Why is Darwin still controversial?

I’m just sitting here, minding my own business, peacefully surfing through the local news tonight, when I see this story in the Knoxville News Sentinel.  It’s titled “Knox schools say they don’t teach human evolution, but how the process relates to all life”.

The story starts out with this:

“We have the purpose of preventing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States.”

– Clarence Darrow, defense attorney during the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tenn., 1925

About 84 years ago, Tennessee was thrust into the international spotlight when biology teacher John Scopes went to trial in Rhea County and was found guilty of violating a state law that banned the teaching of human evolution in public schools.

While the state law was finally repealed in 1968, the teaching of evolution based on the theories of Charles Darwin is still a contentious subject.

Why is this “still a contentious subject” in Tennessee?  Why haven’t people in Tennessee learned from the debacle of the Scopes trial over 80 years ago?  Has anyone – anyone at all – produced a better explanation to explain how we developed?  Not that I’ve seen.  Note:  “God did it” isn’t an explanation anymore than “because I said so” explains something to a child.

“The fact that this debate continues is a sign that we missed our target to educate people about the scientific process,” said Becky Ashe, science supervisor for Knox County Schools.

“Scientific process” is simply another way to say “scientific theory”, but Ms Ashe wants to avoid that word because it’ll offend someone.  Since most of what I write offends someone, I don’t have that restriction.  Check out the definition of “scientific method” on webster.com and you’ll see this: principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.

Scientists would have abandoned evolution long ago if it didn’t meet the above requirements – especially regarding the “formulation and testing of hypotheses.”  That’s the true test of any theory – does it correctly predict what will happen in a given set of circumstances.  Just like the theory of relativity, which predicted the atomic bomb, the bending of light by gravity, and the relative slowdown in time experienced at high speeds.  All of which have been tested and confirmed by numerous experiments.  If you need evidence, simply look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Darwin’s theory of evolution is in the same class as Einstein’s theory of relativity.  It’s been confirmed by numerous experiments and observations.  There’s not a single bit of evidence that contradicts it.  But yet it’s still controversial in Tennessee – and Kansas, and wherever else ignorant people congregate in sufficient numbers.

The KnoxNews.com story I referenced in the first sentence of this posts also contains this paragraph: “A theory, to a scientist, is not just a guess. A theory is an overarching, unifying concept that is supported by, and explains, relationships between many different types of data and observations from different fields of inquiry. Thus, the theory of gravity explains why an apple falls from a tree, why the earth circles the sun, and why we don’t all go flying off the earth as it spins. So yes, we should teach the theory of gravity, atomic theory, cell theory, the theory of relativity and the theory of evolution by natural selection. … I know of no scientific alternatives to this theory. I am aware of a number of mythologies that address the creation of Earth and mankind, but they are not science and should not be taught in science classes,” Wellman said.”

Read that last line again – “I am aware of a number of mythologies that address the creation of Earth and mankind, but they are not science and should not be taught in science classes.” Amen to that!

Biblical creation myths fall into the same class as Hindu creation myths.  And African tribal creation myths.  And Japanese Shinto creation myths.  None of them have A SINGLE SHRED OF EVIDENCE to back up their claims.  Yet they all claim to be the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me god.  And they want it taught in public schools.  And they wonder why they’re thought of as backwards hicks.

This is coming from a guy who grew up in a town of less than 100 in rural Missouri – I know all about hicks – I are one.  🙂  But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn and grow out of it.  Eventually.

And yet Tennessee allows ignorant parents to opt out of having evolution taught to their kids if they sign a waiver – which produces yet another generation of people ignorant of science.  Future scientists would do well to avoid this state if they’d like to learn anything that would actually help them learn to be scientists.

Hmmm….  This turned into a rant.  Oh well, deal with it.

Darwin’s 200th birthday is coming up on Feb 12th.  Read all about him here.  You can read his book “On the Origin of Species” online (or download it) in PDF format here.  Project Gutenberg has a plain text version available here.  Enjoy!

gk

Faith or science?

Stories like this one in the Knoxville News Sentinel today are popular tear jerker’s – kind of like any film with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts – but they make no sense.

