Oh, man…you know you’ve got colossal wackaloonery when you find a website titled “Remember Thy Creator” — but then you discover that they are sponsoring a YEC conference at the end of July, that they list luminaries like John Morris and Ken Ham, and that they’ve got a front page article demanding that people reject the idea that the earth is old because the Bible says so, and best of all, they’ve got an open online poll. “Do you think Creation should be taught, along with Evolution, in public schools?”
Go on, skew that sucker.
Cougar mode on, claws out – fly my pretty! I’m off on my broomstick. *cackle*
I’m surprised that their “No” item doesn’t register as a “Yes.” Or maybe come up with “Are you sure you want to go to hell?”
Let’s get out that vote, and often!
Aye, aye Cap’n! The skewin’ has begun. We’re down 29% to 71%
Yes 64% (110)
No 36% (61)
This should be fast.
Yes 110
No 57
That was a short flight.
Back to the slut party.
Yes 110
No 97
getting there.
The first poll I actually attempted to skew. It seems one can vote only once a day.
They only let me vote once. You’d think they don’t trust the people who visit their site or something.
I note that we’re beind by about 2/3. I further see that they aren’t missing a trick; the Christian Icon, as always, lurks at the bottom of the page: DONATE
Even at a conference of bigwigs, they go for the purses of the no-wigs-at-all.
doov
If you’re serious about skewing this, clear cookies, refresh the page, and vote again.
Now at 110/57.9% for yes, 80/42.1% for no.
When I voted the front page had a link to an article titled “7 Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years, Dr. Terry Mortenson;” with the tagline “The Bible clearly teaches that God created in six literal 24 hour days a few thousand years ago.” Is it just me or did the ID movement stop pretending recently that it’s not overtly religious?
Patricia said
At least you could have had the decency to invite us!
Wow, 151 to 110. The noes nose ahead! I was 151. Hee hee heeee.
Allow me to point out that if you’re using Firefox, you can just manually delete the ‘voted1’ cookie and refresh the page (Tools -> Page Info -> Security -> Cookies).
Voted, skewed, conquered.
No: 207 (65.3%)
Yes: 110 (34.7%)
Creationism
Because science makes baby jesus cry
uh oh, they’re blocking additional votes, the curs!
“uh oh, they’re blocking additional votes, the curs!”
Hmm. Smarter than I thought….
doov
As of 6.00pm PST:
No: 256 69.9%
Yes: 110 30.1%
Tee hee…
Andy
Just tried again; “you already voted once today” Damn, the retards are going to outvote us! Anyone else having trouble getting another vote in?
Has anyone else looked at all of the flashing photos? Does one seem kind of…suggestive?
kick ass! I just checked again (not 20 minutes after i first checked and the ‘no’s are now at about 3X the yes’s. How long before they take down the poll results?
As of 9:04 Eastern
301 (73.2%) – No
110 (26.8%) – Yes
Pwnd!
Thank you, ajrw. I was able to help push the “no” vote to over 300.
Currently over 75% no :)
Consider it skewed.
317 (74.2%) – No
110 (25.8%) – Yes
mwa haha i love a poll crash before bed. now i’ll have sweet dreams of the creationist theme park burning to the ground.
Just looked at the list of notable conference ‘speakers’. My favorite has to be Philip Webb, credentials: Tenor.
The problem is, the way it’s worded it can look like this: No, I do not want creationism taught in schools, along with evolution, because I do not want evolution taught in schools.
Patricia: can you make another sweep and lob a few hundred more votes in under the radar? The curs are blocking further votes!
No
416 79.1%
Yes
110 20.9%
How long before it crashes?
Even if they did teach creationism along side evolution it would be pretty simple.
Class we just spent the last 8 weeks talking about how evolution works and the evidence for it. Now its time to talk about creationism.
God did it. Any question?
It’s the tardensity staff of ’08.
No
502 82%
Yes
110 18%
This is too much fun.
Such a… quaint web site.
83% and climbing!
No 598 84.5%
Yes 110 15.5%
You don’t have to clear all your cookies. In Firefox, go to Tools -> Preferences -> Privacy -> Show cookies, and delete the one for rememberthycreator.com
Their photos look like the B-List for the national association of grocery store managers.
No
578 84%
Yes
110 16%
Did anyone else notice that one of the minions from their main page actually teaches plant genetics at Cornell (Dr. John Sanford)? Why hasn’t Big Science taken care of him yet? No really. I’m kind of serious here.
WTF is an “Apologetics Conference” as advertised on their site? I bet thats where they have flagellation, hairshirts and all that kinky stuff.
No
578 84%
Yes
110 16%
Did anyone else notice that one of the minions from their main page actually teaches plant genetics at Cornell (Dr. John Sanford)? Why hasn’t Big Science taken care of him yet? No really. I’m kind of serious here.
They have a little dropdown menu on the results page. I caught wood a little at the thought of more polls to skew. The poll in question is the only one on the menu. Wonder if they’ll bother to maintain the feature?
OH NOES TEH PHARYNGULOID HORDES IZ BR33CHD D G4T35!! 9U11 UP R DR4W8R1GZ!!
No
578 84%
Yes
110 16%
Did anyone else notice that one of the minions from their main page actually teaches plant genetics at Cornell (Dr. John Sanford)? Why hasn’t Big Science taken care of him yet? No really. I’m kind of serious here.
No
730 86.9%
Yes
110 13.1%
BOOM!
