THIS is what Bill Nye is rightly concerned about --->

[napkinz]

1. Fourth-Grade Science Quiz From A South Carolina School








http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/sciencetest.asp





2. Florida Christian School Tells Children Atheists Don’t Understand Gravity Because God Did It






http://aattp.org/florida-christian-school-tells-children-atheists-dont-understand-gravity-because-god-did-it/

[Auntie Bush]

1. SHAMEFUL! Hard to believe the stupidy. No wonder USA ranks so low in academics.

These people get counted in our average test scores.

[get the red out]

2. Public schools too

At least this is from a Christian pseudo-school; I've been reading that there are public schools in many places who teach about the same thing.

[kracer20]

3. Thought this had to be a joke...

So I went to Snopes, and wouldn't you know it is TRUE!!!

Seriously wonder how this can happen, makes me sad.

[Chaco Dundee]

20. a joke indeed

The test is not complete.it does not ask whether the earth is flatt or if the sun circles around the earth.

[amuse bouche]

4. Yuk!

We must rise up against the brainwashing

[cinnabonbon]

5. That is embarrassing

and worrying.

[TeeYiYi]

8. It's a christian school...

...so not quite as worrying. The child actually did a good job of regurgitating his brainwash onto paper; and got an A. But definitely sad.

If this were a public school I'd be livid.

TYY

[Lex]

9. Hope this kid overcomes this injection of garbage

into his education.

[WovenGems]

12. Well...

The Playboy magazine under the kids mattress hides a Scientific America magazine.

[cinnabonbon]

11. Yes, but still.

these kids will have to enter the real world eventually. When they meet people from other kinds of schools they're in for a nasty surprise.

...Oh god, the idea of a public school giving tests like this actually made me shiver in dread.

[d_r]

27. no they don't

They can go to a christian college, find a christian spouse, get a job at church and raise another generation.

[truth2power]

38. Yes. These Christian schools can teach whatever nonsense they wish. One problem though

is that a lot of these Christian (charter/voucher) schools take taxpayer money.

Furthermore, they claim to be 'public' when they're taking the money, but 'private' whenever anyone wants to look at their records. THAT is what has to stop.

[TeeYiYi]

42. I would prefer...

...that theology not be taught in ANY schools EVER, outside of 'Sunday School'. (Except as it relates to world history, culture and the concept of myth.)

Any school accepting government money should not be tied to any particular religion and definitely not pushing creationism. (Separation of church and state, and all that... )

Education should be a function of state, highly regulated and equally available to all.

TYY

[truth2power]

43. I don't mind theology being taught in parochial (Catholic) schools. And I guess

private Christian schools would have to be included. But I agree with you, no public funds at all. Unfortunately, there's been a steady chipping away at that for a long time.

[pstokely]

50. what kind of accreditation does this fundy school have?

nt

[cer7711]

6. The Stupid, It Burns

I guess the children will never hear about radiocarbon dating, then?

Or the speed of light? (And what it means when astronomers say a galaxy's light is "red-shifted" or "blue-shifted" in relation to us?)

Or DNA?

Quick: someone rush a dozen copies of Carl Sagan's The Demon-haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Darkness to the child-abusing adult "teachers" at this "school".

[LongTomH]

18. They've got answers for all of those

They've been trying to discredit radiometric dating for years. By the way, radiocarbon dating is only good for about 25,000 years; older rocks and fossils need to be dated using other isotopes.

As for the speed of light, they've been pushing the idea that the speed of light has been decreasing over time. Apparently, they're trying to get an 'answer' to the question: "Well, we see all these stars that are millions of light years away. Doesn't that prove that the universe is billions of years old?"

I ran into a creationist pushing that latter point years ago: My National Space Society chapter had a table at one of our local airshows. This guy kept trying to get us to read a 'scientific paper' on the speed of light. This was real serious sciency stuff, ya know. 'cause it was done by "the guy who took care of the atomic clocks at the Bureau of Standards." You'd be amazed at how many engineers -- who should know better -- will buy into this sort of garbage

I haven't been to the No Answers in Genesis site for a while; but, I think you'll find some interesting resources for refuting creationists on it.