The story I referenced is headlined “A family’s faith helps them find the best gift of all” and it’s replete with statements like “They’re thankful for friends and family, acquaintances and complete strangers, who all prayed ceaselessly for Kara’s recovery, and for their Lord, who they believe listened to their prayers and made Kara’s body strong enough to withstand a very aggressive cancer and equally aggressive treatment.”

And – “Every entry, be the news good or bad, called on Kara’s “prayer warriors” and praised God.”  along with “But prayer can put Kara in that good percentage, the Lees believe, and there’s no shortage of people praying for Kara. Even a decal on the Lees’ car urges, “Pray for Kara.”

Ok, I understand that many people are unable to cope with their problems, and that it’s helpful for them to pawn the responsibility off onto God – so they can then sit back and say “it was God’s will” no matter what happens.   But come on – does anyone really believe that God cured her cancer?

Don’t you think medical schools (where actual science must be taught if the doctors are to be able to do anything) had something to do with it?   How about the doctors’ willingness to fore go their 20’s while they were studying and working their butts off?   Do you know of any doctors who got their medical training during a theology course at a bible college?

Would you trust one of them to treat your appendicitis?  Thought so.

gk

Knoxville Church Shooting Coverage

The Knoxville News Sentinel deleted a lot of comments on its’ story during the day Sunday.  I left a few comments regarding deleting the comments and their coverage of the story in general.  Guess what – my comments were deleted….  Here’s what they posted as a reason this morning:

Posted by KNSemily on July 28, 2008 at 11:18 a.m.

Hi everyone,
My inbox is getting slammed with flagged comments and I’m going to start being pretty strict with this as we are on a national stage right now. So heads up: if KNS staff finds your comments to be off-topic, “unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane, pornographic, or otherwise objectionable”, as stated in our user agreement, they will be deleted. Please be nice. This is a terrible thing that happened in our backyards and we should be supporting each other, not insulting or discrediting each other’s religious beliefs, etc. I am going to interpret “off-topic” very broadly.

Comments which have since been deleted (I know because I continually monitored the site yesterday) included religious views, facts about the church policy regarding gays and lesbians, and many that criticized the News Sentinel for being the last website in town to provide updates.

Not one that I remember could be construed as meeting their criteria for deletion.   Unless they simply considered it “objectionable” because they didn’t like the content.  I’d be willing to bet that they found a lot of it “objectionable” because they “objected” to someone saying that their coverage sucked yesterday.

Sure, there were many ignorant comments posted by ignorant people – how will deleting them ever help these people become less ignorant?  How will the rest of the community ever understand the hate (from some) that lingers under the surface, just waiting to explode into violence?

Ummm – isn’t that what happened here yesterday?.

Speaking of objectionable, check out the headline on this story in the News Sentinel tonight.

Given the News Sentinels’ proclivity in deleting information, I’m copying it here.  Verbatim.

Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity on accused shooter’s reading list

4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of 'liberal movement'

Here’s an excerpt:

Inside the house, officers found “Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder” by radio talk show host Michael Savage, “Let Freedom Ring” by talk show host Sean Hannity, and “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.

None of the national media I checked tonight (CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, FoxNews, etc) mention this – and they’re right not to bring it up.  Any well-read person is going to have a wide variety of books in their home.  I have two copies of the Bible, a Book of Mormon, and a Koran in my house.

I also have books by Robert Heinlein, Ayn Rand, a 13 volume “Story of Civilization” by Will Durant, Rachel Carson, Dave Barry, and lots of others.

Right-wingers think I’m a liberal because I support the ACLU, legalizing drugs and prostitution; those on the left think I’m a conservative because I support the NRA, Constitutional Law, and fiscal responsibility.  Guess what – I’m a Libertarian and neither of those labels apply to me.  Live and let live is what I’m all about.

There are probably 1500 books in my house right now – I guarantee that some of them are “objectionable” to someone.  Does that make me anything – other than well read?  Is that motivation for me to shoot up a church?  I don’t think so!

There’s lots more, but if you’re looking for coverage of the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (TVUUC) in Knoxville, I suggest WBIR.com or pick one from this list at Google News.