No 730 86.9%
Yes 110 13.1%
# 40: First the evil Coulter and now this guy? Why Cornell, why? His title, according to his Cornell webpage, is Courtesy Associate Professor. What the heck does that mean?
no, seriously:
what’s the story with the sanford guy at cornell?
yeah, he’s only a ‘courtesy assoc’ now, but he was regular faculty for a long time.
furthermore, a quick look at his bio suggests that he actually knows or at least knew some real science at one time.
so was he just roped into something under false pretenses?
or did he go dotty in his old age?
there’s an interesting story behind all this.
Courtesy means he was like President Taft…a seat warmer.
You people do realize what’s going to happen, don’t you? They’re going to get a landslide of No votes to the question of whether “Creation should be taught, along with Evolution.”
Then, they’re going to champion the results of their poll which conclusively shows The American People don’t even support keeping evolution alongside creationism when the Good Christians finally introduce their curricular reforms.
currently 897 NO
110 yes
fusilier
James 2:24
I’m currently experiencing pollgasm.
No: 980 89.7%
Yes: 113 10.3%
Mwahahahaha!
oh dear. here’s the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Sanford
“dotty in his old age” is definitely the answer.
I added my part to the raping.
So the Sanford guy is a class A kook that has already been skewered in Evolgen back in 2006: http://scienceblogs.com/evolgen/2006/06/the_creationists_discover_the.php
No
1004 89.9%
Yes
113 10.1%
“No” is currently at 1017 = 90%
“Yes” is at 113 = 10%
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Anybody notice that there hasn’t been a Yes vote for a least a hour?
Now, Grasshopper, you begin to learn of Power. Go, now, and consider your new knowledge.
His title, according to his Cornell webpage, is Courtesy Associate Professor. What the heck does that mean?
He has pictures of a dean in a Bangkok brothel? Honestly, I’ve never heard of this title before.
so if God isn’t responsible for the existence, what is, wackos?
OK. Only three Yes votes in the last hour. Someone musta snuck them in while I was typing.
But still . . .
Gotta love the Yes/No polls about Creationism getting tons of NO’s on their own website.
:-D
~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/
No
1146 91%
Yes
114 9%
HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
No
1174 91.1%
Yes
114 8.9%
Man, it’s getting some work.
It’s 91.1% now.
Comment #2 has what I think is the real reason creationism is an incurable disease. They believe accepting evolution equals eternal torture in hell. Why risk that? For them it’s better to know nothing about science.
Interesting that only 1400 plus votes have been made since the poll started back in March.
Oh my. This is some great creotardbabble.
If you click on “Something to Think About” at the bottom, you get a nice little tard-rant which attempts to use a “big word” (syncretistic) but fails miserably (synchronistic).
I was tempted to mock them about it using their contact form, but I think it’s more fun from a distance. And I didn’t want to give it away.
I find it kind of ironic that the web host is named “Integrity” and uses a Xian-fish as its symbol.
Also,
No 1356 (92.2%)
Yes 115 (7.8%)
Ref: “Why risk that? For them it’s better to know nothing about science.”
New Poll:
If the Professor (Gilligan’s Island) and Ken Ham (AHole) were stranded on a desert island, and hated each other. Of Course. Who would you choose to be on your Team? Who would be voted off the island.
Science, Bitches!
John
so if God (a capable entity) isn’t responsible for the existence, what is? I would like an answer.
**so if God (a capable entity) isn’t responsible for the existence, what is? I would like an answer.
ALL AT ONCE NOW! ——-> All hail F.S.M. !!
In his noodly name, RAMEN.
Ahaha, look at that list of crazy speakers! Good thing we don’t have to put up with idiots like that at Cornell!
…
Well, crap.
Screw your false pasta god!
Everyone knows it’s the Invisible Pink Unicorn (bless Her Holy Hooves).
Oh god, that “conference” is in my hometown…
Wow PZ, I think you increased their traffic by about 15 times today.
I’m going to launch Firefox and vote again!
No
1500 (92.9%)
Yes
115 (7.1%)
Well, I’ve done my part.
Too bad it won’t affect anything…
Who wouldn’t?
I’d also like a Porsche, please.
When you solve the theological problem of infinite regression, let us know, asshole. Until then, STFU, because at least we try to answer the questions.
Also, you gain no chachet by the idiotic harping of a religion that is, frankly, as much a fantasy as unicorns. If you had ANY idea of the precedents of your religion and how how it’s history of changes from a polytheistic, child-sacrificing religion to a monotheistic whack-doodle religion of today, you’d probably be pissed for a decade at the cultural and institutional lies that have been promulgated for over 3000 years.
Hell, if you took a comparative religion course in college, with an open mind, you’d have found out that Christianity has stolen much of its doctrine and gospels from other religions. The Jesus story is recognized as way too parallel to Krishna to be mere coincidence and there is good archaeological evidence that Krisha’s death and resurrection was known to the Essene Jewish movement from which Jesus allegedly arose around 600BC. Making the coincidence too strong for casual dismissal as there are scores, or hundreds, of points in which the two myths converge. And there is good evidence that much symbolism and at least some doctrine was borrowed from the Mithraic Mysteries. And other mythos abound, preceding Christianity, from which stories were borrowed. Here are just SOME similarities:
Mithra, Sungod of Persia
The story of Mithra precedes the Christian fable by at least 600 years. According to Wheless, the cult of Mithra was, shortly before the Christian era, “the most popular and widely spread ‘Pagan’ religion of the times.” Mithra has the following in common with the Christ character:
Mithra was born on December 25th.