Creationists, like global warming deniers, are a blight. A prime example of what the late Steve Allen called dumbth; referring to the ways people make themselves dumber. Most of these people that you will meet weren't born stupid; they've been dumbed down by their education (or lack of it) or their churches.

My grandmother tried to raise me in one of these fundamentalist churches........I escaped.

[exboyfil]

51. Ham referred to an astronomer who

was a YEC. I have to wonder what he thinks when he looks at the Hubble Deep Field.

[Jamaal510]

7. Even as a life-long Christian,

I say this is inexcusable. Everyone knows that dinosaurs were, in fact, around millions of years ago, and were much larger than a sheep. Somebody had better do something about these kids or they'll be doomed to an adulthood of ignorance and self-embarrassment.

[Logical]

14. Religion does this to people! nt

[Maedhros]

25. It's the dependence upon REVEALED TRUTH rather than upon EVIDENCE AND REASON.

It's not exclusive to religion.

[napkinz]

31. "and therein lies all the difference" ...

[Crunchy Frog]

48. Bowties are cool.

[markpkessinger]

26. That's a pretty broad brush

There are plenty of religious people, of various faiths including Christianity, who are appalled by this. Your statement is just as rooted in ignorance as the 'quiz' featured in the OP.

[Arugula Latte]

40. But the thing is that the main religions on the planet

are all founded on made-up stories and mythologies. So, yeah, some Christians accept that dinosaurs existed millions of years ago and evolution occurs, but they simultaneously believe that a carpenter in ancient Judea who was the only human son of the omnipotent ruler of billions of galaxies died 2,000 years ago and then was resurrected and he's going to return to Earth at some point to save certain humans. So, while you can say many Christians are educated in terms of some science, the very basis of the religion is just ludicrous and not based on facts, reason or evidence. Same with the Mohammed-as-deity/prophet story. Same with the stories associated with Judaism. The same can be said for pretty much every religion and offshoot of a religion on the planet. Religion and the championing of "faith" as such a great and desirable thing in our society perpetrates anti-scientific magical thinking in general.

[markpkessinger]

55. Many religious folks . . .

. . . take a much more mythological/allegorical approach to their tradition than you realize. And please note that I am using the term "myth" here in its most profound, anthropological sense.

[Logical]

41. If you believe anything from a book that is 2000 years old....

Then you must pick and choose when parts are real. In doing so I think critical thinking is not being used.

[markpkessinger]

54. First, it isn't a single "book that is 2,000 years old"

That statement in itself reflects a profound ignorance of how it came to be.

It is a collection of religious writings that span many centuries. Those writings encompass a variety of literary forms, including allegory and poetry, among others. The notion that a single xtandard of interpretation should apply to all parts of it is utter nonsense. What's more, this kind of literalism is itself largely a 19th C. conceit.

[okaawhatever]

16. As to your "Everyone knows that dinosaurs were, in fact, around millions of years ago"

To which I reply, "Were you there?"

You might note that I gave the correct response per the test. Last question on page 2. In addition to being factually inaccurate, I find it equally disturbing to teach children to reply in that manner to someone making a factual claim.

[LiberalLovinLug]

22. Future tea baggers

Where ignorance is worshiped almost as much as Jesus.

[etherealtruth]

30. I went to Catholic schools

We were taught evolution ... no mention of creationism (except in religion classes where we were taught "God created everything" ... and then we moved on)

As Bill Nye stated (pp): There are BILLIONS of Christians in the world that believe in science/ evolution.

[jmowreader]

36. It does say "average"

Take the size of the shitload of turkey-size dinos like Velociraptor (the raptors in the movie were modeled after a different theropod, Deinonychus) and average with the relatively few large animals like Apatosaurus, and you wind up somewhere between sheep and draft horse.

