Wanderlust

My brain is melting

I came across this post from a (ed. update) supporter of Senator Samuel Brownback (R-KS), who is running for president, via One Good Move. It describes how the earth does not rotate around the sun and the earth does not move an is the center of the universe. He goes on to say how the bible provides plenty of references to the earth not moving. Here is a gem of a quote:

"The Earth does not move. To assert that the Earth does move is to renounce Christianity. It really is as simple as that."

Seriously. We should reject Copernicus' assertions, and accept bullshit as our personal savior. I am really having a hard time understanding how someone can actually believe this shit. It hurts to think that someone in my government, who went to college, has such backwards archaic thinking.

See, I can understand people wanting to refute Darwinian science and evolution. It is a something that isn't easily understood, and there isn't much direct evidence. So without much education or science background, it might hard for someone to believe it. The bible makes it so much easier to understand the origin of man. But to make the leap to not believe the earth revolves around the sun and the sun revolves around the Milky Way Galaxy.. I don't comprehend. Over the past 100 years, scientist who have done hundreds of calculation and studies, have got it wrong? And these scientist have HUGE amounts of education, peer reviewed papers, complicated equations, and continuous studying of complicated phenomenon. How can all that boil down to the bible say the earth does not move. How? How can anyone think this?

I can only maybe give one answer. Some people think only in black and white. Right vs wrong. It is true, or it is false. This type of thinking leads to simplistic views of the world. When presented with something that is hard to understand or comprehend, it must be the work of the devil trying to confuse you. Maybe it is that simple. Don't learn to much, because the more you learn about the world around you, the move complicated it gets. And, using the bible for reference (and assuming it is the exact world of god), it presents all the answer you are looking for, as long as you pick and choose specific quotes without context in the rest of the passage. For people like Brownback, the world must be so easy to understand, under the lens of the bible. Life is easier when the world is the center of everything, including your simplistic view.

I grew up thinking the bible was a reference guide for a religion. It has good stories to guide you through your life. Parables that provide a lesson for living a Christian life. I never thought for once that the Garden of Eden was actual fact. I thought it was a story of how god was kind of a dick after Adam ate a stupid apple. Thats all. These religious zealots take things way to far, and remove the possibility for innovation and higher levels of understanding. How could I have typed this post on a computer if the people who invented the transistor thought the bible (or God) had all the answers of the world around us. It really does not make any sense to me. And Brownback doesn't want his children to learn that in schools? Yes, lets not teach our children anything that is not in the bible. Then our schools will pump out stupid retarded kids who know how to be nice to each other. It is people like this who make religion look so stupid and outdated. And it is people like this who make my brain melt into a puddle of goo.

(On a quick side note, why would you not want to teach your children about evolution? They should learn it, and then if you don't agree with it, teach them the alternate view and why evolution is wrong. That way the children can grow up to be critical thinkers, and not assuming everything your are told is true. ie. fox news).

Posted by George at May 28, 2007 10:20 AM