So I'm apparently a "Bo"

Ben Loves Babies is not pleased with me:

Is this blog a Bo?

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/2009/january/boslaw.html

I really can't tell. Like most atheists, this blog is vulgar and low-brow, and demonstrates no critical thinking abilities whatsoever. It results to name-calling ("assholery"? Are we 12?) instead of intelligent discussion.

Ben, let me clue ya in to a thing or two.

1) This blog is not "an atheist", nor is it's author (not yet, anyway: but people like you are pushing me there).

2) There are circumstances under which name calling is entirely appropriate. Scott Roeder's crime is one such circumstance (as is any circumstance in which a Stucky is given out: you have to be a gigantic douche bag to even be considered).

3) Landover Baptist Church is a spoof. It's making fun of you, and "Bo's" law is a reference to Poe's Law (Landover's website itself is a Poe), of which you are obviously blissfully ignorant (big surprise there).

As for my blog's popularity (or lack thereof), I really couldn't care less: it's just a place for me to vent (hence it's "low, vulgar" nature)

But thanks for playing.

Sarah Palin is Damned Scary

If McCain is elected but doesn't live through his term (a distinct possibility for a 76 year old man with a history of cancer), this is what we get for a president. These are the people she associates with, befriends, spends one day out of seven with:



Jesus Christ on a carousel. Are Americans really stupid enough to give this twit the reins of power?

Turtles All the Way Down: Why Mt Vernon, Ohio Will Learn No Lesson from the John Freshwater Mess

In perusing the interwebs today, I came across a couple of articles which rather succinctly illustrate the forehead-smacking futility of trying to deal with hard-core theists on the subject of religion in education. Both are from the Zanesville Times Recorder Opinion page. The first, by managing editor Len Lacara, explains the situation as both sides see it: from the point of view of Freshwater's supporters, and his detractors. He provides links to web sites defending the teacher's actions (or attempting to), and then explains that the defenders are wrong.

Enter concerned citizen Jeff Fraunfelter a few days later. I won't bother with a fisking of Fraunfelter's letter, as a casual perusal of it's content should be sufficient for any reader to see that it neither addresses the content of the original editorial, nor does it offer support for any cogent argument: it is merely a string of tired creationist tropes, from the label 'liberal' in the first sentence, to the 'why don't you go pick on Islam' gripe to the 'only a theory' saw. Not impressive.

But this illustrates the core problem: one side of this argument is just not interested in learning anything. He has been handed a set of talking points by the religious leaders he trusts and is simply asserting them as unassailable truth. Anyone who might provide information contradicting his claims is dismissed as 'liberal', 'secular-humanist', 'anti-Christian', or 'a member of the elite'.

One of the unfortunate results of the internet age is that religious conservatives, particularly creationists, have created a virtual reality of their own, a misinformation network in which they make bald assertions, and then refer to each others' assertions as 'evidence' in later writings/arguments. The phenomenon started with talk radio, which allowed them to ignore the newspapers and television, and spoon-fed them filtered Truth™. Now that we have the Web, they've got the WorldNutDaily, One News Now, Answers in Genesis, Conservapedia, and so on.

Which, of course, only drives home the argument that we need quality science education so we can drag these poor kids out of the morass of ignorance their parents live in. To do otherwise is not only to turn our backs on them, but to seriously hobble our future and that of our own children. And I don't give a rat's ass if that makes me an anti-Christian liberal commie pinko fascist Nazi atheist Satan-worshiping member of the homosexual agenda, or whatever.

Arkansas Sen Mark Prior: " Maybe Snakes Can Talk"

A clip from Bill Maher's upcoming movie "Religulous". The look on Maher's face at the end is priceless:



As the saying goes, sometimes the jokes write themselves.

Ohio Torture-Teacher Goes to Court

Via Pharyngula

Back in April, I harangued regarding John Freshwater, an Ohio middle school teacher who was under investigation for, among other things, burning crosses into his 8th-grade students' arms as a 'demonstration' in science class. Apparently, the issue has now gone to court, and my prediction that there was going to be more ugliness revealed is being born out. From the Mount Vernon News:

(School superintendent Stephen) Short, (middle school principal William) White and the school board are named as defendants in the case because they allowed Freshwater to continue to teach religion, and violate school policy and the Constitution after being notified of the policy violations and unconstitutional activities. For example, after April 14, the suit claims, Freshwater assigned “extra credit” to his students for homework related to intelligent design and was not removed from the classroom.

