Texas School Board votes on the age of the Universe

Stupid is...

As stupid does.

And they do stupid very well.

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by: Will St. James @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:13:05 AM CDT

I cannot believe this...

So if we're going to deny all science and reasoning, then should we give up on medical science and go back to just praying for God's help?  Seriously, these religious fanatics just keep tearing down science everyday. What's next?  When will we finally step up and say "No more"? I hope these educators realize the implications of their actions.

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by: CuriousGuy @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:23:07 AM CDT

YES! (snark)

So if we're going to deny all science and reasoning, then should we give up on medical science and go back to just praying for God's help?

Don't you ever watch Benny Hinn on TBN? He just lays hands on you and prays to JEEEEEZIS... And you're HEALED! (j/k) ;-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.  

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by: atdnext @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:31:54 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not only that

but Texas apparently doesn't need to have any weather forecasting- all hurricanes, otrnadoes etc are simply "God's Will" and as such, should not be questioned or planned for.

Only the pious and pure will survive; all sinners and nonbelievers shall perish!

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by: Louise @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:50:15 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Or, if the pious are killed

it's because they're being rewarded by being sent back to god, not because they were sinners.

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by: Takma'rierah @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:56:00 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

If that's the case...

I wish God was a little more generous with her rewards!

____________________________________
Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

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by: tavdy79 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:59:05 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

No! Of course not!

should we give up on medical science and go back to just praying for God's help

They don't want to do that. Who would give their slut precious little angel her abortion God's Holy Intercession when the little tramp jewel gets knocked up brutally attacked?

Cause any fool knows, a dog needs a home; a shelter from pigs on the wing

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by: QueerInSoCal @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:31:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

As Bill Maher said...

If you don't believe in evolution and you get the Swine Flu, you do not get any Tamiflu; you must pray to Jeebus to heal you.  Since viruses like H1N1 are living proof of evolution in a time unit we can observe and comprehend, if you can't accept that, you gotta pray the demon away instead.

"If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: RadicalRuss @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 15:25:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Texas seems hell-bent

for stupid. Texas is amazing.  

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by: slobeck @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:26:34 AM CDT

Well, what do you expect...

After all, Texas did get its idiot back...

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by: actosrep @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:11:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

My goodness...

So Texas no longer wants to decide science curriculum on... real science? Oh, of course not! In Ricky "Goodhair" Perry's wonderful Christian Republic of Texas that's about to secede from the union, JEEEEEEZIS is all they need.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.  

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by: atdnext @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:35:28 AM CDT

Reminds me of a guy I debated

not too long ago, who was convinced that parents should decide what the school taught. After much talking about philosophy and science during which he made poorly articulated arguments but at least managed to string words together in the right order, he disappointed me utterly with his poor bargaining skills that, to use an analogy, went like this:

(A fisherman has just pulled his boat onto the shore with a meager catch of fish)

Guy: Hey! You! Give me all of your fish!

Fisherman: What? I can't just give you these! I need them to feed my family and pay the loan on my boat.

Guy: Oh... Will you give them to me now?

Ultimately I asked him if he also wanted kids to learn about astrology in psychology class, crystal healing in geology class, that woman's suffrage was still in debate, and that black people may or may not be inferior, since some kid's parents believed those things too, and he shut up. Just as well; it was a fun writing activity while it lasted but I was getting bored with his repetitive obstinance.

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by: Takma'rierah @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:53:50 AM CDT

I'm so sorry!

I misread your subject as a "guy you DATED" and was very confused as to why you stuck with him and why you thought of him as a "fun writing activity." Also, "getting bored with his repetitive obstinance" fits better with dating than debating much of the time. :-)

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by: Lane @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 03:37:41 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oops!

Haha, that's funny. XD That'd be horrible! I definitely only debated him and never actually met him, though. The guy I am dating is a kajillion times better than that and we enjoy talking about the perfectly rational wonders of the universe all the time.

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by: Takma'rierah @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 13:45:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hey, why not just let the kids decide?

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by: Pollyanna @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 12:47:44 PM CDT

I LOVE Tony Auth

Thank you!

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by: lyonside @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 18:16:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's not just the age of the Universe...

Apparantly they have decided that all scientific theories must be 'taught' as questionable -

http://www.dakotavoice.com/200...

This is the fundie version of the "Fairness Doctrine" in broadcasting (which they REALLY don't like)

So what other theories must be taught bassackwards?

