Missouri bill aims to ban science from public schools

Show me a half-dozen morons, and I'll show you the sponsor and co-sponsors of House Bill No. 656 introduced in the Missosuri General Assembly this month. Yes, it is yet another "teach the controversy" bill adapted from the Disinformatory Institute's boilerplate. As such, it's pretty much entirely worthless, but this paragraph stands out for not getting it:

3. This section only protects the teaching of scientific information and this section shall not be construed to promote philosophical naturalism or biblical theology, promote natural cause or intelligent cause, promote undirected change or purposeful design, promote atheistic or theistic belief, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or ideas, or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion. Scientific information includes physical evidence and logical inferences based upon evidence. [Emphasis mine--Pupdog]

The true intention of this bill is to allow teachers to introduce Creationist materials and arguments and to encourage students to swallow the lies that some teachers apparently are prepared to feed them (Funny--that didn't work in Dover, Pennsylvania, where science teachers cited an ethical obligation not to lie to students, forcing the Superintendent to read the Cdesign Proponentsists' statement).

These efforts are not designed to promote "critical thinking," even if they are self-labeled as "teach the strengths and weaknesses," "academic freedom." or "Creationism must be science because the guy talking about it was wearing a white lab coat!" It is a sad state of affairs indeed when life imitates The Onion (source of the picture for this post).

Expelled? Execrable!

I'm not going to review the anti-science pseudo-documentary film "Expelled."

For one thing, it's getting a bit late, and the film is being shown in fewer and fewer theaters. It opened in 1,052 theaters on 18 April, and on 8 May it was showing in 656 theaters (data from here).

Furthermore, there have been numerous reviews of Expelled, some by people who have actually seen it. Some reviewers managed to see it despite efforts by the producers to keep them away (i.e., expelled). The reviewers all agreed that Expelled is a lousy film from an artistic viewpoint, but, more importantly, it is exceedingly dishonest. It misrepresents science and scientists, it relates a false history, it ignores facts contrary to its premise, and it insults any viewers capable of rational thought. Expelled is the quintessential manifestation of the phrase, "Lying for Jesus." Judge John E. Jones III made a comment in his opinion in the Kitzmiller &al. v. Dover Area School Board &al. (Document 342, Memorandum Opinion, December 20, 2005, p. 137) that perfectly fits Expelled:

It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy.

The purpose of this post, then, is merely to direct anyone who hasn't been there already to visit Expelled Exposed, hosted by the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). Get the facts. Check the sources.

Creationism museum of deception opens today

Today is the grand opening of Ken Ham's $27 million Creationism Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati. There is something quite fitting about the fact that it borrows heavily from Hollywood--animatronic dinosaurs in dioramas alongside of humans--providing an atmosphere of make-believe for those wishing to live in a world of fantasy.

As reported on Public Radio this morning, scientists say all the dinosaurs died out by about 65 million years ago. Not for Ken Ham, however. Ham doesn't let mere science get in the way. After all, he claims, those evil atheist evolutionists are attacking Christianity, so True Christians(TM) must use their heavy artillery, otherwise known as Lying For Jesus. Creationists must not only deny the science of evolution, they must also deny physics, chemistry, geology, as well as most of the rest of biology.

It's a beautiful world portrayed by the Creation Museum. To get there, just close your eyes tightly and repeat, "I wish the world was like this; I wish the world was like this; I wish..."