Big Daddy

Remember Big Daddy creation comics? Well, I do. Written by one Jack Chick, of Jack Chick Tract fame, who can only be described as "the clown prince of loony religious nuttery," they are distributed by fundamentalist churches and left in laundromats like other crackpot literature (heck, if you get your reading material in a laundromat you may be beyond intervention.)

Sure, I used to believe in that bunk. I also had a faulty understanding of scientific principles and the empirical process.

Let me tell you, it is easy to pull the wool over the eyes of an ignoramus. That's exactly why it irks me so much that creationists target young folks (no offense young folks!) For a creationist who wishes to spread his simpleton propaganda there is no better audience. Kids are naive and impressionable. They are easy targets. American high schoolers are already on the bottom when it comes to grasping scientific concepts. So yeah, I take those attacks by creationists pretty seriously.

We need to educate with sound scientific principles, not indoctrinate America's youth with imbecilic ideas that do not stand up in the face of scientific fact. And facts cannot be disputed. Period.

I don't care if you think the world is only 6,000 years old. I don't care if you resent the statement that humans evolved from a common ancestor or that we are in fact primates. There is NO evidence to support your claims, your belief. That is the seminal difference between us. Science is NOT a belief, and it is not a religion, and it doesn't require more faith than believing in your God. In fact, it requires absolutely NO FAITH because having faith in something is the antithesis of requiring proof, which is what science is all about.

I was at one time a fundamentalist Christian. Am I proud of that fact? No. Am I ashamed? Well, no. Because I had an open enough mind to objectively evaluate my beliefs and accept what my critical analysis led me to. I don't expect everyone to come to the same conclusions as me. On the contrary, I enjoy and in a way admire people who can honestly see the world for what it is, accepting new scientific evidence and grappling with the ever-present problem of human suffering, and still keep their faith in a god. But don't think that I don't know where you are coming from. I have walked a mile in the literalist-Bible-interpretation shoes, figuratively speaking.

I generally do not argue with creationists because generally it does no good. Generally those debates become emotionally driven dialogs and facts are left by the wayside and fallacies in logic abound. And, generally, nothing is accomplished. On both sides of the debate the debaters are merely preaching to their respective choirs. But, I make an exception when science illiterate teens are involved. Or public school science curriculum. Or health class text books. You get my drift. When they start forcing everyone to live by their rules I just can't stand idly by.

That is when fundamentalist Christians really make me mad. Luckily, despite their best efforts, they really haven't had much success. Supreme Courts around the country, even in highly conservative regions, have been smacking down ID like Ghaffari on Karelin.