August 2002

Cobb County, Georgia is for Losers

The headline in the Friday edition of the New York Times read "Georgia School Board Requires Balance of Evolution and Bible." It appeared that, once again, a mob of dedicated, yet ignorant (possibly dedicatedly ignorant), people had bullied a school board to muddle their science curriculum by forcing them to include creationism in the teaching. Not that such news came as a surprise to us. Man's capacity for stupid is far greater than for smart (due in large part because stupid is far more destructive than smart is constructive.) Also, Georgia is populated almost entirely by stupid people. Except for Jimmy Carter.

In truth, the board only voted to study the possibility to include creationism in the school's science program. In thirty days, the board will make it's final decision. There is still hope, but why people stopped for one moment to consider this option is beyond reason. But, of course, this IS Cobb County.

(What we know about Cobb County, Georgia, is that the professional wrestler, The Big Boss Man (a.k.a. Big Bubba Rogers, The Guardian Angel) hails from there. That's all we need to know. Also, it's near Atlanta, which sucks on all counts.)

What the bible-thumpers demand is "equal time" for creationism in the discussion of the origins of life and evolution. Of course, they are not arguing that ALL religion's of the world be represented. No. That would be too much of a burden on the poor science teachers. They want is the Christian bible version of the origin of man, not just any other version.

Aside from the "establishment of religion" issues that come along with their plan, we wonder why the parents insist on making their children ignorant. Or, more importantly, why aren't these kids learning the Bible outside of school?

Bottom line: Creationism is not science. It cannot be taught and defended with observable facts. It is a belief based on an interpretation of the Christian Bible. No article of faith can be tested nor supported by empirical data. Creationism has no place in a science class room. Creationism belongs is a philosophy or religion class, or it should stay in Sunday school.

Furthermore, if these parents want their children to be as ignorant as they are, they can just pull them from public schools and home school them. Or send them to private school. But public schools have no place playing a role in actively and intentionally making the youth of America unable to meet the education standards of the civilized world. Public schools are intended to give every generation of children a solid education that also reflects the population as a whole. And while there is a portion of us whole refuse to accept science (and that is their right), there are some of us that despise the idea of being indoctrinated by articles of faith by our public institutions. Some of us have other faiths, even.

What should be troubling to people is the strangle-hold the Christian-right community has on the rhetoric surrounding the evolution/creationism argument. Those in the scientific community have, for the most part, relied on creationism being a myth as an argument to keep evolution from text books, and that is mostly successful. But when local and state school boards so much as consider allowing Christian creationism into the curriculum, they give legitimacy to it, which is damaging to the public.

Similar to the recent "under God" ruling in California, the Christian-right community paints itself as the 'victim' of repression, when they are the ones committing offenses against common sense, or at least to those not of their faith, and certainly to the Constitution. With a single-minded deliberation, and a plethora of right-leaning media to give them attention, they sing their sad song across the nation. This at once perpetuates the myth of Christian creationism's veracity, as well as that of their place as the underdog.

Also, it must be noted that not being allowed to take up class time with prayer and so forth does not constitute oppression. Oppression is when you force someone to pray against their beliefs. Similarly, omitting creationism from science class is not oppression, as it is based in faith, which is certainly ideological. The whole point of science to eliminate as much ideology from theory as possible. Ideology has no place in school, just as science and reason have no place in a Methodist church.

People who believe in the theory of evolution, nay open-minded inquiry, should become aware of creationists, their ideas, and their tactics. Some day, you may be face to face with a fanatic trying to force their religion on your children, sneaking it in under the guise of being science.