The debate between creationism and evolution has always been a big one in this country, though the intensity of such a conflict has seemed to fluctuate. Currently tempers are running particularly high as theories of ‘intelligent design’ are gaining speed. Proof of this can be seen in the following article, taken from Sunday’s edition of the Washington Post. I have just one word to say about it: huh?

You mad people.

In Evolution Debate, Creationists Are Breaking New Ground
Museum Dedicated to Biblical Interpretation Of the World Is Being Built Near Cincinnati

The guide, a soft-spoken fellow with a scholarly aspect, walks through the halls of this handsome, half-finished museum and points to the sculpture of a young velociraptor. “We’re placing this one in the hall that explains the post-Flood world,” explains the guide. “When dinosaurs lived with man.” Mark Looy - the guide and a vice president at the museum - already has walked over to the lifelike head of a T. rex, with its three-inch teeth and carnivore’s grin.

“We call him our ‘missionary lizard,’ ” Looy says. “When people realize the T-Rex lived in Eden, it will lead us to a discussion of the gospel. The T-Rex once was a vegetarian, too.”

… “Evolutionary Darwinists need to understand we are taking the dinosaurs back,” says Kenneth Ham, president of Answers in Genesis-USA, which is building the museum. “This is a battle cry to recognize the science in the revealed truth of God.”

This is just insane. Go read the whole article. Oh, and welcome to the American Midwest!

On a similar note, a group in Virginia has developed a textbook for a new course to be taught at public schools about the Bible. Fair enough; the class is to be voluntary, and to be honest, public school kids have learned about various religions through world studies classes for years, so this doesn’t seem very off-course. Even the US Supreme Court has said that the Bible can be used in public schools so long as it is “presented objectively as part of a secular program of education.” (School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp, 1963) Thus I have no problem with this idea, provided it doesn’t ultimately get phased into the mandatory courses required for graduation; this is a long shot, of course, and might not happen for years, if ever.

That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me if this were to happen - this region seems to be headed backward in many, many areas of the private sector, which is distressing in of itself, and of course many Southern and Midwestern states already advocate teaching creationism above evolution …

… but I’m not going to say anything more about that for fear of being hunted down and shot. *winks*

I’m in a good mood today, despite having hit snooze so many times that I ended up having twenty minutes to get ready and get my arse to the Metro. Really, there’s nothing worse than starting one’s day in a rush. My mood was lifted, however, by the following article, taken from the Washington Post Express:

The Right To Remain Unadmired
A Halifax, England, hospital has banned cooing at newborn babies because of fears their human rights were being breached, the Press Association reported. Calderdale Royal Hospital prohibited people from asking mothers about their babies or looking at them in the maternity wards - because, it said, these actions disrespected the babies’ dignity. The staff even created a doll that carries the message, ‘What makes you think I want to be looked at?’ “These are little people with the same rights as you or me … People sometimes touch or talk about the baby like they would if they were examining tins in a supermarket,” said hospital manager Debbie Lawson.

That made me giggle. Although, surely the kind of attention they’re banning (basically coddling a child) is necessary for the bonding process between mothers and children, and for the formation of the skills for basic human interaction. It’s been proven that people - and even animals, for that matter - that are denied such bonding exercises in youth often become sociopaths, social outcasts. That’s just what this world needs.