Creationism Is For Assholes
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST UNTIL 15:00 BST WEDNESDAY 21 JUNE 2006
I’ve got a press release from the Royal Society which isn’t supposed to go out for another two and a half hours. So, do I think of myself as a professional member of the media or a blogger? In other words, do I not tell anyone about the contents until 3pm or do I ‘blog’ it now? Wait! I almost forgot. I’m a professional blogger. It’s my duty to ignore tradmedia rules.
Still, I won’t publish it all, just the highlights.
“The Royal Society and 66 other national science academies today (21 June 2006) endorsed a statement urging parents and teachers to provide children with the facts about the origins and evolution of life on Earth.
The statement was drafted by members of the Inter Academy Panel on International Issues (IAP)…”.
The statement starts:
“We, the undersigned Academies of Sciences, have learned that in various parts of the world, within science courses taught in certain public systems of education, scientific evidence, data, and testable theories about the origins and evolution of life on Earth are being concealed, denied, or confused with theories not testable by science. We urge decision makers, teachers, and parents to educate all children about the methods and discoveries of science and to foster an understanding of the science of nature. Knowledge of the natural world in which they live empowers people to meet human needs and protect the planet.”
There are 67 signatories to the statement:
Albanian Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina
Australian Academy of Science
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Bangladesh Academy of Sciences
The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazilian Academy of Sciences
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada
Academia Chilena de Ciencias
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Academia Sinica, China, Taiwan
Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences
Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences
Cuban Academy of Sciences
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt
Académie des Sciences, France
Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
The Academy of Athens, Greece
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Indian National Science Academy
Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Royal Irish Academy
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy
Science Council of Japan
Kenya National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic
Latvian Academy of Sciences
Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Academia Mexicana de Ciencias
Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Nigerian Academy of Sciences
Pakistan Academy of Sciences
Palestine Academy for Science and Technology
Academia Nacional de Ciencias del Peru
National Academy of Science and Technology, The Philippines
Polish Academy of Sciences
Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Singapore National Academy of Sciences
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Academy of Science of South Africa
Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain
National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Council of the Swiss Scientific Academies
Academy of Sciences, Republic of Tajikistan
The Caribbean Academy of Sciences
Turkish Academy of Sciences
The Uganda National Academy of Sciences
The Royal Society, UK
US National Academy of Sciences
Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences
Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales de Venezuela
Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences
African Academy of Sciences
That’s a lot of people who think Creationists are idiots.
After 3 PM I will publish the whole press release.
And, just beacuse it bears repeating, there are a lot of Christians who think Creationists are idiots, too.
Surely though if you don’t believe ALL of the Bible, then you can’t believe any of it? If ‘creating the world in 6 days’ is a bit too far fetched, then why isn’t ‘turning water into wine’, ‘feeding the 5000′ or ‘ascending to Heaven body and soul’? They are preposterous if you think about them… And if Jesus *didn’t* do miracles or enter Heaven (a place even the Pope has said isn’t a physical place) *in his body*, then what exactly is there to “believe” in as far as Christianity is concerned?
It’s all silly hocus-pocus nonsense and about as useful as reading the future from chicken entrails.
While this isn’t the place for a long discussion on theology, the Bible isn’t a science text book. The creation story isn’t a literal account of creation, it’s a picture story. It explains what God did, not how he did it. And the majority of Christians, in this country at least, see not contradiction between the Bible creation story and the idea of the Big Bang, evolution and the like as being the tools he used.
I could go into a long screed about Judaic storytelling and narrative techniques and why the concept of Bibilical literalism is problematic, but, like I said, this isn’t really the place, or indeed, the point.
If you want to get rid of this “creatonism in school” nonsense, you throw away a whole load of allies by pointing at it and going “look , all Christians are silly”. You’re confusing two distinct arguments.
I don’t think they are two distinct arguments, they follow on from one another. One has to believe in a religion as Truth before one can go so far into crazyland that even other religious people think they are whacky. “Average” Christians/Muslims/Jews are actually a big part of the problem and the reason why the whackos continue to exist.
It’s like living with an alcoholic- as it stands, you can’t abide their behaviour, but you keep stocking the fridge with beer – because *you* like it. If you were able to take your head out for just one moment, you’d realise that both of your lives would be better if you’d just stop buying the fucking beer. Your neighbours would be really thankful as well.
To use the language of rehab- *you* are enabling them.
Tsk.
Hmmm. Interesting argument – but pretty much just a variant of the “thin end of the wedge” argument. So, working on that logic, anything that can be abused shouldn’t be allowed. Damn, I’d better stop driving, because I’m only enabling those dangerous drivers. No, not sure I buy that as an argument: Some Christians are nuts, therefore Christianity is dangerous. Being a doctor puts you in a position of power over patients. Should we ban doctors because Harold Shipman abused that power?
It’s interesting though, because my original point was only that many Christians don’t believe what these groups are promoting. I’m not promoting Christianity, just pointing out that this is a battle being fought on different fronts.
I’m curious – which is the more important goal to you? Dealing with this creationism nonsense, or promoting atheism? Because, as I read this discussion, one of us is being evangelical, and it sure ain’t me. :)
You aren’t responsible for dangerous drivers simply by being a driver yourself – that’s ridiculous. You *are* however legally responsible if you give people alcohol and then allow them to drive drunk…even if you haven’t had a drink or got into a car yourself. “Enabling” doesn’t mean ‘doing something yourself that other people are unable to handle properly’, it means ‘allowing or even encouraging those people to do the thing that they are unable to handle properly’.
It’s just not good enough for ‘Average’ Christians to say: ‘Well that Jesus really did do all those miracles and one day he’s going to come back and the rivers will flow with blood and the Four Horsemen will show up and if he’s got time he might even do that ‘water into wine’ trick again for us before ALL of the dead Chrsitians rise again from their graves and ascend to Heaven and everyone else goes into the ground to Hell to burn for all eternity… Oh, by the way, that stuff you believe about the universe being created in 6 days? That’s rubbish.’
I’m not promoting ‘atheism’, but I’m all for ‘not being an idiot’.