Here is a list of major scientific theories -

1. The Atomic Theory
2. The Theory of Matter and Energy: Conservation of Matter and Energy
3. The Cell Theory
4. The Germ Theory
5. The Theory of Plate Tectonics
6. The Theory of Evolution
7. The Big Bang Theory
8. Chaos Theory
9. The "Gaia" Theory of a Sustainable Earth which is illustrated with the idea of Spaceship Earth
10. The Theory of Quantum Mechanics
11. The Theory of Special Relativity which subsumes The Theory of General Relativity which subsumes Newtonian theories of motion
12. The Photon Theory of Light Energy (speed of light)
13. The Theory of Electromagnetism
14. The Theory of Radioactivity or Nuclear Theory
15. The Theory of Molecular Bonds
16. The Theory of States of Matter
17. The Theory of Thermodynamics
18. The Theory of Homeostasis within Living Organisms
19. The Constructivist Theory of Learning
20. The theories of self and development of mental processes in the brain.
21. Theory of Gravity

What else can we give this uber fair treatment to?

I personally believe that there is no such thing as Gravity (It's just Mother Earth giving everything a nice long hug)  Can I demand that my view get equal treatment in Texas schools?

Germ Theory?  No more hand washing.

Molecular Bonds? This theory explains why even under such impetus as watching the school board vote your head never actually explodes.

Thermodynamics?  Explains why your blood never actually boils when presented with utter batshittery.

Theory of Radioactivity? Explains Godzilla and Gamora.

And Plate Tectonics does NOT explain why old people click their dentures at parties, no matter what the school board may think.  It is related to fine china dinnerware, as any good scientist will tell you.


Question:  What does an atheist do when they fall to the floor and start "speaking in tongues"?

Answer: Get a CAT scan.

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by: Snooky Ookums @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:10:07 PM CDT

Well, your blood COULD boil

but it will probably be due to the low pressure more so than the batshittery.

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by: Takma'rierah @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:25:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The thing is,

there are problems with most or all scientific theories, but they're hardly as simple as the fundies like to think.  In evolution, for instance, no one (to my layman's knowledge) has ever proposed a viable model for the evolution of non-nucleated cells into nucleated ones.  But that is too subtle a concern for the Christers.  Any reputable scientist acknowledges the shortcomings of theory and works to find solutions to the problems.  Only idiots dismiss science out of hand because it can't explain everything.  But why embrace science when the Bible, which tells us that insects have four legs, explains the universe so perfectly?

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:38:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Actually

it has been speculated but like many things is simply beyond our ability to measure right now. This, however, doesn't threaten the overall fact of evolution; the theory may have a few gaps in it that may or may not be filled eventually, but the fact it describes does not change in the process, instead becoming more understood. But otherwise, yes, you are completely right; they tend to attack things that are easily refuted, and if something isn't yet explainable they automatically think that their claim is therefore true. It baffles me that people can be so passionately against something they know almost nothing about, in this and other things.

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by: Takma'rierah @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:52:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You forgot

MISS Anne Elk's "Theory of the Brontosaurus"!

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by: Louise @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 14:21:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

please . . .

Send these people in a holy rapture to their promised hell.

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by: ggw59 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:34:40 PM CDT

She seems almost embarassed to be attempting to take on the...

...avalanche of rational thought that came up with the astronomical dedecutions that she's attempting, in her tiny, petty, insignificant and contemptible way, to undermine.

Poor kids; imagine having all you learn filtered through the tiny pore of these people's so-called brains.

Just take all their technological devices away from them, why should they benefit from science's fruits? Let them live in mud huts and eat horse dung.

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by: steerpike66 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 13:47:30 PM CDT

I thought we are to stop picking on Texans.

  But with shit like this it is hard to resist.  But I will behave for now.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 15:36:49 PM CDT

There are some very nice Texans

and then there are ones like the TSB.

I do so feel bad for the nice ones...

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by: Louise @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 16:29:28 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I know,

Two very dear friends of mine live 10 miles south of the DFW area off of I-35W.  Her wife is staying with her through transition.  It has been a rough road for both of them.  I keep trying to get them to move to Colorado, but they don't like snow.  I spend hours on the phone with both of them during both good times and bad.  They believe this along with Gov. Perry and his secession BS is going to do the republican party in in Texas.  

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 20:07:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pbbbt! World is under 50 years old because...

...I'm under 50! Everyone here at The Blend knows I'm the center of the universe!!!

/snark ... Hee-hee!

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~~Autumn~~

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.
--Henry David Thoreau

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by: Autumn Sandeen @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 15:42:02 PM CDT

Well, DUH! ;)

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by: Louise @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 16:30:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I didn't...

but I'm (just) young enough and live far enough away not to have been caught in your gravitational pull yet.

____________________________________
Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

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by: tavdy79 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 18:54:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

N.b. if you don't get the graviational pull bit...

it was proved within the last decade that there's a supermassive black hole at the centre of each galaxy, so in theory if there was a significant object at the centre of the universe would be a hypermassive black hole.