I may add to this later if I read something else that ticks me off!  🙂  My posts are normally carried as part of the Knoxville Blog Network on the News Sentinel – let’s see if they have the guts to include this one….

gk

Does God Exist?

I was pretty much aimlessly surfing the web tonight when I read this on FoxNews.  I have to admit that I really don’t surf “aimlessly” it’s more like “actively looking for something that’s interesting” if that makes sense.

Anyway, I find the arguments around the scientists vs religion question somewhat silly – because it really doesn’t matter to me.  Science doesn’t even attempt to explain “why” something happened.  Science is only concerned with “how” it happened.

If you want to postulate – like Newton – that God provides an initial “push” to get things started, then he backs off and watches the planets orbit around the sun, fine.  I won’t argue with you, but since you are the one who is proposing that God exists, the burden of proof is on you.

Prove it.  Until then, I’m sitting on the sidelines in this debate.  If you want to debate how or why the government should be involved in religion, bring it on.  That’s a different story, and I’ll play that game.  But I will insist that you first read the First Amendment.  Still have an argument?  Show me what you got bro.

gk

Religious Fanatics Charged with Murder

It’s about time!  As I wrote in a previous post, I think these religious nuts who refuse to get medical care for their kids (they think that God will cure them – no need for doctors or medicine) should be charged with murder. 

It looks like that’s going to happen.  According to FoxNews, Parents who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes will be charged with second-degree reckless homicide, the Marathon County district attorney said Monday.

Dale and Leilani Neumann are clueless.  Leilani Neumann, 40, told AP previously she never expected her daughter to die. The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, but they are not crazy, religious people and have nothing against doctors, she said.

Ok, she says they’re “not crazy religious people” but what would you call it when someone in California knows that it’s severe and calls an ambulance before the parents do anything except pray as their daughter dies?

According to the story a daughter-in-law in California, who called police on a non-emergency line to report the girl was in a coma and needed medical help. An ambulance was dispatched to the home shortly before some friends in the home called 911 to report the girl had stopped breathing, authorities said.

They are facing up to 25 years in prison, but I think they should fry.

gk

 

Sackcloth and ashes in Birmingham

Ok, here’s the lead in:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —  Struggling to confront a worsening homicide rate, the mayor of Birmingham asked pastors and citizens Friday to don burlap sacks and ashes Friday in an Old Testament-style sign of biblical repentance.

What can you say to that?  Is the mayor a total idiot – or is he simply pandering to idiots?  Maybe a few quotes from the story will clarify what I mean.

Since he took office last year, Langford has held three prayer rallies as a way of addressing crime and violence. Bibles were handed out at one of the events.

“This city needs to humble itself,” said Langford, a professing Christian.

So far this year 27 people have been killed in Birmingham, compared to 19 at the same time last year. 

So how’s that prayer thing working for you Mayor?  From looking at the numbers (I know, facts don’t mean much to people who believe in fairy tales) it looks like you’re focusing on the wrong thing. 

May I humbly suggest that arresting the criminals would work much better?

Another quote: Mayor Larry Langford said his “sackcloth and ashes” rally at Boutwell Auditorium was inspired by the Book of Jonah, where residents of the ancient city of Ninevah wore rough fabric and ashes as a sign of turning away from sin.

A pastor who helped organize the rally said Langford purchased 2,000 burlap bags that will be handed out at the event.

I don’t think the mayor would be this stupid, but I’m wondering who paid for the “2,000 burlap bags?”  If he used public funds (or he’s using a public facility without paying for it out of private funds) he’s an idiot.  That would also mean he’s also violating the US Constitution.

Birmingham city officials have turned to prayer in the past to cope with the city’s crime problems.

The former chief, Annetta Nunn, promoted the idea of turning people toward God to quell the violence in the city’s neighborhoods, and she instituted a Bible-based plan of civic responsibility for cleaning up rundown neighborhoods.

I’ll ask the question again – how’s that prayer thing working for you?  And once again the answer (based on the numbers) is that it’s making things worse, not better.

