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Current Events » in reply to "...should the NPS be 'honoring' this aspect of religion?"

False advertizing
Mary Anne — (archived)

The book is in an area talking about the geology of the region. It's with science books. It's not science.

I've been to Devil's Tower, and I remember the myths. Nowhere are they presented as facts. They are described as stories, myths, or legends. They are not described as science.

Creationist fundamentalists have been trying to get creationism, which is the story of Genesis in a science suit, into the classroom for decades. Or, I should say, back into the classroom, for it was the story taught for centuries, before evolution came along with its damn rationality. Creationists can't rely on scientific method to get their story back into the science classroom, so they rely on the ballot box. Think of it as voting to decide how many electrons a carbon atom has, and you will have the picture.

The object is to convince a suitable number of people that creationism is a rival theory to evolution, which we both know it isn't if we're honest about what constitutes science. Creationism is a rival story, but it's not anywhere near science. The more people see creationism displayed side by side with evolution, real geology (as at Grand Canyon), real cosmologly, real chemistry, and so on, the more this ancient myth will look modern to our sadly scientifically semi-literate society by sheer dint of its proximity to the real thing. Then we go to the ballot box ploy and make it sound like equal time for rival candidates. Creationism gets into the classroom, and we become less scientifically literate than we already are. That's how the game is played.

Let them have their book sold by the National Park Service. Let it be put in the Myths and Legends collection, rather than near the geology. Let it be near those things it most closely resembles. But the creationists will not be happy with mere exposure of their ideas. They want their ideas to be equal to science, even though they aren't. Mere availability will not be enough. That's why the book is where it is now. Placement is the name of this game.

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