Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

both the Bible and the Koran seem to be supporting scientific research

your post might be confusing religiosity and scientific ethics - surely you see they're 2 completely distinct concepts?

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
"WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour: And whereof both Houses have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW, THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the TWENTY-SIXTH day of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favourable interpositions of his providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish Constitutions of Government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious Liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

AND ALSO that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine."

To demand that "moral" science must be religious based to be "right thinking" is silly and childish reasoning.

Mnay times, the religious sacred texts are conflicting on the same subjects.

I listed several Biblical writesr whose contributions could be interpretetd as a "green light" for med research, yet, in the same book are constraints that seem to show how th etext it self is internally inconsistent.

Quote:

No, scientific facts are short and simple, like E=mc^2.

Based on the theory of relativity.

I can laud those whose beliefs are unwavering but I cant condone their attempts to stop the research that would benefit millions.

what do you think of F=Ma or F=Mv^2 ? compare them to E=Mc^2. have you ever taken basic mexchanics in HS physics?.

Today, unenlightenment is worn proudly, like a badge.
(By Janice Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 2010)

OTTAWA - The Flat Earth Society really exists. Who knew?

Not just a metaphor for the determinedly dumb, it actually has a website and members. Any day now, I expect one of its adherents to announce a run for the United States presidency.

Well, why not?

The world's most powerful nation is leading the way in the ignorance boom that characterizes our age. A groundswell of wilful obtuseness has spread over the land, clearing the way for people who talk (with straight face) about such causes as creationism or the global conspiracy of climate-change science.

That is the only way to explain the puzzling popularity of at least two contenders for the 2012 race.

Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and host of a Fox News talk show, is an evangelical Christian fundamentalist, and a creationist. As governor, he supported teaching creationism in schools - and not as allegory. Kids should know the world was created in six days, right?

And Sarah (``Drill-baby-drill'') Palin is also keen on creationism in schools - not to mention blurring the line between church and state, according to her new book.

Both think they have a right to occupy the most powerful office on the planet. And amazingly, large numbers of their countrymen are not mortified by the very thought.

What in the world is happening?

When did spectacular unsuitability for a job become a virtue? When did public stupidity cease to be a liability?

This aggressive ignorance is something new. (The aggressiveness, that is, not the ignorance.) A generation ago, most people didn't mount soapboxes and humiliate themselves by spouting nonsense. If they truly believed the moon landing was a hoax, secretly filmed in Hollywood with a script by Arthur C. Clarke, most of them had the sense to keep their mouths shut.

They don't today. Today, unenlightenment is worn proudly, like a badge.

All taxes are evil. So are all impulses toward social welfare and justice - that is, Nanny Statism. Immigrants and rights activists are not to be trusted. And climate change is a leftist fabrication.

In an earlier age, holders of such views would have faced a merciless barrage of hooting and derision. But not now.

The vigorous rise of the resolutely dopey did not actually begin with the creation of Fox News in 1996. The network that gives us Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, smart guys who know how to push stupid buttons, has certainly facilitated the dissemination of benightedness. But it has done so in a complementary manner.

No, the real genesis of our ignorance boom began a few years earlier, when modern communications technology took off like a bullet. Over the two decades since its opening up, the Internet has undergone an evolution that has seen everyday people chatting in online forums, then posting commentaries on news stories, then finally spreading their word via blogs and social networks, including those networks that eschew words for video or that encourage pygmy thoughts in 140 characters. And with the proliferation of smart phones, all these broadcast platforms for Everyman have become not only universally available, but ubiquitous and instant.

The enhanced communication has been wonderful in many ways, linking friends and family, airing diverse views, encouraging healthy public debate. The downside is it has also allowed ignorance to run riot.

Mis- and disinformation, old fears and prejudices, breathtaking knowledge gaps - all share the same stage, all bathe in the same spotlight glow as thoughtful contributions and informed opinions. The Internet is the great democratizer. Everyone has a voice, and every voice can be heard. Including those that should stifle themselves.

Even standard computer programs encourage virtual democratization. Using simple tools to create professional-looking documents and websites, we can wrap the most egregious garbage in fabulous packaging, encouraging the notion that our sow's ears are really silk purses.

Add to these realities the presence of the radio and television talk show - hardly a new phenomenon, but one that has exploded in popularity, thanks to our Internet-led dumbing down - and you have the perfect complement. Shockingly ignorant things are said, repeated and, magnified a millionfold by the populist momentum of cyberspace and sensationalist talk shows, accorded a credibility once unthinkable.

The Flat Earth Society becomes respectable.

The Palins and Huckabees of the world are made possible.

The future looms as a bleak and frightening possibility.

If conservatism is characterized in part by its reverence for the past, maybe it's time for all of us, even liberals, to consider going conservative briefly - just long enough to retrieve some of the values of the good old days

We'd remember a time when thoughtfulness was appreciated. When eloquence and intelligence were qualities we valued in our leaders. When stupid people knew enough to shut up.

And when ignorance was something we did not celebrate.

For example, it was believed--it was discovered--that motion does not affect the weight of a thing--that if you spin a top and weigh it, and then weigh it when it has stopped, it weighs the same. That is the result of an observation. But you cannot weigh something to the infinitesimal number of decimal places, parts in a billion. But we now understand that a spinning top weighs more than a top which is not spinning by a few parts in less than a billion. If the top spins fast enough so that the speed of the edges approaches 186,000 miles a second, the weight increase is appreciable--but not until then. The first experiments were performed with tops that spun at speeds much lower than 186,000 miles a second. It seemed then that the mass of the top spinning and not spinning was exactly the same, and someone made a guess that the mass never changes.

How foolish! What a fool! It is only a guessed law, an extrapolation. Why did he do something so unscientific? There was nothing unscientific about it; it was only uncertain. It would have been unscientific not to guess. It has to be done because the extrapolations are the only things that have any real value. It is only the principle of what you think will happen in a case you have not tried that is worth knowing about. Knowledge is of no real value if all you can tell me is what happened yesterday.

The future looms as a bleak and frightening possibility.

....when morals cease to be a matter of tradition and orthodoxy---that is, of the habits of the community formulated, corrected and elevated by the continuous thought and direction of the Church---and when one man is to elaborate his own, then personality becomes a thing of alarming importance.