He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
He had 12 companions or disciples.
He performed miracles.
He was buried in a tomb.
After three days he rose again.
His resurrection was celebrated every year.
Mithra was called “the Good Shepherd.”
He was considered “the Way, the Truth and the Light, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Messiah.”
He was identified with both the Lion and the Lamb.
His sacred day was Sunday, “the Lord’s Day,” hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.
Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter, at which time he was resurrected.
His religion had a Eucharist or “Lord’s Supper”
That not enough for you to pause, you prick, let’s continue:
Krishna of India
The similarities between the Christian character and the Indian messiah are many. It should also be noted that, like the Jewish godman, many people have believed in a historical, carnalized Krishna.
Krishna was born of the Virgin Devaki (“Divine One”)
His father was a carpenter.
His birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds, and he was presented with gold, frankincense and myrrh.54a
He was persecuted by a tyrant who ordered the slaughter of thousands of infants.
He was of royal descent.
He was baptized in the River Ganges.
He worked miracles and wonders.
He raised the dead and healed lepers, the deaf and the blind.
Krishna used parables to teach the people about charity and love.
“He lived poor and he loved the poor.”
He was transfigured in front of his disciples.
In some traditions he died on a tree or was crucified between two thieves.
He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.
Krishna is called the “Shepherd God” and “Lord of lords,” and was considered “the Redeemer, Firstborn, Sin Bearer, Liberator, Universal Word.”
He is the second person of the Trinity, and proclaimed himself the “Resurrection” and the “way to the Father.”
He was considered the “Beginning, the Middle and the End,” (“Alpha and Omega”), as well as being omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.
His disciples bestowed upon him the title “Jezeus,” meaning “pure essence.”
Krishna is to return to do battle with the “Prince of Evil,” who will desolate the earth.
See, if you’d studied ancient religions and cultures you’d find they weren’t like us. That the borrowed liberally from other faiths. That myths were, literally, transportable and fungible. Gods were local/regional and changed from town-to-town, city-to-city all while borrowing liberally from prior religions and surrounding religions.
Only in modern times have these ancient religions achieved some sort of rigidity of doctrine. Zeus is Zeus wherever you go, now. Back then, not so much. He might be El for the Canaanites. Or Jupiter for the Romans. Or some other god, under a different name, in Persia. But those ancients recognized them as, more or less, the same god.
Now, are you ready for more? Tough. I’m not… You’re just another ignorant Internet wanker who doesn’t have a clue but has his deluded head so far up his ass he can’t hear a word, so I’d be wasting my time. Because you’re an arrogant piss-prick who relies on his ignorance to hound those who know far, far, far more about nearly everything.
And I have better things to do that to try to beat the stupidity and ignorance out of your head.
Jeez, sorry firemancarl – I thought you were already skewin’, so didn’t want to disturb…
I never drink & fly, Holbach – but I’ll send in my monkeys!
I’d also like a Porsche, please.
Oh Lord,
won’t ya buy me
a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches,
I must make Amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime,
no help from my friends.
So lord,
won’t ya buy me
a Mercedes Benz?
-JJoplin
Screw your false pasta god!
Everyone knows it’s the Invisible Pink Unicorn (bless Her Holy Hooves).
bah, if you watched the History Channel this wknd, you’d know it’s all about the almighty Dragon, baby!
I love what they have to say about radiometric dating. “It’s a recent development, so we can’t trust it!”
MtotheJ:
That’s why I moved from Hate City to Texas Creek!
RE: the poll
A tsunami of rationality:
No
1665 93.5%
Yes
115 6.5%
Number of Voters : 1780
No – 93.8%
Yes – 6.2%
So very satisfying.
opera, maxthon, firefox all count as separate votes from the same machine.
For those who think Atheists are disproportionally represented, with minorities having a small impact, just look at all those idiotic faces below the poll vote on the rememberthycreator website. It’s funny how an abjectly idiotic belief belonging to an archaic still backwater region of the middle east greatly influences (and in turn, is incfluenced by, and through the masses) people whose appearance is anything but middle eastern. As many have mentioned before, these bastards are either liars, cowards, psychologically unstable, ignorant, idiotic, or a combination of any or all of those traits. These morons deserve nothing more then a swift kick to the groin (I’ll concede Holbach’s imagination here and use Darwin’s statue).
This has to be a parody…that is probably like USD $100k in speakers…and imagine the money they get doing “science” selling their books and tapes in churches. That list is too unreal. It reminds me of the bunk fliers for raves that list almost all “headliner” DJs.
Thanks. (94%-No) I needed that laugh after the Obama stuff. The poll says the first vote happened back in March. Awww, has it been waiting all this time for us? heheheheh…
How many times must I tell you godless, elitist bastards – unicorns are real! It says so in the bible, Numbers 23:22 and Job 39:9,12.
Stan, you incredible talking biblical Ass – read Moses excellent post #80, which is all correct, then go look up the Apologia of St. Justin Martyr, an early church father that admitted christinity is not only the SAME story as the pagans used, but that it is bullshit as well.
I know it’s hard to keep up Stan, but really, you’ve had since 8:00 am, Day One – AD.
[delurks]
Voted “no” using Safari and Firefox, will do so again tomorrow morning using Internet Explorer from work. I don’t think these clowns expect any opposition to their idiocy.
I hear and I obey. The strength of the godless is shown. Closing in on 95% “NO” now. Stupid poll…
I don’t call it voting multiple times, I call it voting for my friends who would vote my way, but don’t read this blog.
