Pharyngula

Posted by: stan.ferguson | December 22, 2009 5:57 PM

“What kind of monster parents teach their children that they’re descended from rodents and reptiles?”

– Robert Bowie Johnson Jr., writing in his book Sowing Atheism: The National Academy of Sciences’ Sinister Scheme to Teach Our Children They’re Descended from Reptiles, which Texas State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy heartily endorsed. TFN Insider, March 18, 2009

What kind of monster parents teach their children that there's a jealous, vindictive sky-man who needs your attention or will make you burn for an eternity?

I say that with tongue-in-cheek of course. My parents raised me as a liberal Christian and were far from monsters.

Fortunately, I gave God the pink slip.

Posted by: redmjoel | December 22, 2009 6:07 PM

I feel more ashamed to live in Texas every time I see one of these things. I promise that there are rational people in this state. They are, however, a minority.

Posted by: Legion | December 22, 2009 6:11 PM

Tim Smith:

“Evolution has been jammed down our throats our whole lives. I’m glad of the opportunity to look at the other side of the coin.”

Exactly. America's children need to know about Unkulunkulu,the Zulu creator god, and about how he ascended from the reeds and created the mountains and the trees and...

What? Oh.

We guess Smith must have been talking about the other side of the coin.

Posted by: NixNoctua | December 22, 2009 6:17 PM

“What do these apostate morons celebrate at their Sunday services, the lies about humanity’s origins told by Moses, Jesus, and Paul?”

Um...what?

Posted by: TampaDale | December 22, 2009 6:22 PM

It has gotten almost fun to watch these cretins continue to dig themselves into deeper and deeper holes of fantasy and silliness. I think most of the people who respond to polls and say they believe in the biblical accounts of creation deep down really don't have that much conviction about those beliefs. They just "want" to beleive it even though they realize the evidence is against them. It is bozos like these that are probably doing more to make the more mainstream believers reevaluate what they really believe. Maybe the clowns quoted here are doing more good to the side of reason and rationality then any arguements we can make.

Posted by: Dania | December 22, 2009 6:29 PM

While state legislatures haggle over the words science, theory, and weaknesses, American schoolchildren continue to rank poorly in science education among the nations of the world.

I wonder why that is...

Pouring more money into the status quo of evolution-based science education isn’t the answer. Teaching the truth is.

Oh, but of course! Schoolchildren who rank better in science education are from nations where creationism is taught in the science class! Obviously.

*headdesk*

Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe | December 22, 2009 6:34 PM

“While state legislatures haggle over the words science, theory, and weaknesses, American schoolchildren continue to rank poorly in science education among the nations of the world. Pouring more money into the status quo of evolution-based science education isn’t the answer. Teaching the truth is.”

Damn, no way my irony meter is making it through all that.

Posted by: Chuck | December 22, 2009 6:40 PM

Well, that's refreshingly honest. Now if we can just get people to realize being a religious fanatic is NOT a good thing.

Chuck
http://www.irreligiosophy.com

Posted by: seanpatgallagher.myopenid.com | December 22, 2009 6:51 PM

Let them know what killed you

Instead of the 10 Commandments, we should etch these quotes onto stone tablets and place them outside the state capital.

When future civilizations excavate the site, they'll know why ours went extinct.

-S

Posted by: hyoid | December 22, 2009 7:25 PM

@#6,
Ohhh! That's what made snakes to talk?!! Thanks.

Posted by: Bunkie | December 22, 2009 7:32 PM

All snakes could talk back in the good ole days during creation. People were almost akin to angels. The problem is that it's impossible for a mutation to add information, so we're all a lot stupider now.

Posted by: Larry | December 22, 2009 7:38 PM

Yikes, that is a whole Texas-sized lot of stupid right there.

Posted by: MetzO'Magic | December 22, 2009 7:42 PM

And hey, badgersdaughter, keep em' comin'. It's nice to have more than one Cuttlefish in the same pond. It's a big pond.

