of the religious crapologists. For example, I know of a number around the Austin (hope I spelled that right) area who are furious at the religious nonsense being foisted on them. I met a couple of them at an Amnesty International Conference a few years ago – they later sent me some clippings, including letters, from a local paper that was anti creationism and very anti the hell of the Texas Death Row.

By: Tim Danaher

Tim Danaher — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:24:27 +0000

“Talking of evolution, has anyone noticed the proliferation of Darwin documentaries.

They just keep getting better and better.”

No.

I live in fucking Germany, where the television is absolutely fucking shite. I mean, why make any programmes about one of the most important scientific ideas of all time, when you can simply just make another 90-minute episode of Tatort, a shit police procedural that has been on every Sunday night at 8:15 for the last 40 fucking years?

Oh, yeah, and that MacLeroy is a fucking cnut as well.

By: newspaniard

newspaniard — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:06:56 +0000

Surely, what is most worrying is that looneys like this are going to screw up the science education of the next USA generation… Hmmm… Thinks, ‘Would that be bad for the rest of us?’… Hmmm… Disregard my previous, let them get on with it, we have great some houses of learning here in the EU untrammelled by this ID crap. Maybe the better of their religiously unimpaired scientists might like to join us.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:37:05 +0000

I’m from Texas and I can tell you idiots like “doctor” Leroy are pretty common. God is so much a part of the culture it’s hard to escape. Even in high school, where my “sex education” class was taught by a minister who preached the value of marriage and god. We had to sign a vow of abstinence and were given promise rings. And it wasn’t made any easier by the fact that I’m bisexual and while the students didn’t treat me badly I was always treated differently by the staff. Some things have changed for the better, but I really worry about the future and the current religious revival. I firmly believe in religious freedom, but I don’t want my country to become an intellectually backwards armpit like Afghanistan under the Taliban.

By: kynefski

kynefski — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:10:50 +0000

â€“ a step that could ultimately influence what is taught in biology classes across the nation.

I would suggest this is a bit of overkill. In the marketplace of ideas, intelligent design has never emerged from bankruptcy. After their high water mark in Kansas in 2005, where have these hustlers been able to emerge? Louisiana? Texas? Ohmigod, they’re at the gates.

Look, man, I don’t want to deny anybody here their dream of playing Clarence Darrow, but we’re just watching a sad group of con men struggling to keep the money coming until they can drift away into retirement.

Ask yourself: What prominent social conservative – not affiliated with the Discovery Institute – has spoken in support of these clowns? Ann Coulter? Hey, there’s some depth!