Month: July 2013

Wanted: young creation “scientists”

July 26, 2013 • 10:54 am

Sevreal readers pointed me to an essay/ad by the Institute for Creation Research asking Christian youth to go into science. For your delectation: “Wanted: Young creation scientists” by Jake Hebert, Ph.D. (doctorate in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas). Pay special attention to the last two paragraphs.

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If you need a sign that creationists are getting desperate, here’s a good one, for this “ad” literally begs Christian youth to go into science solely to become “stealth creationists” like Jon Wells.

The first paragraph, about the advances of creation science and its superiority over “real” science (i.e., evolutionary biology) is of course a complete lie. But the real motivation for co-opting Christian youth into science is in the last two paragraphs, advising these students “to not draw attention to your creationists beliefs while you are a student.”

But if those beliefs have, as the ICR asserts, trumped modern evolutionary biology, why hide them? Well, it’s because of the “anti-Christian sentiment” in society and the “academic persecution in the secular universities.” What this means is simply that people with creationist beliefs have those beliefs questioned in a good secular university. That’s what a university is for, and it’s not “persecution.” But it’s better to keep your mouth shut until you get that Ph.D., whereupon you can come out as a full-throttle creationist like John Wells and Michael Behe.

This is a form of child abuse in three ways. It take a child’s natural interest in science and perverts it by forcing it into the Procrustean bed of creationism, turning the child into a liar for Jesus. Second, it tries to distort scientific understanding before the “candidate” even gets to the classroom, by urging the the student to hold onto his/her views in the face of counterevidence. Finally, it is unbearably cynical, for it makes the child a tool of the creationsts/fundamentalists—a minion who can fulfill their desire to overthrow real science by subverting it from within. They are producing the equivalent of those little Iraqi children who were urged to run through minefields to detonate unexploded mines.  Suborning a child’s curiosity about the world by enlisting it in the cause of superstition is true child abuse.

h/t: Tom

There were five kittens

July 26, 2013 • 7:59 am

Ladyatheist got the answer right with her diagram

37bkAN2

The litter size was verified in a post at A Merry Meow on Facebook, which also explained why the moggie was x-rayed.

We have an update on this cat. Her name is Grace, and she was given an x-ray because she was over due and the vets wanted to rule out problems. Neither she or the kittens were harmed and she delivered five kittens on 7-11-13.

The original X-ray (here):

Picture 1

h/t: Michael

Reasonable science standards for Kentucky students called “fascistic” and “atheistic”

July 26, 2013 • 5:14 am

There are new science standards in Kentucky, which I believe are the ones outlined on this page.  They mandate understanding of evolution (as a fact! OMG!) and an acceptance that humans are causing global warming. I give a sample of each.

Here are the standards for evolution in high school (grades 9-12), which include good stuff like this:

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And for “Earth and human activity” (including climate change):

Picture 3Of course, Kentucky being where it is, its good citizens (I use that term loosely) aren’t going to let this rest, and, according to Cincinnati.com, a hearing in Frankfort, Kentucky brought out all the yahoos, and it was quite a fracas:

Supporters and critics of Kentucky’s new science education standards clashed over evolution and climate change Tuesday amid a high-stakes debate on overhauling academic content in public schools.

Opponents ridiculed the new standards as “fascist” and “atheistic” and said they promoted thinking that leads to “genocide” and “murder.”

Supporters said the education changes are vital if Kentucky is to keep pace with other states and allow students to prepare for college and careers.

Nearly two dozen parents, teachers, scientists and advocacy groups commented at a state Department of Education hearing on the Next Generation Science Standards — a broad set of guidelines that will revamp content in grades K-12 and help meet requirements from a 2009 law that called for improving education.

On the pro side, a few scientists spoke:

“Students in the commonwealth both need and deserve 21st-century science education grounded in inquiry, rich in content and internationally benchmarked,” said Blaine Ferrell, a representative from the Kentucky Academy of Sciences, a science advocacy group that endorses the standards.

Dave Robinson, a biology professor at Bellarmine University, said neighboring states have been more successful in recruiting biotechnology companies, and Kentucky could get left behind in industrial development if students fail to learn the latest scientific concepts.

