Earlier this week, a few posters were upset when I used the phrase “crack-pot religions” without making a distinction between the various flavors. The following is allegedly an actual “Science” test given by a Christian School in South Carolina as reported at Andrew Sullivan’s Blog.
and
And the rest of the civilized world is passing the US in science. I wonder why?
Please share widely!
…this would be Christianity of the “crackpot” variety. I believe Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Mainline Protestantism are all on board with evolution. I wonder if this school is accredited. I also find it unfortunate that it took an external threat like the USSR to get us to prioritize science education.
The southern states are falling all over each other in the race to provide public funding, in the form of vouchers, for this garbage.
South Carolina I consider pretty much a lost cause. Recently even a “liberal” on Daily Kos, of all places, told me South Carolinians wouldn’t mind private sector unions…as long as there’s still “right to work” and they don’t have to pay dues. Though, he hastened to add, if you feel underpaid, you should find a better-paying job rather than form a union. And if you can’t get a better-paying job, you’re probably being paid what you’re worth.
But public sector unions like those all my teacher and firefighter relatives belong to? Those are anathema, because people in South Carolina have an “exalted” view of public service and find attempts to get higher pay “unseemly.” Which reminds me of all the spoiled slaveholders sipping lemonade on the porch and calling it gentility.
And this guy calls himself “far left” for South Carolina.
…mostly by private non-profit outfits. States offering vouchers to students who may choose one of these schools is a bit of a different issue.
Not sure why people are so upset at this. Yes, it’s not science in any sense — but go to many “Christian colleges” and you get this type of curriculum, just with longer words. Find me a Christian school that would object to number 11, for instance. Was Dad unaware of the anti-knowledge bent of this school?
People are upset because sometimes those holding these beliefs attain positions of power that affect the rest of us. For instance:
…it’s hardly necessary to go to Canada to find these examples:(
I used Harper, and by implication his Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver, because they are primary figures behind the current efforts to pipe tar-sands dinosaur juice across our country.
But I don’t think that’s why Dad is mad at this quiz.
If someone is going to go to the trouble of building an entire school to educate along “Christian principles”, chances are there’s going to be some significant changes from public education — otherwise, why bother? Did this kid make it four years in without Dad realizing that this school was a bit literalist? If this teacher is an exception, then I hope s/he is in for a serious talk with administration…
I spent 13 years in Catholic schools. Sure, we learned that God is good, and to trust God. We most definitely did not learn that dinosaurs were sheep-sized and they walked the earth with men. Our school went over the natural history museum and saw massive dinosaur skeletons, and I knew they went extinct before people existed when I was nine.
For a the republic thing to work, it’s very helpful if the citizen-participants work off a common understanding and regard for truth. A country beset with Beck-Bachman conspiracy theories eventually looks like Pakistan.
I suspect a hoax. Or should I say, a “HOAX!!!!”
Unfortunately I’ve seen way too much evidence that this is exactly how some would like to see “science” taught.
I suspect neither you nor kbusch have spent much time in South Carolina.
However, I think we should always bring a lot of skepticism to stuff like this that too conveniently confirms our world view. Our cognitive biases tend to make us more credulous when stuff like that happens. The recent case of Diederik Stapel comes to mind.
That said, I find the pernicious spread of Creation “Science” quite alarming. People are learning that it is better to believe ideology-confirming falsehoods rather than confront the world as it is. That spills into all sorts of other areas of politics. Think Iraq War. Think Social Security privatization. Think austerity.
I know it seems hard to believe, but I call your attention to Blue Ridge Christian Academy — this appears to be the school hinted at by the Snopes report of the incident.
In particular, I suggest that the following two excerpts from the above site are relevant.
From the ministry outcomes page:
From the Lower School Curriculum page (emphasis mine):
I’m not saying (yet) that this test could not be a hoax. I am instead saying that this test is entirely consistent with the stated goals and objectives of the Blue Ridge Christian academy and the belief system of a great many residents of South Carolina (and, of course, other states). The Blue Ridge Christian Academy is just one of a great many similar “Creationist” schools spewing superstitious garbage as “science”.
The source of the images, a father, has said that he will identify the school in June when the current term ends. I suggest that the story is probably legitimate, and will be confirmed then — even if this story isn’t, there are a great many religious “schools” where this kind of crap IS called “science”.
I suggest that we defer judgement on reality of this specific example until June, and in the meantime continue discussing what it means that a significant number Americans actually BELIEVE this — and influence public policy as a result.
in the world and plenty who don’t believe in evolution, but if I had to be, I’d say this is a hoax, a great hoax, but a hoax.
SNOPES says it’s authenticity is undetermined, not probably real. Mis-stating Snopes is a one sign. The second sign is that it was sent around as a email. Ninety-nine percent of the time that means its fake.
The parent sends his kid to a school this crazy, doesn’t know about it, and then is smart enough to post it on Reddit and get it to appear in the atheist blogosphere, where the audience is obviously interested, and through all of this, maintain anonymity, for his kid to finish school in this nut house.
Remember this one:
of Bush holding a book upside down.
It is entirely consistent with what these schools (increasingly funded with public money via vouchers) teach, and what their students grow up to believe.
To the point: Creationism spreading in schools, thanks to vouchers
This is a movement to use tax money to fund the teaching of ignorance. Whether the specific test in the picture is real is largely irrelevant, so long as that movement has any success at achieving its goal.