Double Standard

[Zoombie]

I am sure that I'm not the first person to say this, but I feel that I must parrot other people indirectly because I...feel like it!

Oh, and if this is really old news, feel free to throw rotten fruit at me, I've brought a baggie with some tomatoes....

So, I don't normally post in the Atheist board cause, oddly enough, I dick around in the Christian board to see how they think. Or at least, how they type.

Other people's mindsets fascinate me...mostly cause I want to see how a bag of goo and gray bits and advanced nuro-chemistry can create so many different people. The brain is pretty miraculous, if you think about it (cue canned laughter)

So, seriously now, I recently learned about something that, well, got me jiggered. I'll explain why in a short while.

The "thing" was the news of these clowns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUeoem1gR3s). For those of you who don't want to watch the video: They are two fellas who go around and have "BC" tours of Natural History museums and what not. BC stands for "biblically correct"

So...yeah. I quote:

Clown: How do scientists tell if the sedimentary layer is old?
Kids (prompted by clown): It has fossils.
Clown: And how can they tell the fossils are old?
Kids: Becuase it's in the sedimentary layer!
Clown: And that, kids, is what we call
All together: Circular reasoning!

Now, going beyond the horrible horrible horrible hypocrisy of telling scientists that they are using circular reasoning, but they had the gall to say this IN FRONT of the CARBON DATING EXHIBIT!

Let me underline that.

the gall to say this IN FRONT of the CARBON DATING EXHIBIT

Some people might not understand why this offends me. Let me illustrate it with a scene:

Okay, it's a nice day at church. Then two clowns come in running an SC tour. That's a Scientifically correct tour, just so you know. They walk into a Sunday school class that is going over the creation of the world

Clown: Now, see, the world was actually made over a very long period, not six days.
Teacher <flustered>: But, I-
Clown: See, over thousands and thousands of years, the world slowly coalesced into a ball of molten rock.
Teacher: That's not how-
Clown: And then it cooled down into a hard hunk of rock. Now, slowly, over time-
Teacher: No, no...it says in this Bible that the world was made in six days.
Clown: And how do you know the bible is right? Kids?
Kids: <prompted by clown>: Because it's holy
Clown: And how do you know the bible is holy?
Kids: Because it says it is.
Clown: Now...all together. What is that?
All together: Circular logic!

People would be really offended by this. So I have a hard time understanding why other people have such a hard time understanding why I am so offended over the REAL Clowns! Anyone else think this? Am I just taking crazy pills here!?

[Shweta]

Oh, it's offensive. In its staggering ignorance as much as in its purpose.
It just doesn't surprise me.
I do feel obliged to defend religions this far: most religious people aren't like this :)

[Zoombie]

This is true. Most religious people are quite nice and informed.

And most atheists that I've met are perfectly happy to leave religion in the church...but the ones that aren't are really annoying and need to be yelled at, just as these guys need to be yelled at.

I sent them a long e-mail...but they didn't respond.

[slcboston]

Hmm.. I'd respond sensibly, but those weird Pokeman/Furby hybrids in Shweta's avatar is commanding me to worship them. :)

[Shweta]

Hmm.. I'd respond sensibly, but those weird Pokeman/Furby hybrids in Shweta's avatar is commanding me to worship them. :)

Did they tell you where my Paypal button is, or do I need to retrain them?

[Ruv Draba]

This sort of activity damages intelligent enquiry and hence the intellects of the children. Fitting the facts to predefined answers and discarding those that don't fit is an appalling habit to teach kids. Such people could never be jurors or managers or anyone who uses evidence to work on. This practice fits no reasonable definition of education. It's beyond offensive.

But it threatens the faith of these kids too because it grounds their faith in ignorance rather than information. It props up their certitude with transparent deceit. Some of those kids won't stay ignorant all their lives. They'll see past the rhetoric, and what will happen to their faith then?

Plenty, plenty of Christians are intelligent, well-educated people. But this education program risks making these kids neither intelligent nor Christian.

[Lyra Jean]

The video is not up anymore. :(

I don't believe in intelligent design but I don't believe in evolution either. I'm also a christian that *gasp* doesn't believe in the rapture. You wouldn't know the flak I get from some people but this is not the christian so back to the task at hand.

I believe by the description given that this is messed up and will only hurt the children in the long run.

[StephanieFox]

Oh, this is too easy:

Clown: How do we know the Bible is the Truth?
Kids: Because God wrote the Bible!
Clown: And how do we know God wrote the Bible?
Kids: It says so in the Bible!
Clown: And what do we call that?
Kids: Circular logic!

[SLake]

This thread made me chuckle, thanks Zoombie for starting it. And the comment about worshipping the avatar, :) and the witty reply about paypal button, lol.

My words of wisdom, hehe, well people around here are so poor that religion, and politics too mean little or nothing to them except for births, deaths and sometimes marriages, if they can afford the church. 6 days, 6 million, 7 *shrug -- Mormons come, JW's too (I can't be bothered looking up Jehovah - wooo but I think I spelt it correctly :D). Not to say people here don't believe in a God, they hardly believe in politics -- just noises and pictures. Like begging letters from charities who take but seldom give.

Here people look for advantage and if the Ms, JWs and others offer advantage, they take it. If not, then bye, bye. Not necessarily financial advantage, just advantage and for those needy, advantage has many forms.

Zoombie, I'm pleased your clowns are in a different reality and that's the crux. The clowns in this place tell non pc jokes and avoid 'the man / woman.' If God is told in a good joke there's laughter, the devil the same, a joke's a joke, all else is a foible of intellectual frivolity. So I guess I chuckled when slcboston mentioned the avatar and Shweta replied with paypal.

Fun and laughter, I like it. ;)