[Vashta Nerada]

10. Schools like that should never be accredited.

[sakabatou]

34. Nor given public money

[Moostache]

13. I think of those teachers and parents as trench-coat wearing molesters...

You know, the common perception of an "atheist"?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. What's really funny is their biggest fear is commies infiltrating the schools....

They think infiltration is THEIR job.

[Rozlee]

17. Yeah, the next time someons says the earth is billions or millions of years old,

you can say, "Were you there?" You can say the same thing if they say it's 6,000 years old. That's the trouble with these asshats. No wonder Republicans were trying to ban critical thinking skills classes here in Texas.

[cer7711]

32. Heh! Great Point!

So obvious--to us.

[RainDog]

39. "Were you there?"

Yes. If matter is constant. Just not in the form of the questioned.

[okaawhatever]

19. More fun from the textbook of Bob Jones homeschooling 4th grade textbook.

"People who accept the Bible believe that God made everything. They call God's description of how things were made the Creation Model. Those who disregard the Bible instead believe that everything got here by itself. They call this description the Evolution Model. Evolutionists try to guess what events caused things like the Moon. Following are three guesses made by evolutionists about how the moon began."

http://www.11points.com/Books/11_Eye-Opening_Highlights_From_a_Creationist_Science_Textbook

[Herself]

21. I have a family member that is a teacher, I've got questions about what my

grandchildren are being taught in pubic schools.

[RainDog]

23. If someone is a creationist, I don't trust (or generally value) their opinions

because I assume their ability to look at evidence is distorted.

I would not want a creationist teaching my child, especially in early grades. I would not want that bad example around my children, because that sort of way of being is exactly in opposition to how I want my children to learn to use their minds.

[okaawhatever]

24. And even more fun from high school textbooks:

“[The Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross. Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and immoral movies. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians.” — United States History for Christian Schools, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2001

Or this revisionist view of the Great Depression, in which we learn it ain’t no thing after all:

“Perhaps the best known work of propaganda to come from the Depression was John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath…Other forms of propaganda included rumors of mortgage foreclosures, mass evictions, and hunger riots and exaggerated statistics representing the number of unemployed and homeless people in America.” — United States History: Heritage of Freedom, 2nd ed., A Beka Book, 1996

4. Africa needs religion: "Africa is a continent with many needs. It is still in need of the gospel…Only about ten percent of Africans can read and write. In some areas the mission schools have been shut down by Communists who have taken over the government."—Old World History and Geography in Christian Perspective, 3rd ed., A Beka Book, 2004

5. Slave masters were nice guys: "A few slave holders were undeniably cruel. Examples of slaves beaten to death were not common, neither were they unknown. The majority of slave holders treated their slaves well."—United States History for Christian Schools, 2nd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 1991

8. SCOTUS enslaved fetuses: "Ignoring 3,500 years of Judeo-Christian civilization, religion, morality, and law, the Burger Court held that an unborn child was not a living person but rather the "property" of the mother (much like slaves were considered property in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford)."—American Government in Christian Perspective, 2nd ed., A Beka Book, 1997

12. Gay people "have no more claims to special rights than child molesters or rapists."—Teacher's Resource Guide to Current Events for Christian Schools, 1998-1999, Bob Jones University Press, 1998

For more excerpts:

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/07/photos-evangelical-curricula-louisiana-tax-dollars

[Lizzie Poppet]

28. Apparently, accreditation certificates come in cereal boxes.

My heat goes out to those poor kids who are getting their heads filled with superstitious bullshit.

[seveneyes]

29. Nobody can be that fucking stupid

This has to be some kind of joke. It would be child abuse to teach such ignorance in America.

[napkinz]

46. not a joke

check the links

[Egalitarian Thug]

56. Yes, they can and they are, and it is. n/t

[Gothmog]

33. All four GOP Lt. Governor candidates are pushing for teaching creationism in Texas

The Lt. Governor's office is actually more powerful in Texas compared to the Governor. Right now, the four candidates for the GOP nomination for Lt. Governor are pushing creationism

[Rex]

35. My first year teaching revealed that 25% of my freshmen class

believed that God caused gravity. I was blown away, but now I see it is a crisis all over the nation.