Posted by: badgersdaughter | December 22, 2009 7:45 PM

(flutters eyelashes) Oh, no, not in the same breath. He's my inspiration.

And since I'm a Texas resident, I had more motive than most to mock the Board...

Posted by: Rorschach | December 22, 2009 7:58 PM

It must have slipped those people's minds that the Christian creation myth is just a fucking Bronze Age fairy tale...

I hear it's actually an Iron Age fairy tale....:-)

Posted by: Tronzu | December 22, 2009 8:48 PM

This is extremely embarrassing for US, how come people there don't pay any attention on who gets on these education boards?

Posted by: badgersdaughter | December 22, 2009 9:29 PM

I live in Houston. Yeah, it's embarrassing as hell, actually. There's a lot of bad here; there's a lot of good here. But damn, when it came time to elect the school board members, I would rather have written in Mr. Magoo, Darth Vader, Severus Snape... at least that last character was a qualified teacher.

But ignorance is bliss around here. The oil cowboys, and those who aspire to be them or to be like them, pretend it is a sign of superiority. I never could break my old boss of saying "Sen Flippy" for the road our office building was on (it's San Felipe, for Pete's sake). He got mad one afternoon and asked me if I really, honestly expected him to talk like he just swam over the border. Jerk.

Posted by: otrame | December 22, 2009 10:27 PM

Shout out to TFN, though. They did a terrific job publicizing the debate and outing McLeroy for the porphyritic granitoid that he is. There are some "sanies" down here.

Yes, there are. Even the not-really-sane types couldn't deal with McLeroy once TFN outed some of his more ridiculous nonsense. BTW one of the more gretendous fundies on the board is not running for re-election. Her name escapes me (I may have repressed it), but I do know she thought everyone should home school their kids and said so publicly.

Yet, in a way I don't mind them as much as I do the so-called Democrat from San Antonio who tried to waffle his way through the whole process, apparently in an effort not to offend any potential voters. He failed. I will be voting for him next time only if the only other candidate is Ken Hamm.

Posted by: Yaezakura | December 22, 2009 10:55 PM

Well, as a regular visitor to FSTDT myself, the quotes don't really surprise me. I see this stuff on a daily basis. Thanks for the plug though, PZ. ^_^

Posted by: Yubal | December 22, 2009 11:15 PM

@ tsg

Aehm...that hardly makes sense to me !?

If you don't know calculus your kids will never learn it. And even if you could, maybe you can't explain it as well as the person who does explain calculus every day in order to make a living.

Unless you can also provide your kids a job in your own family business later on, homeschooling seems kind of harsh on your offspring's future to me.

Posted by: otrame | December 22, 2009 11:38 PM

Frankly, with occasional exceptions, I think it does approach child abuse. Many home schooled kids are reasonably well-educated (though often with gaping holes in the science curriculum), I must say. Not everyone who home schools is a religious nut case. Many want to protect their kids from what they perceive as the ills of public or even private schools.

The trouble is that more education goes on in schools than the official curriculum. How can a home schooled kid figure out how to handle the fact that, as J. R. (Bob) Dobbs so rightly noted, as dumb as the average person is, half of them are even dumber than that? And that most definitely includes teachers and goes double for school administrators. Where else can you learn to deal with bureaucratic bullshit? Where else can you learn not to blow a gasket when people are so concerned about appearances and any semblance to an actual function is hounded out and beaten to death with sticks? How else will they learn that people who demand respect don't deserve it? Where will they get experience with people who talk about how much they "care" about kids but who actually actively despise them? How else will they notice that the ones who get things done, who actually do care, and who are very, very good at their jobs are mistreated and run over by hacks?

Where, in short (I know, too late...) will they learn how to get along in society? Schools are just like real life, except with worse food. We all have to learn to function in these settings and schools are excellent training grounds.

Posted by: atheismisdead | December 23, 2009 12:55 AM

lttl sh*t pz thnks h cn dbnk Gd..

y r gng t b trtrd nd mrdrd wtht mrcy...

