Green Light for Institute on Creation in Texas

[varun]

Source: NY Times

HOUSTON — A Texas higher education panel has recommended allowing a Bible-based group called the Institute for Creation Research to offer online master’s degrees in science education.

The action comes weeks after the Texas Education Agency’s director of science, Christine Castillo Comer, lost her job after superiors accused her of displaying bias against creationism and failing to be “neutral” over the teaching of evolution...

...“Where the difference is, we provide both sides of the story,” Mr. Morris said. On its Web site, the institute declares, “All things in the universe were created and made by God in the six literal days of the creation week” and says it “equips believers with evidences of the Bible’s accuracy and authority through scientific research, educational programs, and media presentations, all conducted within a thoroughly biblical framework.”

It also says “the harmful consequences of evolutionary thinking on families and society (abortion, promiscuity, drug abuse, homosexuality and many others) are evident all around us.”...





Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/education/19texas.html?ex=1198731600&en=3f26d410ea3ed9ef&ei=5070

---

A Science graduate from Texas now professes that the Universe was created in six days.... :eyes:

[ixion]

1. so the panel is endorsing fraud

because people will pay for that degree, that won't be worth a hill of beans outside the xian fundie circles.

[DetlefK]

2. And which job could I get with such a degree?

"You pagans! How dare you say, the flu-virus is evoluting! It is obviously God who makes it change!"

[DavidDvorkin]

4. You could become Director of Science at the Texas Education Agency!

[rAVES]

8. HAHAHA!! Evoluting... brilliant!

Welcome to DU!!

wtf Evoluting is correct :o why does it seem hilarious to me?

[DetlefK]

22. I needed a verb, so I made it up. Quite simple.

Question: Can one object evolute per definition? It doesn't stay the same and evolution can only be observed on a time-dependent ensemble of many related objects.

[Jacobin]

43. You could join the growing Alchemy industry!

[salin]

56. Just wait, a graduate will sue a med school for not accepting him/her

based on religious discrimination. S/he will get some deep pocket religious right foundation to back the law suit, and will attempt to compare their on-line 4.0 to graduates of legitimate universities.

[RethugAssKicker]

3. Oh boy !... The dumbing down of America is rampant !

[daleo]

5. Call it a Master's Degree in Comparative Religion

Or something along those lines. But Science Education? Faith based dogma just isn't science.

Granted, comparing science to religion isn't actually comparative religion...

[rox63]

13. Or a masters in pseudoscience n/t

[daleo]

20. Maybe a new variety of MBA

MBA-Religion, since so much of religion is a business/racket anyway.

[DavidMS]

33. Soon it will be possible...

to get a Phrenology license in Texas.

[mikeytherat]

48. "Of course you'd say that...you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter!"

(Simpsons phrenology joke)

mikey_the_rat

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Aah, only in Texas would a higher education board not be able to define science.

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. Pennsylvania? Kansas? Georgia? Tennessee?

There seem to be a lot of places in the US where Boards of Education are trying to redefine science to include mythology and delusions.

[Dawggie]

7. Oh. My. God.

This country is going backwards in time by leaps and bounds.

I want a Masters in Pyramid Power!

[sakabatou]

9. It's only fair that they have institutes on

the FSM and Jenova.

[Javaman]

10. Sounds like Baylor University. LOL nt

[JHB]

12. What this REALLY means is...

"I got an O-Fishy-al piece of paper for listening to ICR's backlog of radio programs"

It's the Full Fundy: lying charletans fleecing their flock, this time with a public seal of approval!


(ICR is one of the oldest creationist outfits, and Morris one of the founders of the modern movememnt. They're the ones who forged the tactic of arguing like lawyers to the audience instead of trying to act like scientists).

[tandot]

14. Also, as part of the biology curriculum, they'll be providing evidence of giant beanstalks

that, at the top, have castles in which giants live.

Here is the irrefutable evidence:

[Crunchy Frog]

15. I think other religious groups should be demanding equal time.

There should be a master's degree for every bizzare creation myth out there. I wan't to get a master's degree in FSM creation mythology.

[Cobalt-60]

16. Yes, I'll finally get credit

for calculating the curvature of the giant turtle shell on which we all live.

[BearSquirrel2]

35. Yes but ...

Yes, but, is the curvature uniform for the turtle he stands upon, and so on all the way down.

[Cobalt-60]

40. Hmm is it a cosmic turtle hyper cylinder

or a hyper turtle ziggurat?
We since we never say I don't know at Creationist U,
I'll say Ziggurat.