The current police chief, Langford appointee A.C. Roper, has a lengthy resume that includes being an ordained minister. He was in the military and worked with the Hoover Police Department for nearly two decades.

Roper supports the repentance rally, but he said law enforcement cannot stop there.

Oh really?  C’mon!  God is all powerful, God is all knowing, and God is omnipotent – it says so right there in your Bible.  So why haven’t your prayers to your God been answered?  I suppose the thought that maybe there isn’t a God never crossed your mind….

I don’t mean to offend those who believe in an omnipotent God who oversees everything on earth, but get real.  IF (and that’s a very large if) there is such a G/god, why do you think H/he cares what what the hell happens in Birmingham Alabama?

Again, I have absolutely nothing against religious people (I do have a lot of reasons why I’m against organized religion though!) and the intent of this is not to piss them off – although I’m sure that’ll happen too. 

My point is that there is no way that public time, money, or resources should be spent on this modern day witch hunt.  If you want to gather on the street (or in your own church or home) and do this – fine.  Just keep it from being sanctioned by the government.

Is that clear?

gk

Congress shall make no law

In reading some of the articles from major media sources regarding Obama’s “historic” speech, all I can say is thank God for the First Amendment!  To give you a sample of what I’ve seen online, take a look at this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The article says Obama’s “historic” speech has “elevated the discussion about the issue to the point where it has worked itself into the pews and pulpits of Bay Area churches.”

Now I don’t have a problem with churches espousing a particular political view, and I don’t have a problem with the government staying out of regulating what can be said in churches, but I do have a problem when churches want it both ways.  Churches want to be able to talk politics in church, but they also want to remain tax exempt.  Pick one.

Go ahead and endorse candidates and issues from the pulpit if you want – but you should lose your tax exempt status.  Stick to religion and there’s no problem.

I remember back in 1984 (when I still went to church) the Catholic church I attended issued “voter guides” comparing Reagan and Mondale.  The guide looked at various issues such as where the candidates stood on abortion, the death penalty, welfare, etc.  So far so good….

The problem was that the voter guide made it crystal clear which candidate the Catholic Church wanted to have as president.  From reading the voters guide, it was obvious that the Catholic Church was endorsing Reagan.

They have obviously gotten a bit smarter regarding the political processsince then, as the Catholic Church now has a guide to allowable political activity published on their website.  I would hope that any church (of any religious denomination) would do something similar.  If they cross the line, then they are no longer tax exempt.

You can’t have it both ways – either you stay out of politics (in return for the government staying out of your business) or you go into politics and the government gets to go into your business.

This distinction is not a theoretical argument – it’s what separates this country from all others in the world.  We were the first to GUARANTEE religious freedom to our citizens.  Look at what’s happening today in Tibet, Iraq, even Denmark to see what happens when the government is allowed to interfere with religion.

But you can turn that argument around too – look at what happens when religion gets involved in politics.  Iran, the Balkins, Afghanistan, and most of the Middle East are repressive regimes where you can be legally killed for worshipping – or not worshipping – at the wrong altar.

I posted my views on the Second Amendment a few days ago, and my views on the First Amendment are similar.  The Constitution does not in anyway restrict the rights of the people – it delegates certain rights to the government.  Read the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Seems pretty clear cut to me.  I wonder if the monks in Tibet wish they had something like that as a guarantee….

gk

Oregon gets it right

According to a story on FoxNews, Oregon is charging a couple with manslaughter after letting their 15 month old daughter die.  They’re another couple of religious fanatics who thought that God would make their daughter well if they prayed for her.  But they also anointed her with oil, so maybe that counts as medical treatment….

I think Oregon should charge them with murder, then execute them.  There’s no excuse (except self defense) for killing someone, and if you take a life, you’ve forfeited your right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Carl and Raylene Worthington are just as bad as any serial killer.  If they ascribe everything that happens to God, did they ever wonder who made their kid sick? 

gk

Fitna

The film “Fitna” was released on the web today.  It’s here if you want to view it.  A story about it (and the controversy around it) is here on FoxNews. 

Here’s another link to the movie.