Anti-intellectuals are winning the war against education!

[Egalitarian Thug]

37. K&R

Child abuse, plain and simple.

[Mrdrboi]

44. That has to be a joke. Nothing so stupid such as that exist.

I hope.....

[alarimer]

45. He is right to be worried

This is not just prevalent in private religious schools, either. They have been trying to teach creationism in public schools as well. Fortunately, the courts do not allow it, but it sometimes sneaks in, in textbooks. Look at the state school board of Texas; they have approval over all the books chosen in Texas and, because they buy so many, over what gets used elsewhere as well. See "The Revisionaries" for the story.

[napkinz]

47. re "They have been trying to teach creationism in public schools as well"

Why Bill Nye the Science Guy is trying to reason with America's creationists

Zack Kopplin
February 4, 2014

Tonight's debate between Nye and the head of the Creation Museum is yet another effort to ensure US children learn science


... That's why Nye agreed to this debate, he wants to raise awareness that "this belief (in creationism) is still among us" and it is a political issue that cannot be ignored. Creationism still "finds its way onto school boards in the United States".

This debate isn't about the world of real science. In the scientific community, the support for the theory of evolution is unquestionable. Instead, this is about alerting the whole population that creationism is still an issue and that teaching it to students is a moral wrong.

My home state of Louisiana has a creationism law, the misnamed and misguided Louisiana Science Education Act. This law allows creationism to be snuck into public school science classrooms through a loophole: teachers can bring in unregulated supplemental materials to "critique" evolution and, according to state Senator Ben Nevers, who sponsored the law, it was meant to allow the "scientific data related to creationism should be discussed when dealing with Darwin's theory".

Tennessee has a law based off Louisiana's that allows creationism to be snuck into the classroom, and each year we see dozens of copycat bills introduced across the country to attack the teaching of evolution. Already in 2014, there have been five bills that promote creationism or attack evolution in four different states (Virginia, Oklahoma, Missouri, and South Dakota). Some bills aren't even as clever as Louisiana's; in South Dakota, 13 legislators signed onto a flagrantly unconstitutional bill to "prohibit schools from preventing the instruction of intelligent design".

Texas also has problems with creationism. ...

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/04/bill-nye-science-guy-evolution-debate-creationists

[Cha]

49. Dealing with Stupid is so

tiresome!

[napkinz]

52. --->

[Cha]

53. lol..

Ouch!

[napkinz]

57. This Missouri Congressman Wants Parents to Be ‘Warned’ if Schools Teach Evolution to Children

Bob Cull
February 15, 2014

A Missouri state Representative has launched another attack on science, introducing a law requiring any school district that teaches evolution to “warn” parents ahead of time so that they may opt their children out of the course before it is taught.

Representative Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville said that this latest attempt to limit the teaching of science in science class is designed to make it more acceptable to opponents than his previous two attempts. ... “What my bill would do is it would allow parents to opt out of natural selection teaching,” Brattin explained. “It would not prohibit the child from going through biology from learning about cell structure, DNA and the building blocks of life.”

He displays his own ignorance of science when he stresses that evolution is a “theory” but that schools teach it as fact. We often use the term “theory” in science when we are actually talking about a fact, usually because all of the mechanics of the facts are not completely understood. We speak of the “theory” of relativity and no one in Japan would ever question that it may not be factual, we also have a “theory” of gravitation but no one would ever question its existence either.

Sadly, this is Missouri and he has many supporters. One woman interviewed by television station KCTV said, “I definitely think parents should be notified if evolution is taught 'cause I believe in creation.”

Another local resident Brandon Eastwood said, “evolution is just, it’s not taught in the Bible so it shouldn’t be taught in class.” He then added, “Even if I had to spend some time in jail I wouldn’t subject my kids to that nonsense.”

read more: http://aattp.org/this-missouri-congressman-wants-parents-to-be-warned-if-schools-teach-evolution-to-children/