[Crayson]

42. I demand elephants standing on top !!

[BearSquirrel2]

53. Actually it should be donkey ...

All of these argument are a bit loopy since both turtles and elephants have convex backs. I would propose a donkey which has a concave back which could nestle the earth at least on who sides. Then it is clear that the earth must have to "great cosmic pillars" that straddle the donkey. Since we cannot observe the pillars I would suggest that they are made of crystal.

And of course, it's donkeys all the way down!!!

[Cobalt-60]

55. An infinite tower of Swaybacked Mules.....

Sounds inspirational

[enid602]

17. INSTITUTE ON CREaTIoN

Just hope they build it on high ground; what, with global warming and all.

[Stuckinthebush]

18. Creation research?

Research?

Give me a fucking break. These morons wouldn't know research if it jumped up and bit them in the ass.

What are they researching? Are they researching where there is the best probability of finding the "Made by God" label?

Dumb asses. Sorry, I have no tolerance for this type of ignorance.

[skip fox]

19. I have had friends leave the states because of this type of nonsense.

They changed the basis of their lives, two living in lands with languages they did not yet speak to desert a land where such inanity is possible.

She wasn't "neutral" over the teaching of evolution!! Can you imagine. It's like saying someone isn't neutral over the teaching of chemistry if they deny alchemy a seat at the table, or medicine if they don't allow classes in prayer healing, or . . .

People believe what they want to believe. Which suggests to me that education is not the sole answer. When such beliefs are so obviously in error (7 days to make the world) maybe we would do well to ask why they want to believe that way, and then go about showing how such reasons are counterproductive and inhibiting. Are they afraid of relativism? (And Romney saying that religion is essential for democracy seems to indicate this.) Maybe if they are shown that atheists can be highly moral (moral enough to recognize the facts of science, at least), or that what appears to be philosophically groundless can be as stable and enduring as the belief in a miracle man and his daddy, or that one can still viably be a Christin and not be an idiot, or that they won't go crazy if they allow themselves to wonder at the beauty of life through the lens of science and their own experience and the writings/art/music of others.

They are pandering to themselves.

[tom_paine]

24. They are wise to escape while they can. The Shadow of Totalitarian Evil and Ignorance

is casting itself across the land, and it is growing.

I may be as foolish as a German Jew who chose to stay in 1933, but here I stand. At least I have my eyes open of what to expect, although killed by Nazis is killed by Bushies, even if you see it coming, know what I mean?

[depakid]

28. Yep, a wise decision

Particularly if one has or wants to have kids.

Murica is showing all the signs of a nation approaching collapse- one of which (expounded on by Kevin Phillips in American Theocracy) is the spread of irrational fundamentalism.

[BearSquirrel2]

36. Education is the answer ...

Education is the answer, that's why these nutcases are going after it.

[Raster]

21. "...Texas higher education..." Talk about an oxymoron....

Emphasis on the "moron." Typical of Texas.

[tom_paine]

23. I demand equal rights for Flat Earthers and Lamarckists.

I mean, anyone can see how the Liberal Dogma of a round earth has damaged this nation with the harmful consequences of round earth thinking on families and society (abortion, promiscuity, drug abuse, homosexuality and many others) evident all around us.

Are you ready for the coming Dark Ages? It won't be pretty for Homosexuals, Jews, Blacks, and other "witches". And I honestly think we could be as close as two generations and one or two more Bushie 9/11 False Flags, coupled with economic calamity, from it's beginning.

I truly pity those poor bastards who will live to see 2100 in Amerika. How awful it is mostlikely to be, as the old enslavements of fear, ignorance and hate are stoked by the same Kings and Preists who stoked them in the Old Dark Ages.

[Dudley_DUright]

25. The stupid...

...it burns!

Can't wait for them to start a Ph.D. program. To pass your final thesis defense, the magic words are "God did it". :eyes:

[hatrack]

26. They were an independent nation once - couldn't we arrange for that to happen again?

Unbelievable.

[HuffleClaw]

27. check out what you HAVE to believe to work there...

"Processes today operate primarily within fixed natural laws and relatively uniform process rates, but since these were themselves originally created and are daily maintained by their Creator, there is always the possibility of miraculous intervention in these laws or processes by their Creator"

translation: an automatic exemption from those pesky laws of nature, physics, gravity, thermodynamics...



seriously though, who is gonna take a 'degree' from such a place seriously? although i know exactly what this is intended for. they'll send their 'graduates' to places like the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History for jobs and then SUE SUE SUE when they aren't hired.

