• Education is now optional in Alberta

    01May
    Categories: In the News Comments: 404

    OK, so it’s not law yet, but a new bill is being proposed right now that will allow parents to take their kids out of classes that teach “controversial” subjects like evolution and homosexuality.

    As quoted in the article:

    “The new rules, which would require schools to notify parents in advance of “subject-matter that deals explicitly with religion, sexuality or sexual orientation” is buried in a bill that extends human rights to homosexuals. Parents can ask for their child to be excluded from the discussion.”

    Ok. So why is evolution there? It does not deal explicitly with religion or sexuality. The bill separates evolution from the rest of science as if it was an entirely different subject - fluffy and optional. Not like it is the foundation of biology or anything.

    And what about homosexuality? What is wrong about teaching kids to be tolerant? I rather doubt that educators are telling kids to go home and have gay orgies. It’s just about respecting people for being who they are. Just because a couple of lines in an old book say it’s wrong, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the world should bow to the same ignorance.

    Although I do think parents should have a say in what their kids are being taught, this goes too far. The bill will affect public schools. The government should not be agreeing with the crazy religious people who don’t know a thing about science and just want to pass on their bigotry, unhindered. Evolution is not controversial. Homosexuality should not be controversial. The whole “teach the controversy” is a PR move and the government is just feeding them. It’s ridiculous.

    What if I declare algebra to be against my religion? Would I have the right to take my kid out of math classes?

    Schools should be teaching kids how to think and why they should be tolerant of people who are different from them. Not letting their parents yank them away from reality. Keeping kids in a safe bubble, away from anything that their parents don’t understand, will not solve anything. Kids need to be exposed to ideas that are different from the ones with which they were raised. It’s how we learn how to think.

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  • What’s with all the chiropractors?

    03Apr
    Categories: In the News Comments: 55

    Another MP has recently proved that he does not actually know what science is and wants everyone to bow down to scientific ignorance in the name of “tolerance”. In the House of Commons, no less.

    James Lunney is a conservative MP who recently gave this fallacy ridden speech. I assume he was talking about the silly little problem of the Minister of Science not knowing what science is:

    “Mr. Speaker, recently we saw an attempt to ridicule the presumed beliefs of a member of this House and the belief of millions of Canadians in a creator. Certain individuals in the media and the scientific community have exposed their own arrogance and intolerance of beliefs contrary to their own. Any scientist who declares that the theory of evolution is a fact has already abandoned the foundations of science. For science establishes fact through the study of things observable and reproducible. Since origins can neither be reproduced nor observed, they remain the realm of hypothesis.

    In science, it is perfectly acceptable to make assumptions when we do not have all the facts, but it is never acceptable to forget our assumptions. Given the modern evidence unavailable to Darwin, advanced models of plate techtonics, polonium radiohalos, polystratic fossils, I am prepared to believe that Darwin would be willing to re-examine his assumptions.

    The evolutionists may disagree, but neither can produce Darwin as a witness to prove his point. The evolutionists may genuinely see his ancestor in a monkey, but many modern scientists interpret the same evidence in favour of creation and a creator.

    Sigh.

    Ok, Mr. Lunney, first of all, no one was “disrespecting” the right for the guy to believe in a creator. Seriously, most of us couldn’t care less. But we sure were disrespecting his career since he was supposed to be the Minister of Science and clearly had no idea what the concept meant. That is a problem.

    Secondy, evolution is a fact. I suggest that you read about what a scientific theory actually means before moaning about it. You just show your complete lack of knowledge by whinging about it being “just a theory” and it’s sad.

    Thirdy, “intolerant of beliefs” is a phrase that is too widely thrown around. Tolerance does not mean that we should all bow down to ignorance. Believe what you want but don’t change facts and evidence to suit it. It is not intolerant to defend science. It is not intolerant to expose ignorance. It is not intolerant to expose blatant lying and twisting of facts. It’s honesty.

    Fourthly, evolution has be observed over and over and over and over and over again. Look up some of science that has been done over the past couple of centuries. You might be surprised.

    Fifthly, evolution has absolutely nothing to do with the origins of life. Evolution is about how organisms CHANGE over time. That’s it. Maybe you should look up the definition of something before you start arguing against it.

    Wow, that was just the first paragraph.

    Sixthly, WE DO NOT WORSHIP CHARLES DARWIN. Really. We don’t. Seriously. And your silly little speech is a good example of why science does not rely on an appeal to authority. Sure, Darwin got some details wrong. That’s ok, that’s what science is for! Science provides a methodolody that enables people to constantly examine and question and refine and test new ideas. Believe it or not, Mr. Lunney, more than a couple of people have examined evolution since Charles Darwin. You might want to ask them about it.

    The whole speech feels like he picked up a couple of books on Intelligent Design, flipped through them casually and then created his whole concept of science around that. It’s silly and it is sad that this person supposedly has a scientific background and even sadder that he wants to promote ignorance for the sake of religious tolerance.

    Come on, Canada, we need some politicians out there who can think, not just repeat the words of the last book that they read and try to hide from the world under the umbrella of religious tolerance.

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