What the hell is a capable entity?
The existence of what exactly? If you mean everything, well you’re welcome, I wished it into existence this morning. At about 9am.
If you mean everything, well you’re welcome, I wished it into existence this morning. At about 9am.
well, thanks for nothin’!
personally, I’m having a terrible day.
bastard.
:p
opera, maxthon, firefox all count as separate votes from the same machine.
can’t you just delete cookies and vote again…
…ayup.
just delete your cache and cookies, go back and vote again… and again… and again…
I’m sure by now someone is working on linking a script that will do it automatically.
Okay, let’s take this hypothetical for a moment. If God is the creator of the universe, what would we expect to see that we wouldn’t see if the universe came about through some other means? For this to have any meaning at all, it has to indicate that if we don’t see that thing, then that god does not exist. If you can do this, then you’ll do more to show god exists than any theologian ever has.
And until you do this, or until another answer is found correct, “I don’t know,” is the only valid answer that anybody can have to your question. Claiming that God did it when you don’t even know what God doing it means indicates that you are just talking out of your ass.
“I don’t know,” is the only valid answer that anybody can have to your question
actually, i was gonna go with “starstuff”.
If “god” really wanted creationism (they must have missed the memo about the name change), don’t you think he’d have crashed the poll himself?
Heh, well, there are a few potential answers to this. Of course, we don’t know what the actual answer is, but we have a few potential explanations. But to even start to answer the question, the question has to be stated more explicitly. First, “Why is there something instead of nothing?”
This question is actually asking something about the nature of the universe. It’s not asking about a specific event, but about why the physical laws are such that we have existence instead of not. My suspicion is that the answer to this question must eventually boil down to a simple statement like, “Everything that can logically exist must exist.” For something to logically exist, it must be fully and completely self consistent. What sorts of things are fully and completely self consistent? Mathematical structures! This dovetails nicely into Max Tegmark’s idea of the mathematical universe hypothesis:
http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/toe.html
If Tegmark’s Mathematical Universe Hypothesis is correct, it could mean that everything exists simply because the above statement is true: everything that can exist does so.
Then we have a different question: “What event led to the beginning of existence?” First it must be stated that a potential answer is no event at all: the universe could potentially have existed forever. Or it could be in line with Hawkings’ no boundary hypothesis, where the universe as a whole is finite, but wraps back on itself with no boundary, and thus still has no beginning (imagine, for example, the surface of a sphere: it has no beginning or end, and yet is finite).
But what if there was a specific event that started it all off? If so, the answer may lie in quantum mechanics. Within quantum mechanics, for instance, we find that if a particular form of matter can exist within a region of space, then it must pop in and out of the vacuum. This is, however, within a background space-time. If we want to talk about the beginning of everything, we can’t talk about any background: we have to talk about the beginnings of space-time!
Well, we know from simple observation that space-time can exist. If we had a quantum theory of gravity, might we find that space-time must necessarily be generated, by analogy with quantum vacuum fluctuations in quantum field theory? And the neat thing about all this is that quantum vacuum fluctuations are only short-lived because their energy is finite: due to the energy-time uncertainty relationship, they can’t last long before they disappear. But a space-time doesn’t have to have any total energy at all, and it can still be interesting. Our own region of the universe has no net energy, for instance! So maybe the event that started it all was a quantum gravity analog to a quantum vacuum fluctuation.
Anyway, musings over.
In the immortal words of Bill the Cat:
AAAccckkkk!
That is the answer to the question: How unsettling is it to open a wackaloonery YEC creationist website and discover that it is in your own backyard?
I think I should picket. Maybe a sign that says “Evolve”
Well, yeah, but that’s our beginning, not the beginnings of the universe :)
http://www.freeproxy.ca/ has a long list of anonymous proxies through which it is possible to access these polls pages, so your IP address changes each time. Just saying…
All this effort on voting multiple times for a poll that is for all intents and purposes abandoned. Stomp once, humiliate and then walk away. These losers will pray for us whether the result is %99.990 against them or %99.999.
And that’s all I need to say about it, because I am an elitist bastard.
What? There’s no way to vote, “FUCK NO!”?
Stupid poll.
ROLFLMAO!!!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/Ouchimoo/HAH.jpg
I had opened this page, then walked away, came back and wondered what I was looking at. .when the little flash on top flashed to this image. I had to do a triple take on how bad that looks!
has a long list of anonymous proxies through which it is possible to access these polls pages, so your IP address changes each time. Just saying…
it’s cookie based, so not necessary in this case, but still good to know.
Dear Natural Forces,
This is my second request for the data underlying your not-so-recent creation, “The Universe,” of which I form a part.
Existence has been argued to have been your doing, and the scientists tell me that you will make underlying data available. I’d like to review the data myself and ensure availability for others, including experts and my students. Others have expressed interest in access to the data in addition to myself, and the material world seems well-suited for public release of these data.
If the data are voluminous, then I particularly request access to the data made available to the reality-based community, and data relating to the period during which the universe and everything in it (especially humans) developed. As before, I’m requesting the organized data themselves, not the graphs and summaries set forth in thousands of scientific studies. Note that several times the universe expressly states, “data not shown.”
Given that this is my second request for the data, a clear answer is requested as to whether you will make the key data available for independent review. Thank you.
SC, Sagittarian, Dog Lover, Recipient of Numerous Awards for Bible Verse Memorization
y’all sing along to the wizard of oz…ding dong, you god is dead. your wicked god, you mean old god. ding dong!!! your wicked god is dead.