[BearSquirrel2]

37. I believe they call that ...

I believe they call that the "Robertson Effect". Basically, if a natural disaster occurs, you just just say God did it because of the people there doing whatever you don't like.

[DuaneBidoux]

29. Tell ya' what...I'll just ignore this and leave the state. Is that okay?

[NMMNG]

30. And we wonder why other nations are leaving us in the dust.

Aye caramba.

[fascisthunter]

31. A Cult Get's It's Own College in America... Wow

Money can buy anything in America. America has officially become a whore for nut cases with lots of cash.

[BearSquirrel2]

38. Where have you been ?

Like Christian wackjob psuedo-colleges are anything new. What about Bob Jones University, Oral Roberts University, Colgate, Regent University (very popular at the justice department now).

Once upon a time this bible derived philosophy approach dominated every level of thought at ANY university. Years of hard work has put theology back where it belongs, at church. The Knuckle dragging fundamentalists don't care for this. They don't care for thought and reason. They only want the sheeople to think independently. They only want them to have the capacity to regurgitate the preachers words and pretend that is thought.

I watched the NOVA episode tonight on the Dover school district case. It was brilliant. It really laid bare how "intelligent design" is just a creationist sham. They deride and mock science at any level to bring it down to their level of thinking. Their sheeople just injest it and regurgitate with the level of reasoning not advanced over that of a middle school student.

[jpgray]

32. It's a good thing abortion promiscuity and homosexuality didn't exist before the theory of evolution

Otherwise one might argue their hypothesis is not very sound scientifically.

:rofl:

[windoe]

34. Creationists can live in their Jesusland bubble

but need to leave the rest of the world alone, I don't thnk they should be allowed sharp objects or guns.

[BearSquirrel2]

39. The problem is ...

The problem is that they want to turn the entire world into Jesusland. It's the same old shenanigan. The more pressing problem is that the first step is turning the United States into a fundamentalist Jesusland.

The only thing that really kept these nut jobs in check in the past was their utter hatred and loathing for one another. Preachers of different denominations would quarrel mightily with one another. Now they've decided to band together against their common enemy ... REASON and FREEDOM.

[Crayson]

41. The god THEORY vs. the Evolution Theory

Those bloody creationists are always so quick at adding that they theory of evolution is only a theory!!

Did it ever occur to them that if they applied same standards all their religions are theories too?
Only a theory until absoultely proven without the slightest doubt!


==> I DEMAND that all churches and religions add the word THEORY to them!!


- "Do you believe in the God theory?
- No, I support the Bhudda theory, but the Allah theory has its advantages too.

[Jacobin]

44. Gravity is a theory, too

[and-justice-for-all]

58. Yes, but is measurable and we know it exist..nt

[and-justice-for-all]

57. religion/god is only a hypothesis...

A wacky idea based only on 'faith'.

A Theory is based on evidence. There is no evidence to support their claims of gawd and biblical creationism. The term 'Theory' in the public cicle is used differently in the Scientific circle, the 'Theory Of Evolution' is solid and prety much a fact, based on the evidence.

[Solly Mack]

45. "Where the difference is, we provide both sides of the story,” LMAO

Does he even smell his own bullshit? (I think not)

[Thor_MN]

46. Does this open the door to suits from former Grads of Texas schools?

If I had a science degree from a Texas school, I'd consider a lawsuit due to the diminuation of my degree by this action.

[yellowcanine]

47. Huh. Good luck getting that master's program accredited by a reputable higher ed accreditation

board. Those degrees won't be worth their weight in toilet paper.

[boricua79]

49. Now this is war!

a license for SCIENCE classes from a Bible- group!

If you want to believe in your fairy tales, fine. But don't try to force the law to change to make it SCIENCE. It is NOT science to believe a woman came out of a rib, or that Jonah lived in a whale!

My liberal tolerance is reaching its limits. If it were up to me, I'd relegate these troglodytes to some cave. Sure, I'll be tolerant of their religion, but I won't tolerate their changing the laws I have to live under.

It's us or them...so it's THEM!

:banghead: :rant: :argh:

[theredpen]

51. It's not science...

It is NOT science to believe a woman came out of a rib, or that Jonah lived in a whale!

It's not even theology. It's just retarded.

[tbyg52]

50. As the Texas Observer says, "The Strangest State in the Union"

There are *not* "two sides," people! There is a creation *myth* and a scientific *theory* backed by observation and research!