____________________________________
Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

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by: tavdy79 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 18:56:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

"I'm under 50"

So, that makes the universe, 39?

:)

Dena

Cisgender. Because "Genetic" (or non) is so 2006.

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by: Denabeth @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 20:19:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

39

The universe just celebrated its 39th birthday for the (~14 billion minus 39)th time.

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by: Lane @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 03:41:58 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Everyone is the center of the universe.

At least they are if the universe is actually infinite because any arbitrary point in an infinite volume could be argued to be the middle.

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by: Narcoleptic_Kitty @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 00:14:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

creationism NO, accuracy YES

I am highly uncomfortable that the Texas School Board has any creationists judging science textbooks.  I have read that Barbara Cargill had been promoting something called the "National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools" (some swill out of North Carolina, I should expect), and the thought of it makes my skin crawl.  Nevertheless, whatever her inner motivations, I agree with the argument which she stated: The textbooks have to last for ten years in the schools and ten years from now, astronomers' estimation of the age of the universe may not agree with their current estimation.  Ten years from now, astronomers' understanding of redshift may be substantially different.  Etc.  

Of course, expecting the same science textbook to serve for ten years is terrible.

Here in Austin, the University of Texas has its share of national and international astronomy conferences and at any one of them, the age of the universe can get knocked out of its current value (and range of estimation error).    

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by: KerryGinn @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 16:51:32 PM CDT

School supplies YES

Schools should be supplied new, updated textbooks annually.  There should be a surplus of paper, pens, notebook computers, globes, microscopes, and so forth at every school.  There should be no more than twelve to a class and every teacher should have an able assistant.

But, unfortunately, we have to spend on our "defense" the money that would assure a top-notch education for every American child - more money than the entire rest of the planet spends on their defense, combined.  You never know when some uppity poor brown people won't give us their natural resources for our corporations to profit from.  Fuck textbooks, we've got depleted uranium shells to buy and bombers to fly!

What kid is going to value an education when she can see plainly with her own two eyes how much our society values it?

"If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson

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by: RadicalRuss @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 19:08:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's not just about religion and textbooks...

Thing is, though, this is a far greater issue than just the religious right and anti-scientific thinking. Lefties have to be willing to look honestly and with a rational approach to things they believe and support which lack scientific validity, too. If we're going to live in a world in which free and open criticism of religious scientific denial we also have to live in a world in which fields such as alternative medicine are open for criticism too.

There's no science or plausibility supporting something like homeopathy (aka magic fantasy water), but I've encountered fundie-like responses when I've tried to dicuss it with people who otherwise were progressive, left-leaning, and critical of religious-based scientific belief sets.

The issue as I see it is the lack of critical thinking and a cultural approval of certain kinds of magical thinking. If we want to live in a world where religious critiques of science are ignored on their irrational foundations, we're going to have to apply that to everything, and be willing to give up our magical, nonscientific ideas too.

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by: aleisha @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 10:26:39 AM CDT

There is a difference

While on one hand, there seems to be a regular litany of examples where a family of Jehovah's Witnesses or Christian Scientists (or even more run-of-the-mill Fundamentalists) end up killing their child by denying them proper medical care on "religious" grounds, I notice a profound lack of similar cases where parents who believe in the efficacy of homeopathy or Reiki let a kid die of spinal meningitis because they think allopathic medicine is the work of the devil.  

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by: JoeMax @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 12:12:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Also...

I don't hear of any astrologers denying the latest research on the age of the universe, or claiming there are really only seven planets, because that's what the original astrological texts said.

You might not be comparing apples and oranges here, but you're at least comparing oranges and tangerinos.

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by: JoeMax @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 12:16:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

left & right can both be stupid

It doesn't matter whether the point is left or right wing. When something is not based on viable physical evidence it is not valid whether homeopathy or a 6000 year old universe. No evidence = stupidity.

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by: bluescat48 @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 13:32:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yep.

You are absolutely right, good call. And yes, eschewing real medicine for "homeopathic" remedies can be just as dangerous as relying on prayer.

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by: Eshto @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 18:34:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Age of the Universe

The poll is somewhat tilted. One one hand 'Sagan said so', on the other 'God said so'. Maybe one should re-phrase as 'all reputable astromers and scientists says so' and the 'Bible is interpreted by one bishop as so'. In either case, I don't really know what God said (the Christian one), only what a number of people think their God said.

It would be useful to re-read the history of religious teachings, like having planets pushed around by angels, the world being flat and so on. I for one am thankful these same people do not have access to torture and the inquisition like churches used to in order to maintain ignorance.

Good Luck Texas, home of the American Taliban.

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by: alph1 @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 15:30:24 PM CDT