FOOLS and your lies and FALSE Prophets.
You only have 4 more days to live.
The Xist saucers are due to detroy the entire planet July 5th, X-Day and if you are not paid up at the Church opf the Subgenius you will die an excruciating fiery death as I laugh my ass off, looking down from the pleasure saucers.
It’s not too late.
Repent
QUIT YOUR JOB
SLACK OFF
PULL THE WOOL OVER YOUR OWN EYES
and send 30 dollars to become an ordained minister
ETERNAL SALVATION, or triple your money back
Praise Bob
for those really interested in following poll data, I ran across this the other day:
http://www.pollingreport.com/index.html
which could prove useful, for those that didn’t already know about it.
(after reading Moses’ #80 takedown)
*blink*
*blink*
Woooooooaaaaahhhh…
*golfclap*
I’m taking a copy of that one!
So petty…so pointless…so cathartic and satisfying.
Oh yeah Scooter, well you can just shove Bob! Everyone knows that the Goddess ruling this world is Eris, goddess of chaos, strife, confusion and discord. She appeared in a bowling alley in the great Eris believing state of Californication.
My dog lifts his leg on your Bob! And before you dispute my claim, I urge you to look into the presidency of George Bush and his policies.
The theory (Darwinism) and practice (sodomy) of the religion of evolutionism enjoy an unchallenged monopoly in public schools today. Yet, the great PZ Myers is concerned about one small organization of people who love Jesus. Like Goliath mocking David, PZ and Philistine compatriots scorn and mock those who love him as being too stupid to be worth taking seriously, yet taken seriously they are! The still small voice of the Holy Spirit tells evolutionists that they are on the losing side; George Carlin spent his entire life attempting to silence his witness via mockery. Now, it’s too late for him. What about you? Is justifying the act of buggery so important that you are willing to burn forever in the Lake of Fire because of it?
The theory (Darwinism) and practice (sodomy) of the religion of evolutionism enjoy an unchallenged monopoly in public schools today.
hey, greaser, long time no see (thankfully).
However, I have a more accurate rewording of your missive:
“The theory (Darwinism)
andpractice[s] (sodomy) onthe[your] religion.”just as accurate as yours, and at least more humorous.
I applaud you Jason Dick. Your comment was spot on and thought provoking. We need to hear more from you! :D
No
2764 95.8%
Yes
120 4.2%
——————–
Alright! :D
That website makes me all sad inside.
greaser – they don’t love Jesus. They hate everyone who doesn’t think like they do. Big difference.
And why are all the fundangelicals so fixated on gay sex? I swear, the swingingest, gayest dude in New York City doesn’t fixate on sex half as much as your average Christian troll.
2835 no
120 yes
Questions?
Statistics make baby jesus cry.
@Pole Greaser #117
Do you honestly thing that non-religious people will suddenly become fearful of hell if you just keep repeating it? Hell doesn’t exist, so there is no reason to fear it at all. Nice to see your sense of Christian morality extends to capitalising of the death of a beloved public figure to push your beliefs… I’m sure it’s just what Jesus would do, that is if Jesus existed.
Believers are so funny, always talking about Hell as if it were a real place. It’s like the Spanish Inquisition in threat form. And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
No : 96%
Yes : 4%
Mort de rire…
Driving home today, a massive SUV with a jebus fish and an ‘its a child, not a choice’ bumper sticker almost ran me the fuck off the road.
The coffee drinking cellphone yammering [uncharitable expletive deleted] merged into the far left lane without looking. The most annoying thing though was that the left lane was HOV access only when she tried to turn me into a smear on the road. She was alone in her new gallons/mile rather than miles/gallon Canyonero while I was doubly allowed HOV access having 3 people in my (now beat up 5 year old) hybrid which also has the damn HOV access stickers.
I have been fuming about this ever since… and now I feel just a little bit better with one mouse click. :)
96% – No
4% – Yes
Well, they cobbled together a few votes to get to the grand total of
One Hundred Twenty
in favor of creationism being taught in school.
Integrity is also the name of the gay and lesbian group of the Episcopal Church.
Did anyone else notice the first vote on the poll was way back in March? And presumably, another 109 votes predated July 1? Then 3000+ pharyngulopods swarmed it, and only about 10 more creationists voted.
re #130
We should all chip in and buy PZ one of those ‘Cat Herder’ T-shirts. :)
96.3% No
3.7% Yes
We win. Big time.
3.7% of people believe creation should be taught in public schools? That’s still too high.
Hmmm… I wonder if the poll’s numbers will mysteriously change once they see the numbers.
Pole Greaser: It’s been awhile since I read “On the Origin of Species”, but I don’t remember anything about buttsechs in it. Maybe if I search Darwin Online for “Santorum”…
And do you realize how hilarious it is to see someone with that pseudonym rant about sodomy?
BTW, you were so robbed in the last “Fugliest Website of the Year” voting. I don’t know if it was backstage politics or just that your talents were under-appreciated, but I’m betting this’ll be your year!
Anyway, on to important things…
the poll:
No
3144 96.3%
Yes
120 3.7%
No: 3262 96.4%
Yes: 121 3.6%
I don’t think they will like the results…
I only alter my cookie blocker for you PZ. Whoop whoop somebody is going to have fun digging through those user stats. “Pha…ryngula? Votes from Europe and Asia? What?”
This made my night! :)
p.s.- I bet that is the most hits that site has ever had.