But they were outnumbered by outraged parents opposed to the “fascistic and atheistic standards” (how could a good science standard be anything but atheistic, at least in terms of leaving out God?). Read and weep. I’ve put these in bold; they’d be funny if they weren’t so crazy and sad:

But the majority of comments during the two-hour hearing came from critics who questioned the validity of evolution and climate change and railed against the standards as a threat to religious liberty, at times drawing comparisons to Soviet-style communism.

One parent, Valerie O’Rear, said the standards promote an “atheistic world view” and a political agenda that pushes government control.

Matt Singleton, a Baptist minister in Louisville who runs an Internet talk-radio program, called teachings on evolution a lie that has led to drug abuse, suicide and other social afflictions.

“Outsiders are telling public school families that we must follow the rich man’s elitist religion of evolution, that we no longer have what the Kentucky Constitution says is the right to worship almighty God,” Singleton said. “Instead, this fascist method teaches that our children are the property of the state.”

At one point, opponent Dena Stewart-Gore of Louisville also suggested that the standards will marginalize students with religious beliefs, leading to ridicule and physiological harm in the classroom, and create difficulties for students with learning disabilities.“The way socialism works is it takes anybody that doesn’t fit the mold and discards them,” she said, adding that “we are even talking genocide and murder here, folks.”

These statements are beyond belief. Communism? Atheistic world view? Evolution as a cause of suicide and drug abuse? Physiological harm to students? Evolution as a “rich man’s elitist religion”?  And yes, children are property of the state when it comes to how they’re taught science in public schools.  Can you imagine the result if the parents of Kentucky voted on the school currriculum? It would be back to flood geology!

These standards still need to be approved by the school board, and then forwarded to the legislature for approval.  In the meantime, the people of Kentucky should grow up and accept the facts.

h/t: Ant

Wake up! Sandhill cranes calling

July 26, 2013 • 4:27 am

Reader Stephen Barnard, who lives in a wildlife paradise in Idaho, sent not only a nice picture of two sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis), but also a video of the same birds duetting.

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He notes:

These birds have the loudest call of any bird I know of. You can hear them from a mile away.

And, from Wikipedia:

This crane frequently gives a loud trumpeting call that suggests a French-style “r” rolled in the throat, and they can be heard from a long distance. Mated pairs of cranes engage in “unison calling.” The cranes stand close together, calling in a synchronized and complex duet. The female makes two calls for every single call of the male.

Well, I don’t see exactly that behavior, but maybe thery’re not a mated pair. Anyway, one of them is calling three times.

And this:

Sandhill Cranes are quite catholic in diet but are mainly herbivorous. . .

I suppose that means that they eat wafers as well as fish on Friday.

Their range map from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology:

grus_cana_AllAm_map

True facts about owls

July 25, 2013 • 9:01 am

Several readers reported that zefrank1 has posted another great animal video, this one a bit lighter on the weirdness but heavy on great clips and True Facts.  Actually, we (Kelly Williams and I) were asked to provide a photo for this video—the one showing the owl’s eyes visualized through its ear holes—but we were too late to get our picture in.

Regardless, enjoy this 4:21 tour through Owl World.

Quote of the day

July 25, 2013 • 7:05 am

From someone we should all read more of: Robert G. Ingersoll, the Great Agnostic.

This is from The Gods and Other Lectures (1876), and is the best mission statement I know for atheists, both old a new:

Notwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled for the rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates of liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the church with tearing down without building again. The church should by this time know that it is utterly impossible to rob men of their opinions. The history of religious persecution fully establishes the fact that the mind necessarily resists and defies every attempt to control it by violence. The mind necessarily clings to old ideas until prepared for the new. The moment we comprehend the truth, all erroneous ideas are of necessity cast aside.

A surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to render him any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to discourse very learnedly upon the nature and origin of disease; of the curative properties of certain medicines; of the advantages of exercise, air and light, and of the various ways in which health and strength could be restored. These remarks ware so full of good sense, and discovered so much profound thought and accurate knowledge, that the cripple, becoming thoroughly alarmed, cried out, “Do not, I pray you, take away my crutches. They are my only support, and without them I should be miserable indeed!” “I am not going,” said the surgeon, “to take away your crutches. I am going to cure you, and then you will throw the crutches away yourself.”

For the vagaries of the clouds the infidels propose to substitute the realities of earth; for superstition, the splendid demonstrations and achievements of science; and for theological tyranny, the chainless liberty of thought.