White also, according to the court documents, disclosed the identity of the plaintiffs to Freshwater, although Short had promised them anonymity. After the parents raised concerns of retaliation against their son, a field trip was scheduled, with their son assigned to a certain group and chaperone. The suit claims that once the child’s identity was revealed, his group assignment was changed to the one led by Freshwater. As a result, the parents “were forced to prohibit their son from attending the school field trip.” That caused injury by depriving the son of a valuable educational experience and discouraging the plaintiffs from continuing to exercise their right to free speech.

Initially, I thought that the lack of action on the part of the school stemmed from either an aversion to scandal, or at worst, your typical Christian fundamentalist assumption that the "non-believers" were just being hysterical and over-reacting. That if they ignored the complaints, it would all blow over.

The above seems to indicate something far more malevolent. The plaintiffs may talk about "depriving the son of a valuable educational experience", but it had to creep them the hell out whan the school placed their son into the hands of the same teacher who saw fit to brand him as a demonstration of how spectrum analysis works.

Go read the whole article. This is blatant intimidation on the part of Freshwater and White. They should both be fired. Or perhaps Gene's solution over at PZ's house is more appropriate:

Perhaps Mr. Freshwater should have his apparatus applied to his testicles as part of his ongoing education about why he shouldn't use it on students.

God-damned pair of sleaze bags.

Update:

Oh, and this is what he used to brand his students. Not sure how he got from "High Frequency Generator Tester for Leak Detection" to "A Cool Device to Burn Little Kids With", though.

What a nice man.

Mess in Ohio

When I first read about this story of a public school Bible brouhaha over on Ed Brayton's blog, I didn't think much of it: I assumed the teacher, John Freshwater, was just another creationist who thinks that his right to religious expression extends to using his position as a school teacher to impose his particular brand of fundamentalist tripe on other peoples' children.

Objectionable, of course: but hardly anything out of the ordinary for the Uber-Christian crowd. If anything, I thought that the school was over-reacting in telling him to remove his personal copy of the Bible from his desk during class. Having it on his desk would seem no more harmful to me than having a picture of a family member there, or any other personal effect.

Silly me. There's always another shoe waiting to drop with these people, isn't there? This just in from the planet WTF:

In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, Superintendent Steve Short said, “The allegations against Mr. Freshwater are very serious. This is not about his personal Bible on his desktop. It is about the totality of his conduct.”

One of the complaints was that Freshwater used an electrostatic device to burn crosses onto students’ arms.

Now, color me intolerant, but I just think that's a mite over the top. These are 8th graders. And he's branding them?! This man should not just be disciplined. He should be fired and charged with assault. His name should be put on a public list of People You Want Nowhere Near Your Children. And as it seems, according to this article from the Columbus Dispatch, that the school knew last December about the branding and chose not to do anything about it, some heads on the admin side should roll, as well.

Of course, according to the WorldNetDaily, this is all just a case of discrimination against Christians. I guess Christian Fundamentalists have some hidden constitutional right to torture 14-year olds. Funny, my teachers at the religious schools I attended must have skipped over that amendment. Typical of those scheming atheist commie pinkos.

What a debacle. It will be darkly fascinating to see what develops from this. I can't imagine that with this popping up, that there aren't any more surprises to follow.

Obligatory "Expelled" Post

Well, little Ben Stein's gripping Intelligent Design documentary, "Expelled: No Honesty Present Intelligence Allowed" has been released, and by all indications, it's even poorer than expected. It's being thoroughly panned by critics, and not making much in ticket sales, either. Not many people out there seem to have bought the regurgitated creationist arguments and faux martyr stories that form its foundation.

For those unaware, this is a documentary-style movie (I refuse to call it a documentary, as a documentary is an exercise in journalism) which purports to show a) a pattern of persecution by eeevil utionist educators, universities, and institutions against anyone who dares mention the words "intelligent design"; b) a connection between Darwinian Evolutionary Theory and Nazi-ism and/or Soviet Communism, and c) weaknesses in evolutionary theory.

Apparently, it gets everything right except for items a-c. For an in-depth response to it's claims, see the National Center for Science Education's web site, Expelled: Exposed.

This is not really a surprise to anyone who has followed the dishonest shenanigans of those who made this movie. They interviewed scientists under false pretenses, quote-mined the hell out of their responses, and even tried to prevent the people who they interviewed from seeing the movie (with somewhat hilarious results). They apparently plagiarized graphics and used at least two artists' music without permission. This is not a group of, erm, rocket scientists.

HT: PZ Myers, ERV, Richard Dawkins, Greg Laden, the NCSE, and everybody else who has helped make sure that this travesty does not go unchallenged.