elfs | Brains from Another Universe Edition (Reply)

Ken Ham: We've Been Expelled Again!: The Creation Museum is a multi-million dollar theme park in Cincinnati that uses the slick presentation style of a modern science museum to sell the Genesis myth that the Earth is only 6,000 years old.

The Cincinnati Zoo, which is (I hope) a science-based institution and a world-recognized zoo, had a deal with the "museum" to cross-promote both, by having a two-for-one ticket deal. After receiving a huge number of complaints and criticisms from scientists around the country, the Zoo has pulled out of the arrangement. Good for them!

But Ken Ham, the founder of the "museum," is whining about "intolerance" and being "expelled" (oh, they so love that word, don't they). Ham rants that PZ Myers (go PZ!) "organized" the protest (and if he did, yay!) and quotes various pieces from PZ's site and the Panda's Thumb showing how "intolerant" evolutionists are.

Well, yeah. When you cut into the basic science that unifies and explains all of biology, when you threaten the foundation of the biological sciences, you deserve to get cut off at the knees.
Texas to "censor scientific discussion.": OneNewsNow, the American "Family" Association's press outlet, is whining that "radical left-wing" organizations are seeking to stifle a "20 years policy ... that allows teachers to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of all scientific theories."

The article is remarkably information-free. We've seen what's been going on at the Texas SBOE recently, and it's not a 20-year policy; instead, there's been a push by the creationist crazies to grant "protection" for teachers who push Intelligent Design in their classrooms.

Let's put this into perspective: India classrooms teach evolutionary biology and nothing else. And India currently has more honors students that America has students. Given that coming tidal wave, why would you think about crippling our student's knowledge at so early an age?
WND: Chasm growing between those who believe Obama's birth certificate is real and, well, the insane: Man, you gotta love the crazy over at WND. Right now, they have article after article analyzing the whole birth certificate thing. It's wacked up.
Kentucky: God is our First Line of Defense: Kentucky's state Homeland Security is required, by law, with citing God as the reason nothing really bad happened in Kentucky in the previous year, and that the state's security cannot be acheived without God.

I wonder what they'll say if something does happen to Kentucky.
WND: Homosexuality Editorial Puts 1st Amendment on Trial: Crystal Dixon is suing the University of Toledo, which fired her after she wrote an editorial decrying the comparison of the struggles of blacks and gays for civil recognition. The Thomas More Law Center has predictably stated that she "has a constitutional right to privately express her personal opinions."

Well, yes. But she didn't do that. She publicly expressed her personal opinions and, hey, right there in the First Amendment is another right: the right to free association. The University of Toledo is free to not associate with Ms. Dixon.
On the other foot: eHarmony forced to offer gay dating services.: The whole lawsuit was a bad idea. Why should eHarmony have to create a second site for gay and lesbians? They're a private business. Is this a way of admitting that gays and lebians just aren't fabulous enough to create a 'romantic' dating site, one looking for long-term partnership, as a contrast to ManHunt and Craigslist?

What's really sad about this is that it just reinforces the worst stereotypes of the current civil recognition struggle: that the courts should get involved, and that they can and will force private institutions that receive no government funding to behave in ways contrary to their beliefs. That ought to be a final recourse, brought about by legislation and with strict sunset requirements. Gays and lesbians are not as victimized as they were forty years ago; we've all come a long way. This ruling comes across as an economic attack on a successful, church-based dating service, and the evangelicals will sell it that way.