Lks lk yr wbst s ndr ttck frm sprntrl frcs…

http://dyn.pltc.cm/mmbrs/frms/thrd.cfm?ctd=2&sbctd=7&thrdd=3449994

y rlly nd t dd cmmnt mdrtn t yr blsphmy…

Posted by: Foggg | December 23, 2009 2:19 AM

Texas. [/spit]

"Texas students are going to know a great deal about their own state, but they are going to know very little about the world and they are going to leave high school with a very myopic view of the history of humankind."
-- UCLA prof. Gary Nash, of the National Center for History in Schools, on
proposed changes to Texas' social studies curriculum.

Posted by: destlund | December 23, 2009 3:41 AM

evolustion. it's nearly 3AM. forgive me. clearly it's past my bedtime.

Posted by: Anubis Bloodsin the third | December 23, 2009 5:22 AM

# 43

"little sh*t pz thinks he can debunk God.."

Nah! not just PZ, we can all debunk God and do so with pride and regularity, tis indeed your god that is a little sh*t that requires a vigorous flushing from the system like a sticky and smelly turd by any other name!
It is just as easy to dismiss wishful and fraudulent thinking as figment...and that is all your delusion is!

Is that blasphemous and debunking sufficient to indicate to you that your dog has no influence here?

"you are going to be tortured and murdered without mercy..."

Aww!...how cute? xian love and its finest how very kind.

'Looks like your website is under attack from supernatural forces…'

Or rather mundane xian trolls with very little brain and no 'real' point to contribute.

"Atheism is dead"

You wish, but it is not so, in fact atheism is becoming more the norm although it still has a fair way to travel.
There seem to be so many issues with IQ in society that it will take a while to eradicate supernatural stupidity, but it will happen, theism is dying a lingering death and is jerking reactionary and bitter twitches in its death throes!

"you really need to add comment moderation to your blasphemy…"

Now that is a point then we would not have to be bored by righteous prigs that are fairy story lovers at an inordinate.. and to be quite honest...an inappropriate age!

Posted by: mattheath | December 23, 2009 5:53 AM

@43: Of course PZ can't debunk God. People have been trying since ancient Greece and yet he remains bunk.

Posted by: B166ER | December 23, 2009 11:31 AM

The level of ignorance and hatred of knowledge on display is awful, yet I'm really not surprised that some crazy Xtian fundies understand so little about evolution. I feel sad for them though, since most were mentally tortured so badly as children, that even reading about evolution or anything 'heretical' can create a fear of an eternity of unbelievable torment from their ever loving deity.

And I see that 'atheismisdead' is back, and the 'spiritual forces' that he was warning us about are still attacking his vowels. The 'spiritual forces' aren't attacking anything else here though, so I guess whatever spirit it may be, it hates stupidity as much as we do!

No Gods, No Masters
Cameron

Posted by: creating trons | December 23, 2009 11:36 AM

my not too bright youngest sister lives in texas and I found out last thanksgiving ago that she is homeschooling her 2 pre-teen kids. she was talking about how the parents meet at church and get their teaching material. she was glowing about how much she was learning in the process.

she's learning elementary level info...? fuck me.

I didn't know what to say. my brother just rolled his eyes.

Posted by: Antiochus Epiphanes | December 24, 2009 9:28 AM

@otrame, #35. Her name is Cynthia Noland Dunbar, and she makes Sarah Palin sound like Hillary Clinton. She wrote a book entitled "One Nation Under God" in which she rails against the "tyranny" of public education. She is a true wack-a-loon, and as far as I know is still on the SBOE. McLeroy has been demoted from the chair position, but is also still a member.

But you say "I don't live in Texas. Why should I care?" The Texas SBOE makes decisions on textbook adoption, and ALL of the "Independent" school districts use the same text. Because TX is the second most populous state, textbook publishers cater to TX SBOE curriculum and standards. In effect, TX standards become national textbook standards. How you like them apples?

I guess if you don't live in the US, you have nothing to worry about. Until, of course, we elect an idiot to the Presidency and he/she reckons that your nation is not right with God. In which case you are fucked.