tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post5748750433610006983..comments2024-03-16T21:32:23.088-04:00Comments on A Sure Word: What Does Noah Have in Common with Barney?RKBentleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00566375018731000081noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-90155268656032610072014-05-28T14:33:44.360-04:002014-05-28T14:33:44.360-04:00I dunno. The conservatives haven't been contro...I dunno. The conservatives haven't been controlled and slowly every minority is being put in prison. Conservatives are far more dangerous because they are proving it as we speak. Our budget is out of control, the internet is being threatened with corporate control, the sick and dying are left to suffer, women are having their agency taken from them, upward mobility is dead, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, corporations have almost complete control of our government functions. Most liberals honestly don't care that much about Christians. They aren't a threat, they're obnoxious and a nuisance. Marriage is threatened by Christians, yes, as is the study of science. But liberals also know that Christians will never hold back marriage forever and eventually Christians will no more oppose evolution than they support flat earth or geocentric orbit.<br /><br />That said, I do believe some Christians are capable of hurting their children through their belief. There was a story recently of a couple who refused to seek a doctor for a treatable condition their child had, relying on prayer instead. Now, this is a bit dramatic. An inability to understand the methods, purpose and works of science is not the same as death, but it still harms a child.<br /><br />Anyway, everyone presents everything to children like its mother goose. Just look at how they teach things like the first thanksgiving, addition and spelling. Always cartoony. If you want kids interested, aim it at them.Carvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07955613656077057811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-6697666995579434202014-05-21T18:43:06.282-04:002014-05-21T18:43:06.282-04:00Carvin,
Liberals are both funny and dangerous. I...Carvin,<br /><br />Liberals are both funny and dangerous. I'm absolutely certain that Human Ape is a liberal because conservative evolutionists, like Steven J, don't go around wanting people locked up for their beliefs. Left unfettered, liberals would have Christians in concentration camps where they would be taught to be tolerant.<br /><br />That said, kids are able to learn facts. I think too many churches leave the teaching of history to schools while the church of presents the Bible to kids like it's Mother Goose.<br /><br />But I'm repeating the same points of my post. God bless!<br /><br />RKBentleyRKBentleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566375018731000081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-39842090663472796932014-05-21T15:44:08.918-04:002014-05-21T15:44:08.918-04:00I think it's a weak pot shot. But I wouldn'...I think it's a weak pot shot. But I wouldn't conclude this person is a liberal.<br /><br />That said, there is a legit concern that teaching quasi science to children detracts from their critical thinking and ability to understand the scientific method.<br /><br />Anyway, I had coloring books as a child that mnetioned dinosaurs living millions of years ago. I also watched shows that were geared towards kids that said the same. I don't think the format is the problem.<br /><br />Honestly, a literal interpretation of Noah's flood is quite a suspension of disbelief. Kids can look back at the silly looking Noah pictures and go 'oh, yeah, that's what they did for kids to understand it'. You give a kid a 'realistic' picture of it and not only will they be bored, they are going to look at it and think 'well... this whole thing seems silly'. It's that paradox where you should never testify at your own trial because everyone sounds guilty when they try to defend themselves.<br /><br />In the end, you can't escape Noah being viewed like a myth because the story is written like a myth. Deific intervention when people are bad, hero set apart from the rest, massive impact through nature, narrative of origin, and purpose assigned to natural phenomenon (rainbows) and a covenant between man and (the) god(s). Carvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07955613656077057811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-38224495506396297902014-05-20T08:42:35.554-04:002014-05-20T08:42:35.554-04:00Steven J,
Nice to hear from you. I was afraid yo...Steven J,<br /><br />Nice to hear from you. I was afraid you had stopped visiting after my hiatus.<br /><br />It's not so much the use of songs and gimmicks - it's that many churches fail to balance it with real education of the Bible. It's like my example of kids at a museum. When kids see "evidence" for evolution and only hear Bible stories about Noah, they will tend toward the "evidence" as they mature.<br /><br />Your own story is a case in point. You're a bright guy. If you had been given thoughtful and direct answers to your questions, you might have a very differentiated opinion today. Many objections to creation have little substance. For example, I often hear there's no way Noah could have fit all those animals on the Ark. Most critics who say that cannot answer how big was the Ark and how many animals were there. How then can they say they wouldn't fit? The problem is, neither can many creationists answer these questions. So if all kids ever see are cartoon depictions of the Ark with animals poking out everywhere, that criticism sounds plausible.<br /><br />Thanks for your comments. God bless!<br /><br />RKBentleyRKBentleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566375018731000081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-64282513748984136922014-05-20T08:20:55.448-04:002014-05-20T08:20:55.448-04:00Human Ape,
As long as there are people like you o...Human Ape,<br /><br />As long as there are people like you out there, there is always a chance that people like me will be locked up because of our beliefs someday. <br /><br />Note to Carvin: are you reading this? This liberal thinks I should be locked up. Is this the liberal idea of protecting individual rights you were telling me about? RKBentleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566375018731000081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-49984674951014652502014-05-20T02:30:48.564-04:002014-05-20T02:30:48.564-04:00Now that your daughter no longer watches Barney, h...Now that your daughter no longer watches <i>Barney</i>, has she stopped believing in dinosaurs? I'm not sure that the connection between jazzing up a presentation with bright colors, annoying songs, and childish caricatures, and having it rejected as non-factual, is as strong as you fear (if it were, wouldn't <i>Schoolhouse Rock</i> have led more children to doubt the reality of American history and the U.S. Constitution?<br /><br />Perhaps I was born too soon (I was in eighth grade when the first <i>Schoolhouse Rock</i> videos aired). No one taught me in school that Genesis was wrong, although I borrowed books from the Bookmobile that did say that, nearly in so many words. Meanwhile, in church, people did dispute evolution and insist on the facticity of Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark.<br /><br />I spent several years in a weird state, believing in an ancient Earth and even (if my memories can be trusted) in evolution on weekdays and in young-earth creationism on Sundays or when religion came up. Then, early in my high school years, I realized the impossibility of both being true, and made an effort to limit myself to creationist reading. This had the unfortunate effect of showing that creationists didn't understand what evolutionists were proposing, and frequently didn't understand basic chemistry and physics (the 2nd law of thermodynamics does <i>not</i> mean that order cannot increase locally).<br /><br />Anyway, the problem is that if students encounter two separate sets of claims about human origins and the age of the Earth, some of them are going to go with the side that can present evidence for its views. And they're probably going to be suspicious of the side that argues that, ultimately, evidence doesn't matter, or that the facts don't speak for themselves -- that would be the side that finds the evidence contradicting their views. <br /><br />Providing pictures of the Ark that more closely match the proportions specified in Genesis isn't going to help much when students learn that genetic evidence shows, variously, that humans spread out from Africa, not the middle east, and that chimpanzees (supposedly represented by at most one breeding pair aboard the Ark) have more genetic variety than humans (supposedly represented by three breeding pairs).Steven J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15638850493907393069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6030110973061875792.post-86151465621984360832014-05-19T10:56:35.891-04:002014-05-19T10:56:35.891-04:00People like you should be locked up so you don'...People like you should be locked up so you don't infect innocent children with your disgusting mental illness.Human Apehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14828131221696085054noreply@blogger.com