Letters to the Editor
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Gah!
Forgot the most obvious response to
I just think atheism and religion are about the same thing and that its possible to say "I don't know everything" and be comfortable with that...
Fundamentalists are extremely uncomfortable with not having an answer for everything.
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Very exciting
These creepy nut-bags must be beside themselves now that they have another amusement park in Kentucky to visit. Isn't this place right next door to the, "Inbred, Redneck Museum"?
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Judeo-Christian Mythology
What's the big deal? We read and enjoy Greco-Roman, Asian, Middle Eastern and Norse mythology; we admire and appreciate great and lesser works of literature, art and music based on these themes; we find fascinating and worthy of study Native American as well as African and other indigenous traditions and beliefs. Why should Judeo-Christian mythology be any different?
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I really ought to be working instead of reading letters, but...
Here goes, last attempt to debate, rather than catcall...
Strong Atheism is not a belief in science, it is a belief that there is, absolutely, No God(s) (greek: a'theos - "without God". See: strongatheism.net). Nothing supernatural. Ergo, it's a belief system. Science does not require belief - that's what makes it science. It is empirical, predictable and repeatable - not something you believe or don't believe in.
Furthermore, if one takes a definition of God as Supernatural (above nature), then science exists outside of it anyway, as science is the study of the natural world. If something is outside of the natural world, it can never be proven or disproven by science - hence the terms faith and belief must be used, whether you think it exists or doesn't.
As for Zeus and Hera and the rest, I loved reading those mythologies as a child. I was about nine, I think, when I commented to my mother that what we call myth today was somebody's religion many years ago. I really don't see much difference between religion, mythology or philosophy and think they all deserve respect as current or historical human attempts to understand purpose, meaning, morals, and the like.
The point of my original post was that it is not only the fundamentalist Christians that are polarizing the debate on religion. Strong atheists have as much culpability there as their counterparts. One letter writer made an impassioned plea to moderate religious believers to address the fundamentalists themselves, rather than blame the atheists, but what luck will someone have trying to convince either side that the other is not out to get them and that we can live and let live when the evidence to the contrary is so obvious on *both* sides? It's like trying to seperate two people who desperately want to fight, but keep insisting it was the other guy that started it.
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39%
This article makes me sad. That less than 40% of Americans think that humans evolved from other species makes me sadder still. No wonder the rest of the world thinks we're a bunch of religious nuts with no concept of science or rationalism- 61% of us ARE!
The fact that 27 million dollars were spent promoting this ridiculous mythology makes me sad too. I wonder how many starving children could be fed for a year with 27 million dollars. Unfortunately, these Christians care more about defending their mythology against rational skepticism than about upholding "traditional" Christan values like caring for the poor or weak.
I'm curious how the Creation Museum deals with the inevitable quiestion of post-eden incest. If all humanity is descended from the spawn of Adam and Eve, there must have been a lot of "brotherly love" going on in those first couple generations. Most Christian apologists just blush when confronted with this. Somehow I suspect that those courageous and intrepid researchers behind the scenes of the Creation Museum are hard at work, penetrating the depths of this thorny issue. As amply evidenced by the museum's founder and funders, sibling marriage obviously has no adverse effect on intelligence or the ability to reason.
(I also found it amusing that Mark Looy's name is just one letter from being loopy, and that Ken Ham bears the name "Ham." For those of you heathens who haven't studied your bible, Ham was the son of Noah that walked in on his drunken father and either molested him or at least looked upon his father's naked naughty bits. Whatever happened, Noah was pretty pissed about it and cursed Ham's son, Canaan, and all his descendents to be servants of Ham's brothers. See Genesis 9:21-26.)
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White is right!
Man, everybody knows White folks are God's favorite and that all the other races of people came after White people! Why, even the Bible is written in English to prove how special White people are to God. Of course I don't know why they would show Eve (or even Adam) with nipples, after all the didn't have offspring until after the fall. I guess to try and look scientific they gave Adam and Eve dark brown hair insted of the golorious blonde hair they must of had!
Man, I have to stop, I'm killing myself with this crap!
People, when the Bible was written they didn't know that there where other countries let along people and animals outside their region. There maybe a God but to assume that one version of the creation myth is valid over other reeks of selfcenterness.
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What Creation Story?
Hasn't anyone pointed out to these good, simple, religious folk that there are two creation stories in the Old Testament. The first one Genesis chapter 1 (which is the seven day creation story), contradicts the second account (Genesis chapter 2 vs 4 to 24). If Ham wants us to believe that the bible is inerrant from the first word to the last, we only have to get Genesis chapter 3 before we would be thoroughly and scientifically confused. There are also two flood stories in Genesis 6-8 and Genesis 9-12. So next time a creationist asks you if you believe in the biblical creation, ask them 'which one?'.
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Unbelievable Ignorance
I happened onto CNN one night when they were doing a sereis entitled "Who is a Real Christian". The only Christians featured were right wing nuts and this Creation Museum was one of the features. I watched it as I could not beleive my eyes and the ignorance that supports this kind of nonsense. It is very sad that these religious fanactics choose to keep their children Ignorant of science and fact.
The msot incredible thing I saw was the interviews with the believers. Thisis a quote from a stary eyed teen who seemd to be "high" with relgious fervor: " Atheists must have a lot of faith if they believe in evloution". These children are being taught that only atheists believe in evolution.
I went to Cathlic a high school in the 60s. In our theology classes we were taught evolution, but that at somee point God infuseed a soul into man. In science calsses we were taught Darwin's theroy of evolution as proven science. Except for the pre-class prayers, religion and science were kept separate.
The only hope is that this Museum, like othr right-wing Chrstain rip offs, will some day lay in ruins like Jim and Tammy Fae's theme park.