posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_dala at 10:34am on 25/10/2005
the_dala at 10:34am on 25/10/2005I'm so glad I got Dr. King for Archaeology and Prehistory. Our assignment for Thursday is to bring in a ghost story. I'm going to try to track down the one about the crazy child-murdering aristocrat family in New Orleans, which is hands-down the best ghost story I have ever heard.
We're in the second half of the class now, and all through the discussion on early human development I kept sneaking glances at Laura to see if I could detect any adverse reactions. Okay, so I don't know for certain that she's a Young Earth creationist (as Vanessa is, and how's that for a conversation I never ever want to have), but supposing she is -- how does one deal with a situation like that? Do you take notes for the exam, all the while going in the back of your head "I don't believe this, I don't believe this"? Are you resentful that you have to learn this material?
I guess my curiosity was really sparked by the discussion we had in Museum Studies about defending evolution against intelligent designers/creationists. I kind of always relegated that belief to the crazy fringes of society, but some of the numbers Dr. Sullivan gave us were truly astonishing. Something like 45% of Americans report believing in the Young Earth concept (I refuse to call it a theory, because that implies it's a scientific theory and it is not). Statistics in general are questionable, but this one came from a NY Times article, which seems fairly reliable to me. I wrote one of my MS midterm essays on the evolution question, and I have to say that I was very, er, firm. This is not something on which I am willing to give any ground or concede a tenth of a point. You can believe whatever the fuck you want to believe about the origin of life, but your religion does not deserve support from institutions whose aim is to present science as it is currently understood, and it most certainly does not belong in my hypothetical child's science classroom. The argument that intelligent design doesn't necessarily denote a Christian background is moot; it can't be tested, it's not a scientific theory, it is not a component of scientific education in the public school system. Fuck you, George W. Bush, former governor of the state with one of the worst public education records in the country, and fuck your stupid monkey face.
Ahem. Anyone want a soapbox?
We're in the second half of the class now, and all through the discussion on early human development I kept sneaking glances at Laura to see if I could detect any adverse reactions. Okay, so I don't know for certain that she's a Young Earth creationist (as Vanessa is, and how's that for a conversation I never ever want to have), but supposing she is -- how does one deal with a situation like that? Do you take notes for the exam, all the while going in the back of your head "I don't believe this, I don't believe this"? Are you resentful that you have to learn this material?
I guess my curiosity was really sparked by the discussion we had in Museum Studies about defending evolution against intelligent designers/creationists. I kind of always relegated that belief to the crazy fringes of society, but some of the numbers Dr. Sullivan gave us were truly astonishing. Something like 45% of Americans report believing in the Young Earth concept (I refuse to call it a theory, because that implies it's a scientific theory and it is not). Statistics in general are questionable, but this one came from a NY Times article, which seems fairly reliable to me. I wrote one of my MS midterm essays on the evolution question, and I have to say that I was very, er, firm. This is not something on which I am willing to give any ground or concede a tenth of a point. You can believe whatever the fuck you want to believe about the origin of life, but your religion does not deserve support from institutions whose aim is to present science as it is currently understood, and it most certainly does not belong in my hypothetical child's science classroom. The argument that intelligent design doesn't necessarily denote a Christian background is moot; it can't be tested, it's not a scientific theory, it is not a component of scientific education in the public school system. Fuck you, George W. Bush, former governor of the state with one of the worst public education records in the country, and fuck your stupid monkey face.
Ahem. Anyone want a soapbox?
irate
(no subject)
No, but I'll clap?
That whole issue annoys the hell out of me, too, and especially since it shouldn't even matter. I find that people who truly have faith feel secure enough to cede that to science without feeling it's threatening God (and if God is that powerful, how could He be threatened by that?).
*coughs* Eh heh. My pre-med Catholic friends and I have had some pretty cool discussions on this.
(no subject)
Precisely. Dovetails nicely with my opinion that if anything in this world should be bound by literalism, it certainly isn't the divine.
But it's damn near impossible to discuss religion with a fundamentalist of any faith. I fear it would being and end with "You're an idiot!"/"You're going to Hell!" I really had no idea how vehement I was about this particular issue until I had to think about it.
(no subject)
And fundamentalism in general. I have no patience with it (in theory, I mean; obviously considering my roommate and the friends of hers I hang out with, I don't go around denouncing people aloud). Literal interpretation frustrates me; I perceive it as constricting the deity in question, not elevating him/her/it, and to the minds of people.
I'm starting to get light-headed, I'd better come donw...