HAhahaha,…..96.6% no…………I fucking love poll crashing.
Come on people lets get it up to 99%.
I preshrunk my firefox window, and kept my eyes to the right side, spotted the poll, voted no, and closed that religious porn site as quick as possible. A hit from me they got, but a very short one.
Pole Greaser, go grease a cucumber instead, and use it well, it can be an even closer friend than Jesus.
‘Tis done – & thanks to all who voted on the Dom poll in NZDear Sir,
BTW – you remember that poll looked skewed? Number8dave had this reply when he quizzed the Dom’s editor on the subject:
3664 / 122 for the Noes ……
I’ve done my Duty to the Party!
NO! – 3765
yes – 122
No – 3776, 96.9%
Yes – 122, 3.1%
That is SO not the answer they where looking for!
3817 / 122. If I were paranoid I would think that they now have a list with our IP addresses, though. Nah, what can they do? Pray for our connections to be slow and unreliable?
Moses @ #80
Krishna? While not entirely impossible (the remnants of Alexander the Great’s empire did open trade routes to modern India) I would have thought something closer to home would have been a more likely option. Specifically certain Dionysian cults of Zagreus in the Greek world and there was a large Jewish population in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Dying God archetype is hardly uncommon after all.
Pole Greaser,
Why does it never occur to creobots that the ready accessiblity of the prostate via the anus is undoubtedly the best evidence we have of intelligent design?
The poll is now at 97% “No”. I may have voted twice. I certainly hope so. That’s a good way to start off a Wednesday. Thanks.
Dear God, that was hysterical.
No, 97% (4027)
Yes, 3% (125)
Divine intervention needed, methinks.
Its still 97% No.
This will probably the last time creotards employ an online poll.
That is fen embarrassing.
Thanks for starting off my day with a good belly laugh, Polegreaser (#117)!!! You just made me spit out my coffee in a laughing/coughing fit. That was a hilarious post – pretending to be obsessed with sodomy and anal sex while using “Polegreaser” as a nom de plume. That was great! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! …wait a minute, you were serious, weren’t you? Oh, you poor thing, I’m so sorry.
No
4150 97.1%
Yes
126 2.9%
“#61so if God isn’t responsible for the existence, what is, wackos?
Posted by: stan”
The laws of physics and chemistry emerged out of the conditions just after the ‘big bang’.
Are we sure though that Pole Greaser is not a Poe? I remember having seen his “website” before, but I could never read more than one sentence there without having an epileptic seizure (and it doesn’t even have flashing images!). Has anyone actually searched for the (*this is a joke) small print, like on the Bonsai Kitty website?
Wowbagger:
Haha Sad that some wouldn’t get that joke. They’d see it as an obvious fact.
I think we should throw Ken Ham in a ring with a Salt Water Croc and see which one his god finds superior enough to live. And Ken: no cheating by using science (no gun-powder, flamable liquids, protective clothing, or advanced knowledge of croc biology). Who are you gonna believe, God or scientists?
Answering the question from #70:
If the Professor (Gilligan’s Island) and Ken Ham (AHole) were stranded on a desert island, and hated each other. Of Course. Who would you choose to be on your Team? Who would be voted off the island.
I would vote the Professor off the island – The idea of Ken Ham stuck on a desert island seems like a bloody good idea :)
As for the vote:
No: 4244 97.1%
Yes: 127 2.9%
Could it be that polegreaser is actually such a subtly brilliant satirist that we poor mortals fail to perceive the irony? I’ve already made such a mistake, with SC no less, much to my chagrin.
If not, then how about this for a justification of sodomy, polegreaser? Since the Bible tells us God fucked Mary, and since God is of a different and superior kind to humanity, the Bible clearly advocates interspecies sex! And with a married lady, no less…
I wonder if hybrid-Jesus was fertile? Mules generally aren’t, but there are exceptions.
#156: I’m convinced of the non-existence of Pole Greaser. He/she/it links to a GEOCENTRICISM website FFS. One laid out like Time Cube. And the name “Pole Greaser”, I read that as “Wanker” (unless “Pole” is the nationality but that’s no better).
Also, y’know, the comedic tardedness.
You know, a _real_ Creationist would vote “no” on this too on the grounds that creationism shouldn’t be taught along with evolution but rather instead of evolution. So the people running the site do have an out (“the poll shows that readers overwhelmingly favor teaching creationism alone”).
97.2% Oh dear, my infantile mind finds this fuckin` hilarious
oriole, you flatter me! Posting that expecting everyone to know I was joking in the absence of any clues other than my moniker was an act of supreme arrogance. Now you’ve gone and fed it. Beware.
I am SC. The blogosphere WILL KNOW MY NAME.
I wonder if hybrid-Jesus was fertile? – oriole
Of course he was! Haven’t you read The Da Vinci Code? ;-)
NO 4731 (97.3%), YES 129 (2.7%)
Remember, the Devil may tempt you to delete the cookies set by the web site, because that way, you can vote more than once.
Hey, Nick Gotts. I actually was thinking of The Da Vinci Code when I wrote that post – but of course, we know that THAT book was a sloppy work of fiction, unlike THE BIBLE.
Can we once and for all state that Ken Ham is in possession of the worst beard ever?
I think you’ve released the hounds, Mr. Myers. *Proceeds to vote.*
4924 (97.4%) against 132 (2.6%)
This is fun!
Every time you bring one of these up, PZ, I hear Montgomery Burns’ voice in my head:
“Release the hounds, Smithers!”
