coming soon to a museum near you...

[dicemanx]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd_ssolGNKc

The ignorance is staggering - this is another low in the ever present struggle against sense and reason.

Thoughts?

[ELD]

Evolution is just a theory, and not a great one at that.  That said, these people are certainly not looking to find truth.  I'm generally unconcerned with what other people think about such things, as people are overwhelmingly ignorant on both sides of the "debate."  I've had too many conversations with well educated people who believe we come from apes to believe I'll be getting something out of discussing the topic.  I am certain the intarweb wouldn't make the discussion any more productive. 

Anyone who thinks they know about unprovable matters with infallible certainty should think about how absurd that is. 

[Wagner]

That is a topic that can very quickly degenerate and be locked.

Like ELD said, both Evolution and Creation theories are incomplete answers to a possibly unresolvable question that will intrigue mankind forever, where do we come from. Both have proofs of their own (dinosaur bones, scientific research VS the bible), it all comes down to which side of the story you want to believe. Since most people are unwanting to concede ground on their beliefs, as you said ELD, it is rather futile to try to force or convince someone they are wrong since their is no exact proof that both sides will agree on and there probably never will be since they operate on so different logics (God VS Nature).

That being said, I believe that what they are doing to those home school kids is rather brilliant. Even though they are home-schooled, they will eventually be exposed to the evolutionist thinking and will have questions. In the museum, they are simply doing a preemptive attempt to address the flaws of Creationism in a controlled environment (professionals) before the child discovers them on it's own and tries to understand them.

Even though they don't have all the answers (like said in the video) they try to cover as much ground as possible to strengthen the beliefs on the children and to avoid eventual questioning that could result in a loss of faith.

Then again, I think that walking right into the lion's den (science being the lion, rawr) is pretty ballsy, even with prepared arguments and proofs of their beliefs.

Also kudos for the rectory for allowing them to do so.

[dicemanx]

Humans didn't come from apes; we are apes. Perhaps you mean that we don't share ancestry with the other apes.

And evolution is not a theory in the colloquial sense, which is an error often made by those believing in this false dichotomy of evolution vs creation. There is in fact a staggering amount of evidence in support of evolution as an explanation for the diversity of life from many disciplines which all reinforce each other, such as paleontology, geology, comparative anatomy, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics. While nothing is for certain, the physical evidence currently does not support any alternate theory; the best that the "opposition" can muster are claims of irreducible complexity (which is a conclusion, not evidence) and nitpicking of evolutionary theory while moving the goalposts after the nitpicks are addressed. 

We might as well claim that the theory of the atom is "just a theory" as well while we're at it... 

[EnialisLiadon]

This is quite the can of worms--I am interested to see how this is handled by posters.  That said, the video does indeed make me rage.  I have no problem with differing opinions (I myself am a Deist who thinks God and science can coexist), but I do get very irritated when others dismiss opposing viewpoints completely without thinking that people have their own reasons for believing what they do.  I may disagree with a lot of my friends on religious matters, but I like to think of myself as an open and understanding person, and I expect others to act similarly.

Young-Earth Creationism and Geocentrism blow my mind, though.  This is 2008, people; get with it.

[dicemanx]

I do get very irritated when others dismiss opposing viewpoints completely without thinking that people have their own reasons for believing what they do.

You mean something along these lines?

"...I want to teach you something very special this morning, and I want you to remember this boys and girls, something you will never forget.
Has any human being always been there, yes or no?
NO
Has any scientist always been there, there, yes or no?
NO
Who's the only one who's always been there?
GOD
Who knows everything?
GOD
So, in a big loud voice, who should you always trust first, God or the scientists?
GOD
God, and I want you to remember that."

- Ken Ham, ID proponent, educating the youth
"God said it, I believe it, that settles it!"

[LordHomerCat]

Do other countries have this same problem we face in the US?  Are there a lot of Creationists in Canada or Germany or France or Japan?  Every time I see something like this, it just boggles my mind that people actually believe this stuff.  Is this an isolated thing, in the US, or do countries all over the world have to deal with people trying to teach 'alternate' theories in schools and things like that?  Things like this make me either want to move or become a science teacher and ignore the requests to teach about things which have no place in scientific discourse.

[MadManiac21]

Organized religion is the biggest crock of shit beyond setting a basic system of "societal morals".

Seriously, how is most of our country incompetent enough to really believe in god? Much less creationist theories?

Gotta love this brainwashing. When can we start firebombing these people?

Blah.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

Ugh...I used to LOVE going to the Denver Museum of Natural History, I can't believe this is happening. I'm all for religion and what not, but FUCK, does it have to ruin everything? I want to go down there now and slap the sense into those people giving the tour...

[The Atog Lord]

This thread is locked. It has already started to degenerate into an ugly mess.

Organized religion is the biggest crock of shit beyond setting a basic system of "societal morals".

Seriously, how is most of our country incompetent enough to really believe in god? Much less creationist theories?

Gotta love this brainwashing. When can we start firebombing these people?

This is why we can't have these sorts of discussions on here. Really? Firebombing people because they have a particular set of beliefs about how the world was created? Who is being tolerant? And who is being ignorant? Verbal warning to MadManiac21 for blatant flaming and calling for the mass destruction of innocent people.

[Matt]

Well I see Rich beat me to it. MAdManiac21, responses like yours are why we can't have nice things.

I'm going to use my privilege of posting in a locked thread, however, to say this: 'intelligent design' creationism isn't EVEN a theory. There are some open questions about certain ways that evolution occurs, but there is no serious question as to WHETHER it occurs. Calls to 'teach the controversy' or to 'hear both sides' are akin to having a debate about whether the planet is round or if it's turtles all the way down.