Bill Nye: “Creationism is not Appropriate for Children”

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Yminale, Aug 27, 2012.

  1. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Religious history classes are quite interesting. Unfortunately, such things rarely exist before you get to college.
     
  2. Rhaven

    Rhaven Captain Captain

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    Okay, learning about other religions is an appropriate subject in public schools. I spent my first years in a parochial school. It didn't teach evolution. Since I choose to believe Mr. Darwin, the nuns had a hard time with me.
     
  3. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    I have no objection to schoolchildren learning about religions. That's a different thing altogether. Do not confuse them.
     
  4. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    We have one hour a week of "Catholic religion" in high school. You can opt out if you want: you just get a free hour to read by yourself in the library (cannot leave the school, obviously). No social stigma, and no consequences in your curriculum either (the course has no tests and no grades). So what is it good for? It depends on the teacher: some use this hour trying to indoctrinate the students (haha, good luck with rebellious 15 years old), others to explain the gist of most religions, their history, differences, and similarities, or to talk about teenagers issues (drugs, sex ed, conflicts with parents and adults, etc.) I had one of the good teachers, and I really enjoyed the discussions we had (I was already a godless commie). He moved in the last year, and we got stuck with an old nun that tried to involve us in the exegesis of the finer points of the Ecclesiastes. You can guess the results.
     
  5. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Sounds terrible. :lol:

    Luckily, most public schools don't employ nuns.
     
  6. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    While I would be fine with teaching religion as culture (the same way it would be presented in, say, a mythology or sociology class), the problem is that in the US, those pushing for it in public schools really just want it as a backdoor to convert and indoctrinate.

    Why not have a comparative religious studies class, in which students study the Christian Bible, the Torah and Talmud, and the Qu'ran? Somehow, I suspect that would get less support than a class simply teaching the Bible.
     
  7. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    I'm pretty sure I learned more about religions from playing "Assassin's Creed" than I ever did in school. ;)

    Actually, I learned quite a bit during the Art History classes I took in college. It sunk it a lot better because I actually had images I could link with different historical events.
     
  8. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    What if there are things we don't know? What if there are forces in the universe that we aren't yet able to understand? What if "what we know of the world" changes? What if we learn something new, through science, that disputes what we thought we knew and believed to be fact?

    Closed-mindedness can exist on either side of an issue.
     
  9. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    That is why the work of science is never done.

    That doesn't mean we can't have partial explanations for things. We don't know how life originally began. We do know how species evolve and diverge over time. Just because we lack an explanation in one area doesn't mean we can't explain anything else.
     
  10. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Of course, anything is possible, but we should base our beliefs on the evidence currently available. If something is discovered that contradicts that evidence, we'll re-evaluate our beliefs.
     
  11. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You mean what if one day we discovered that the creationists were right all along? No. I'm perfectly comfortable calling that.

    Science has a history of overturning previous misconceptions in science and expanding its own horizons. See relativity and quantum mechanics for two examples in the physical sciences.

    So, I really don't know what your point is.
     
  12. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    Actually, I don't really remember if she was really a nun or a layperson who dressed basically like a nun. I hope for her she was a nun.

    I also went to a Catholic elementary school, which gives me awesome nun powers.
     
  13. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Like the ability to withstand being whacked on the hand with a stick?
     
  14. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    And elastic ears that don't hurt when pulled.
     
  15. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    You're practically a super soldier.
     
  16. Rhaven

    Rhaven Captain Captain

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    Or, the abilty to kneel on a wooden ruler for hours. To this day, I swear my knee caps remain flat, with a 1 inch center depression.
     
  17. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    How do you think they train the Swiss Guard?
     
  18. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I've read several posts in this thread that state (paraphrased): "If you don't believe that science has proved creationism wrong, you're just a hating hater who hates, and you'll burn in whatever science's substitute for hell is!"

    Not that you were saying it, but your quote was handy.
     
  19. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

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    If you don't believe that science has proved creationism wrong, you are not able to distinguish reality from fiction. And the ridicule you should be subjected in this life is worse than any imaginary hell.
     
  20. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I'm sorry, I must have missed that paper. Source? ;)