In an earlier posting I commented on how pleased I was that some of John Tory's supporters realized that teaching creationism is wrong [see John Tory Tries to Clarify]. I'm still pleased with the majority of conservative commentators but, naturally, there are some who still don't get it.
One of them is Matthew at ThePolitic.com, a widely read Canadian political blog. Mathew reveals that some Canadians are IDiots [Warren Kinsella’s Documentary Sequel]. Matthew really crams his foot in his mouth all the way up to his kneecap but I won't bore you with all the details. Instead, let me just mention one or two of the most obvious examples of stupidity.
5) Creation science is a real scientific theory — if you want to challenge it, please don’t insult us by just offering a fancy and long-winded “nuh-huh”. I find it funny that Wikipedia attempts this too, but I’ve seen this movie before; it’s called the Consensus on Climate Change (and we all know how that one will end!).Where do these IDiots come up with stuff like this? Creation science is not a real scientific theory by any stretch of the imagination. If Matthew is talking about Biblical Creationism then that fairytale has been disproved by science. If he's talking about any other version of "Creation science" than it's either; (a) also disproved, or (b) vacuous.
The fact that Matthew is so confused about this means that it's extremely important that we teach evolution in school. It's pretty clear that Matthew skipped all the science classes when he was in school. Probably because they required more than 6th grade mathematics.
6) Someone still has to address for me how teaching an alternative view on the origin of species will forever ruin students’ lives and deny them jobs, houses and weekends up at the cottage. They’re not your kids so what do you care what they learn if it doesn’t affect you?Look at it this way Matthew. We have basically two choices in the classroom. We can teach children things that are correct or we can teach them lies. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's better to teach the truth. It makes for better citizens in the long run.
I actually think we should address Creationism in school. Traditionally we use astrology as the example of something that masquerades as science. It's a way of teaching what science really is and it provides a good lesson on how to think. Creationism would be another good example. We should make sure that all children learn why Creationism is not science.
9) Ala the Flintstones comment, blindly believing in evolution is like believing Star Trek is a documentary about the future. Reality is though that we’re not eliminating all wars, humanity isn’t evolving past its character flaws and evil tendencies and no matter how much some in our society might like it, we’re not going to grow beyond religious faith. Even the television series outlived this optimistic faith in the human will by DS9. Evolution might be wonderful science fiction with things spontaneously mutating everywhere, but we shouldn’t be confusing it with a scientific principle. Maybe we should also be keeping it in it’s proper place too — media class!No comment, other than to point out there's a reason why we call them IDiots.
[Photo Credit: The photograph shows a typical Boston Red Sox fan celebrating something that got them all excited (Red Sox Connection). (I think their team just lost another game against Toronto.)]
[Hat Tip: Canadian Cynic]
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