Personally, I think way to many people are way too uptight about religion in general.  God speaks to too many people – and He seems to say something different to each one.  I wish He’d get his story straight so we could stop killing each other because He said different things to different people.  🙂

Ok, that’s the polite way of saying it – here’s another way: All you people who are listening to voices in your head that you think are messages from God/Jesus and/or Allah/Muhammad – get a medical checkup before you blow up someone else.

gk

Oh Ye of Little Faith

Here’s a story on FoxNews that just ticks me off.  The headline reads: “Wisconsin Parents Didn’t Expect Daughter to Die During Prayer.”  Duh.

It’s a story about an 11 year old girl (I have two girls ages 10 and 11, so I can relate to the the parents) who hasn’t seen a doctor since she was 3.  She had a treatable form of diabetes, but the parents “did not know her daughter was terminally ill as she prayed for her to get better.”

Here are a few other quotes from the story – and my comments. 

Her mother, Leilani Neumann, told The Associated Press that she never expected her daughter, whom she called Kara, to die. The family believes in the Bible, and it says healing comes from God, but they are not crazy, religious people, she said.

Ah, that makes it all ok – her parents never expected her to die, because they beleive in the power of the Bible, and that God would take care of them.   Somehow they think that qualifies them as “not crazy religious people.”  Ok, I’ll bite – what does that qualify them for?  They’re certainly not rational, intelligent people.   Read this entry from the mother for proof.

Every time I hear about someone who believes that God will take care of them, I’m reminded of a joke I read in Readers Digest years ago.  It went something like:

Heavy rains came and the flood waters started rising around a house.  The police drove down the street in a boat and urged the family to evacuate, but they said they weren’t leaving, because “God will take care of us.”  The flood waters kept rising….  Soon the waters were up to the 2nd story of the house. 

Another boat came by and urged the family to climb in and get away from the danger.  Again they refused to evacuate, saying “God will take care of us.”  But the waters kept rising….

The family had to move to the roof of the house to stay above the raging waters.  A helicopter came by to rescue them, but again they refused to leave, saying “God will take care of us.”   A few minutes later the flood waters washed the family away and they all drowned. 

When they stood before God at the pearly gates they were upset.  They complained that even though they had great faith, God let them die in the flood.  They asked why God didn’t take care of them.

God replied “I sent you two boats and a helicopter – what more do you want?”

Of course the moral of the story is that God helps those who help themselves, and that we should use our God-given abilities as best we can. 

Humans are the only species on earth that NEED to make things to survive.  We survive by using our minds, our ability to reason, our ability to make the things we need to live. 

How did the family eat?  Where did they live?  What did they wear for clothing?  God didn’t give them any of those things – why would any sane person believe that God would cure their sick child?  If you believe in God, why would you not think that he gave us the ability to make medicines in order to cure disease?  (Of course that begs the question of why God would create diseases that needed to be cured, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Another quote from the story: “Officers went to the home after a relative in California asked police to check on the girl.”  A relative a thousand miles away knew something was wrong, but the parents were too stupid to know what was happening.  I’m sorry, but they need to be charged with murder, and their other kids need to be taken away from them immediately.

“Our lives are in God’s hands and whatever we go through we are just going to trust him,” she said. “We need healing. We are going through the healing process.”

No, your lives are in the hands of the courts now, and you’ve demonstrated that you aren’t able to make rational decisions.  We (as a society) will not allow you to withhold treatment (and the example of rational thought) from your other children, so you can’t keep them any longer.

Now I hate to say the above, because I absolutely despise government intervention in private lives, but children are considered children because they have not yet reached the age of reason.  They can’t decide things for themselves yet, so parents need to protect and teach them until they can make important decisions on their own. 

If you’re over 18, you can do whatever you want to yourself.  Don’t go to the doctor, go ahead and shoot up heroin, smoke crack, snort cocaine, starve yourself to death, drink too much, smoke all the cigarettes you want, or whatever else you want to do – as far as I’m concerned that’s your right.  But you can’t do that to others.

By the way, one of my favorite “more accurate than the dictionary” definitions is the definition of the word “believe.”  I don’t remember where I read it, but it goes something like “believe: to have confidence in the existence or truth of something despite any evidence to support the conclusion.” 

gk