The University of Oklahoma joins the ranks of the many universities that are offering a year of Darwin celebrations. I hope the Oklahoma community takes advantage of the opportunity — the calendar has plenty of public lectures and tours and exhibits.
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« The Old Ones are too old for toys | Main | Small forest values »
Hooray for Oklahoma!
Posted on: October 7, 2008 8:21 AM, by PZ Myers
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Comments
Posted by: SC | October 7, 2008 8:30 AM
Happy to see it's been such a good week on the science front for states like Texas and Oklahoma. Hooray for them, and thanks to all those fighting the good fight there!
Posted by: Zeno | October 7, 2008 8:39 AM
Ken Ham has a 2009 calendar he's offering to send to anyone who gives Answers in Genesis a contribution of any amount (two cents?). He says, "The 2009 Calendar itself is a powerful weapon against not only Darwin Day, but all year long, as humanists celebrate throughout 2009." A weapon? Only you can arm your children with the gift of a creationist calendar! Ham says it's full of information about the "fallacies" in evolution. I guess we know what it's really full of. [Link]
Posted by: SC | October 7, 2008 9:03 AM
Zeno:
..to...well, itself, I suppose.
Loved that.
Posted by: co | October 7, 2008 9:13 AM
Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P5qJAI9BIc&feature=related
Posted by: jayh | October 7, 2008 9:28 AM
cool, my son is an OU grad
Posted by: Paul Lundgren | October 7, 2008 9:36 AM
Featured speaker: Sally Kern.
There, we got it out of the way.
Hi, ERV!
Posted by: Scott | October 7, 2008 10:38 AM
Boomer Sooner! We'll keep the good fight up!
Posted by: Trapingus Square | October 7, 2008 10:45 AM
I have lived in Oklahoma for five years (I can feel your pity from here) and I have to say I really hope this helps in any small way just to normalize the idea of nonbelievers. Trust me, it's about as deep into the Bible Belt as you can get here..... Not that many of them COULD read a Bible. I am glad this is happening!
Posted by: Aseem | October 7, 2008 12:49 PM
I am the President of the CFI at OU. We are having Dr. Richard Dawkins over at OU for Darwin Day, and will be working in conjunction with the Darwin Society towards welcoming him here. Can hardly wait! :D Any chance of you coming over too, Dr. Myers? A feast for the otherwise reason-starved Oklahoma.
Posted by: Conor H. | October 7, 2008 1:11 PM
Aseem at #9, I love the state of Oklahoma and have many friends there, so I say this with a certain amount of remorse, but I agree with your "reason starved" comment. Heck, I'll be in Oklahoma in a couple weeks and I don't relish the religious inanity I am sure to find.
Posted by: Skyhook | October 7, 2008 2:15 PM
Aseem at #9, do you have any more information about OU CFI or Dawkins' visit to OU? As an Okie, I would like to help boost the attendance by spreading the word.
Is there any official announcement of the visit?
Posted by: woody, tokin librul | October 7, 2008 2:29 PM
Between 1994 and 2000 I spent 30 years at the University of Oklahoma.
I did not enjoy it much.
Never in all my travels did I ever encounter so many, viciously narrow-minded, mean-spirited, xenophobic retards as in Oklahoma. Norman, where OU is located, is right next door to Moore, home of Toby Keith, and is not far from the home of Garth Brooks (Yukon, OK).
My job took me to schools all over the state, and the levels of narrow-mindedness, mean-spiritedness, and xenophobia are constant...
OU will assuredly catch a ration of shit in the Legislature for their temerity in dedicating the school to celebrate such an occasion as Darwin's bi-centennial.
Posted by: Joshu | October 7, 2008 4:14 PM
Well, this is interesting, to say the least...
While I was attempting to find out what, if any, universities nearby (I'm at Mohawk Valley Community College in New York) might be doing something similar to Oklahoma's Darwin celebrations, and I happened to stumble upon this.
http://www.darwindayinamerica.com/
Apparently, the Discovery "Institute" has decided to put out a book on how evolution (and science in general) apparently seeks to tear the country down and refashion it in some Borg-like (or Replicator-like, for the Stargate fans) form. From the website:
"Darwin Day in America tells the disturbing story of scientific expertise run amuck, exposing how an ideological interpretation of Darwinian biology and reductionist science have been used to degrade American culture over the past century through their impact on criminal justice, welfare, business, education, and bioethics... Politics and culture were dehumanized as scientific experts in thrall to the assumptions of philosophical materialism began treating human beings as little more than animals or machines. In criminal justice, these experts denied the existence of free will and proposed replacing punishment with invasive "cures" such as the lobotomy. In welfare, they proposed eliminating the poor by sterilizing those deemed biologically unfit. In business, they urged the selection of workers based on racist theories of human evolution and the development of advertising methods to more effectively manipulate consumer behavior. In sex education, they advocated creating a new sexual morality based on "normal mammalian behavior" without regard to longstanding ethical and religious imperatives."
Apparently, they still see fit to distort, misrepresent, or outright lie in an attempt to paint science with the brush of the dehumanizing villain- or, as they put it, "scientistic ideology".
(As a side note, does anyone know of any events in New York that would be in the same vein as those mentioned at Oklahoma?)
Posted by: Skeeve | October 7, 2008 6:36 PM
Too bad Dawkins is speaking at OU. I've lived in Oklahoma since '89, OU and it's inbred rival OSU both turn my stomach every time I hear them mentioned. This state has nothing, and I mean nothing, except for OU and to a lesser degree OSU. The only thing worse than a fanatic of either of these two schools are the multitude of religious idiots that call this state home.
/rant
Posted by: wildlifer | October 7, 2008 8:23 PM
@#9
Go Pokes ...:-)
Hopefully O-State will follow suit.
Posted by: wildlifer | October 7, 2008 8:27 PM
@14
Nationally, Oklahoma is second in biodiversity to Texas, only because we do not have a coastline.
You need to get out more.
Posted by: MikeyM | October 8, 2008 12:39 AM
Slightly off-topic: my daughter tells me that on her way into her physical anthro class (text: Boyd & Silk's How Humans Evolved) today at UC Davis, she and her classmates were handed Bibles by a group of old men. Quoting:
yes! ha. they tricked me. those old men were dedicated, they were in suits standing on Chem 194 steps at 9 in the AM!
Posted by: Aseem | October 8, 2008 1:21 AM
@Skyhook @ #11
Email me at aseem@ou.edu and I shall mail you more about Dawkins' visit as more details follow.
Posted by: AA | October 9, 2008 12:05 AM
Hooray for OU!
I feel everyone's pain as far as the religious nutters are concerned. However, I have to disagree that the state has "nothing" other than OU and OSU. There are narrow-minded folks out there, but there is also fun & science & art & music if you know where to look. :)
Posted by: ignatov | October 9, 2008 12:14 AM
"I have to disagree that [Oklahoma] has "nothing" other than OU and OSU...there is also fun & science & art & music if you know where to look."
Dallas.