There’s only so much I can take. It would be one thing if we were just misunderstood. Welcome to Alabama, where ignorance is away of life.
Controversial? Sheesh, to uneducated, Bible-thumping Alabama Taliban, maybe. OTOH, posting a modified version of the sticker in every textbook is a good idea.
" Instructional material…should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."
There are some people that I wish would stop using the word “Christian” to describe themselves. I’m supposed to love them, but they make it so hard to do.
:mad:
My high school biology textbook (this’d be upstate New York, for those who don’t keep tabs on my personal life ;)) said in the actual text that evolution is only a theory. The mind boggles at why people feel the need to be obnoxious about it.
Sigh… 
Ah well, at least I don’t live there anymore. It’s scary that Ogre and I turned out well-educated and capable of critical thought given that we were victims of the Alabama educational system (and I use the terms loosely).
…a way…
They need to start putting warning stickers in the bibles too. “Warning! These stories are just that, stories. They are not to be taken literally, and should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.”
I have fought and fought and fought to make this place seem like less of a backwater than it is. It’s my home, and I love it. But every time I think perhaps we’re pulling ourselves out of the fucking Dark Ages, some shit like this happens.
And gobear, that’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard. All textbooks should have “WARNING: BIAS PRESENT. THINK CRITICALLY” stickers pasted all over them.
super_head, remember that the Alabama educational sysytem treated us pretty well. Advanced courses out the wazoo, and accelerated programs pretty much all our lives. For everybody else, it seems to have been a morass of “Evolutionists=God haters” propaganda and apathy.
To be honest, I’m at the point where I’m overcome with a massive wave of utter futility when I think about it.
Ogre - good point - perhaps our accelerated programs were funded by the Illuminati in the state, such that we would rise to secretive power within its borders as we grew older, guiding and shaping the lives of the sheep who benefited not from the same courses, and - naturally - profiting off of their ignorance as we moved closer and closer to world domination.
Or perhaps the Board of Education is a bunch of fucktards.
Hey, can we say fucktards here?
This policy would have been ignorant 75 years ago.
Today, after we have understgood the biology of heridity and mapped the human genome, it’s fucking unbelievable!
Alabamiban?
Remember, these are people that, despite the genetic evidence, will still conclude that there are MAJOR genetic differences in Races and such.(“I’m not 99.9% the same as a BLACK man…”):rolleyes:
I like Revtim’s idea the best…
Sam
Ya know, even back in the 1700s, people more or less had this “evolution” thing sorted out. Back in the mid-1800s, it even became a legitimate science, what with the introduction of a viable mechanism for the process and all.
So, why, in Cecil’s name, are these people still so damned ignorant in the 21st-freakin’-century?
Physics
WARNING: These theories are consistent with what God has chosen that we remember as the past, but we cannot assume God is in any way restrained to evolve the universe subject to them in the future.
Just About Everything
**WARNING:**For reasons mortals should not presume to understand or debate, God has provided evidence for these theories. Only believe those which are genuine indications of how you should act, not those which are fabricated to lead the insufficiently faithful astray.
Literature
WARNINGSome of the topic is fiction, and thus is not an accurate representation of the world. Be very wary but you might strengthen your understanding by considering these hypothertical worlds.
Maths
WARNING: Some mathematicians controversially claim that pi is an irrational number between 3 and 4, but offer no explanation of how a large cauldron was once constructed with a diameter/circumference ratio of 3.
Logic
WARNING: Many people believe these theories more strongly than anything else, but you should not be so closeminded. For example, the bible is littered with counterexamples to [a true] and [a=>b] means [b true].
etc.
(Most of this is a joke, but some I genuinely am puzzled by)
Reading about the stupidity of creationists depresses the hell out of me, but it was worth opening this thread just for that.
Oh God (he said ironically,) I think I’m going to cry.
Hold me, mama, please.
Oh, and other parts I’m serious about. I mean, no theory is absolutely certain, so all textbooks might as well start with an introduction to scientific method: “Everything in this book has been tested countless times and seems true. However science is always updating, and refinements may be needed in future. They may be a steaming pile of horseshit, but they’re better than wild guesses about what God meant us to read into all that evidence for evolution.”
Hell, Shade, I wouldn’t mind seeing a synopsis of the scientific method on about every fifth page of science books. People forget the important stuff so easily.
I have found that I manage to put up with life in Alabama, but my biggest concern is the effect on my kids (I am not native). My jaw drops whenever I hear someone say “But, it’s such a great place to raise a family”.
Anyway, a question to you folks in more civilized parts, anybody heard of Judge Roy Moore?
Oh please don’t get me started on that jackass. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking of him.