:banghead:

You know what I have never been able to figure out? Why in the heck it *means* so much to these people to move their myths out of the church and into the school. I do have a theory, though. I think it's just plain power lust. Back to the days when the lord of the manor made the serfs walk through the snow to church.

[JBoy]

52. So this place is moving from California to Texas

They have a website: http://www.icr.org/

Here's the curriculum:

Quarterly Course Rotation for 2008

Winter Quarter to begin second week in January
SE 502 Educational Psychology (3)
SE 503 Instructional Design (3)
SE 506 Curriculum Implementation (3)
AG 506 Geochronology (4)
GE 505 Geochronology (4)
BI 504 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (4)

Spring Quarter to begin 4th week in March
SE 504 Educational Research (3)
SE 505 Curriculum Design (3)
SE 507 Inquiry and the Nature of Science (3)
AG 507 Paleoclimatology with Lab (4)
GE 510 Principles/Patterns in Paleontology (3)
GE 510L Principles/Patterns in Paleontology Lab (1) (duration 1 week)
BI 507 Principles/Patterns in Paleontology (3)
BI 507L Principles/Patterns in Paleontology Lab (1) (duration 1 week)
BI 572 Advanced Cell and Molecular Biology (3/4)

Summer Quarter to begin 3rd week in June
SE 502 Educational Psychology (3)
SE 503 Instructional Design (3)
SE 506 Curriculum Implementation (3)
AG 510 Planetary and Stellar Astronomy with Lab (4)
BI 506 Advanced Ecology with Lab (4)
GE 501 Physics and Geology of Natural Disasters (3)
GE 572 Geology Field Investigation (Lab) (2)

Fall Quarter to begin 2nd week in September
SE 504 Educational Research (3)
SE 505 Curriculum Design (3)
SE 507 Inquiry and the Nature of Science (3)
AG 513 Creation and Cosmology (3)
GE 502 Geology of the Global Flood (3)
BI 505 Biological Concepts (3)
BI 505L Biological Concepts Lab (1)

They also have course descriptions for each of these, but here's a sample of the bullshit they "teach":

"AG 505 GEOCHRONOLOGY (4)
A review, critique, and evaluation of assumptions and evidences for the age of the earth and its rock layers. Particular emphasis will be placed on surveying the use of the radioisotope dating methods, especially potassium-argon, rubidium-strontium, samarium-neodymium and uranium-thorium-lead, to expose the fatal problems with them. Special emphasis will also focus on the results of the RATE (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth) research project, including helium diffusion in zircon, fission tracks, radiohalos, discordant isochron "ages," and radiocarbon in supposedly ancient organic materials and diamonds, that together indicate that nuclear decay was grossly accelerated during a recent catastrophic event in earth history and that the earth is therefore young. A thorough analysis of all the evidence indicating a young earth will be undertaken."

This is NOT FUCKING SCIENCE!!!!


And check out their "code of conduct": http://www.icr.edu/academic/conduct.html

"Since the ICR Graduate School recognizes the freedom of each student to develop in response to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and since graduate students are already recognized as Christian leaders in the community, it is expected that they will exemplify a God-controlled life of righteousness and morality without administrative attention or regulation."

...

"Any form of sexual activity in conflict with biblical standards (e.g., adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior) will result in dismissal (II Timothy 2:22; Matthew 5:27-28)."

[and-justice-for-all]

54. What a load of shit this is....

and tragic. very, very sad...

There are now degrees availiable in psudeoscience? pathetic.

[pleah]

59. I wish these people would crawl back in their hole.

And leave the rest of us alone.

[FVZA_Colonel]

60. Oh I wish you could leave comments on the NYT website (if you can, I didn't see where.)

It is really sort of scary that an American state will be sanctioning this garbage.

[NoodleyAppendage]

61. O.K. That's it! ENOUGH. I'm starting to see the attraction the Romans saw in lion fodder.

You can fuck with my politics. You can fuck with my social and cultural events. You can even fuck around (marginally) with my familial relations. BUT, GODDDAMN IT. Keep your ignorant, backwards-assed, hands off my science!

The only thing these people are going to get is a masters in IDIOCY! I hope that each and everyone of the recipients fails to find ANY employment above service and assembly line work.

J

[Ewellian]

62. Hey..there's no need to insult service and assembly line workers. nt

[xxqqqzme]

63. And the NASA Space Center is Houston?

They best be looking to relocate.

[Barrett808]

64. I was thinking it would be fun to get this Master's degree, but at $11,800...

...it's a bit rich for my blood:

http://www.icr.edu/tuition/index.html
Estimated total cost of 33 semester credit program: $11800.00