”
The existence of the prostate itself is a good argument against design. Much like the appendix, it serves largely to cause problems (and enrich surgeons).
10:11pm Canberra Time (8:11am Eastern Standard Time)
5008 97.4% No
133 2.6% yes
The existence of the prostate itself is a good argument against design. Much like the appendix, it serves largely to cause problems (and enrich surgeons). – dr.luba@171.
So? We know from Genesis 1 that God’s a surgeon!
I never post here, except for now: I have to second Big Rev – yes, Ken Ham has the worst beard in existence. The worst.
Late to this one … but from the home page:
The Conference itself will feature a dazzling array of world class speakers offering a variety of multimedia presentations on topics as diverse as astronomy, geology, paleontology, physics, history, oceanography, and biology. These researchers, scientists and speakers are skilled in presenting information in a format that is typically understandable to the average non-scientific audience.
Or rather “we will have lots of lay presenters who don’t really know much about science but will confuse you with long words, made up ‘facts’ and out-and-out lies so that you will go home with your pre-supposition that the earth is actually only a few thousand years old suitably reinforced”.
The scariest thing about the conference agenda is an item titled “Creation Pantomime” to be performed by a group called the “Home Schoolers”. I’ll be looking for this on YouTube … there is no way some proud parent is going to be able to resist posting it …
I wonder if hybrid-Jesus was fertile?
And if so (and he did actually reproduce) do his descendents have any measurable phenotypic or genotypic abnormalities that would allow one to identify them?
Bwah HA HA!
NO 5214 97.5%
Yes 133 2.5%
pwnd!
This is fun, infantile…but fun! :D
Creationism. Because science makes baby jesus cry
Creationism. Because thinking makes baby jesus cry.
Fixed.
Voted.
Have to say i felt a slight pang of guilt when the site cheerily said “Thanks for your vote!”, then i realised that i didn’t feel anything of the sort.
Tis skewed.
Sorry for this but…
Stan, you drive by troll troglodyte, I see you never came back and answered my question in the post about Kent Hovind’s moronic spawn.
Here is the link
and here is the question, which was a response to your dumbfuckery displayed at said post and other places.
You are the typical creationist idiot troll who comes in and throws feces like an escaped monkey then runs off and hides in the bushes when zoo keepers come after you.
/troll feed
Skewed and roasted. “See you in hell Ken Ham” …as the lights fade on another tardacious website. Close curtains. Audience applauds.
My online poll found that dealing with online polls is a waste of time 99.999% of the time.
Hey Stan,
Read this:
http://www.slate.com/id/2194568/?GT1=38001
Viva Espana! They get you don’t.
Ah, yes; death, decay, murder, eternal damnation, generational curses and genocide – now for kids!
Look out, Abel! He’s behind you!
Oh, no he isn’t!
Oh, yes he is!
Oh, no he isn’t!
Oh, yes he is!
Oh, no he isnAAhhh*thunk*
God probably gets all the best lines, though.
I don’t know, should I really destroy all life on earth, save a chosen few? What do you think, kids?
97.6% against total votes ~ 5590 approx
Yeah, but 1,374,978 of those votes were just me screwing around. Sorry about that…
L-sama: I’m sure Moses knows about the similarities between Dionysus and Krishna; as he stated his examples were only two among many and chosen for their popularity at the time. The sacrificial child-god of love is, as you say, a very common idea within Indo-European cultures, we could go on about Baldr and the Celtic god of the harvest, but why repeat the same argument endlessly? Remember though that the Dionysus cult, like that of Venus, spread into Greece sometime during the archaic period (iirc) from the East, so it is likely that Krishna developed directly from whatever foundational cult in India or the Black Sea region that inspired Dionysus whereas Christianity was aggregating all of these mystery traditions with Egyptian rebirth cults and the Yaweh cult and coming up with a new charismatic, evangelizing, religion.
And skew we did. 5623 (97.7%)for NO and 134 (2.3%) for YES. My my, I’d bet that this isn’t what they were expecting.
Anyone got a Time Cube score on Pole’s website? I would give it at least a 0.3 just for the color scheme. I would given more but I had to penalize at least .1 for no Comic Sans font.
But beyond that.. Pole, please do us all a favor and check yourself into the nearest mental hospital.
Wow. It’s now 97% No.
I can’t wait till these idiots show up in Colorado Springs.
Well I did my part. This poll-crashing is so childish, and I love it so much.
Hehehe – still 97.7% after I voted for reason.
Wow. It’s now 97% No.
I can’t wait till these idiots show up in Colorado Springs.
Every time I see Pole greaser’s website it firmly cements Poe’s Law in my brain as beyond valid.
Done and done.
Got to this one late — excellent work poll-skewing everyone.
5871 – 135. I love it.
As I voted, what struck me was the 135 Yes votes. One hundred and thirty five. A number so small in this context that it rounds to zero; a show of support so weak it’s like the author isn’t trying. 135 votes on the Innernetz?
0900 US Central Time Zone
The Poll results have been taken down. :)
I know we’ve made this concerted effort happen several times before, but for some reason this one is so much funnier. 98-2 right now, the nays have it I think. ;)
If you vote, then clear your coookie for the site, then refresh the page, you can immediately vote again. You can repeat this procedure as long as you like.
Here in Colorado Springs there are several large billboards around (that includes pictures of the participants). I almost wrecked my car on the drive home having to see Ken “Wackaloon” Hamm’s photo up there.
Regardless of the conference please don’t judge all of the Springs on that basis. Many of this community dislikes the fundie Xian ways including the ARN & Focus on the Family idiots.
The next effort needs to be editorials written to our local papers the Gazette & Independent.
When I woke up this morning and saw the crashed poll I could only cry a tear of joy. YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO PROUD!
“The theory (Darwinism) and practice (sodomy) of the religion of evolutionism…”
You know, I’m a firm believer in Evolution and I attempt to inform anyone who wants to know about it to the best of my abilities, but I’ve gotta say, I’m missing out on these sodomy parties.
If any other evolutionist on here could give me directions to the nearest one, my groin would be very thankful.
Re: #167
Yeah, ever since the Pequod sank…
Oh I’m not sure Ahab holds a candle to Hamster
Moses, thanks for a great summary (#80). I’ve saved it for future reference.
They will skew the results anyway..
If YES wins – they will say creation should be taught in school
If NO wins – they will say its a rejection of EVOLUTION being taught in schools.
Look at where they placed the commas.
…and practice (sodomy) …
PRACTICE?!?!?!?!
I think I have it down pat now, thanks.
Ouch! You guys killed the “yes” in the poll.
The theory (Darwinism) and practice (sodomy) of the religion of evolutionism enjoy an unchallenged monopoly in public schools today.
Posted by: Pole Greaser
Teacher! Teacher! I have a question! If sodomy is the practice of evolution, where do the offsprings come from?
Also, I am assuming you think sodomy is morally wrong. If that is the case, teacher, why do you have such a sodomy friendly moniker? Or does you moniker draw it’s inspiration from one of Ivan The Terrible’s favorite means of execution?
Please help me out, teacher. I am deeply confused. It seems only you can answer these questions.
Teacher! Teacher! I have a question! If sodomy is the practice of evolution, where do the offsprings come from?
Apparently evolution leads to shitheads
So fundies are the extreme expression of evolution.
To play devil’s advocate, won’t blaming the residents of X who host wackaloon Y make the sane residents more likely to speak out? As annoying as it must be for them, wouldn’t that be a good thing?
Wow! a whopping 98% of people polled give a resounding “NO”. Good job, people.
That would be the Bronze Age. Really, somebody send these folk a calendar.
Latest update:
No – 7091
Yes – 141
Ever wonder how much revenue we raise for these sites when we send … at least 1000s of people over to them?
They will probably spin the results to say that people overwhelmingly voted to teach only creationism, not creationism alongside evolution (since that’s what the question is).
Re Dianne’s question about genotype abnormalities of the offspring of hybrid-Jesus: of course! That must be where that famous God-gene comes from!
Did my bit. :)
No
7313 98.1%
Yes
144 1.9%
@216:
They have no ads, so I doubt anyone is paying them for traffic.
No: 7480 (98.1% )
Yes: 146 (1.9%)
Poor fools.
@220: Good, I do love crashing the polls… but not as much if they get paid when we do.
The poll is now 7565 No (98.1%) and 147 Yes (1.9%).
I only wish I could vote for our elected officials NOW and not have to sit through a summer of endless commericials from the various candidates.
Checked out that site – what a bunch of morons.
Iliked this bit “Belief in millions of years undermines the Bible’s teaching on death and on the character of God.”
You would think an intelligent person would be lead by evidence. Not ancient toilet paper. The overwhelming evidence shows there was death, natural disasters, cannabalism, disease and violence long before man appeared
Checked out that site – what a bunch of morons.
Iliked this bit “Belief in millions of years undermines the Bible’s teaching on death and on the character of God.”
You would think an intelligent person would be lead by evidence. Not ancient toilet paper. The overwhelming evidence shows there was death, natural disasters, cannabalism, disease and violence long before man appeared
WooHoo!!! Victory from the hills!!!!
@Moses on #80
Since I saw a lot of posters agreeing with Moses, I thought I might clear up a few points. This pertains to points Moses raised about Krishna only. Having been born and bought up in India, and hence knowing a lot about Krishna (he is a local hero here, in addition to being worshiped as God :)), I cannot but talk about some mistakes Moses made.
1. Krishna was born of the Virgin Devaki (“Divine One”)
Krishna was the eighth son of Vasudev and Devaki. He was born in a prison, after his uncle (Devakis brother, Kamsa) had imprisoned his parents* after a prophecy that their son would kill him. Six of his elder brothers were killed by Kamsa as soon as they were born.
2. His father was a carpenter. He was from Yadu (or Yadava) clan, who were descented from King Yayatis son, Yadu
3. His birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds, and he was presented with gold, frankincense and myrrh. AS mentioned earlier, he was born in a prison cell and priority was to get him out of the cell before his uncle could kill him like his elder siblings.
4. He was persecuted by a tyrant who ordered the slaughter of thousands of infants. This happened.
5. He was of royal descent. This is also correct, the difference being, he was accepted as a king during his lifetime.
6. He was baptized in the River Ganges.There is no mention of anything like this happening in the puranas. Infact, there is no concept of baptism (or circumcision or any other rituals a child has to undergo) in Hindu religion.
7. He worked miracles and wonders. True, but his miracles were done among the priests and kings, the upper classes.
8. He raised the dead and healed lepers, the deaf and the blind. Not true. Nothing of this sort happened. According to mythology no one can raise some one from dead. It is something like the ‘unbendable’ rule.
9. Krishna used parables to teach the people about charity and love. Krishna, though a benovelent king, did not do that. He was an out and out kshatriya (warrior class of India), who advised his cousin Arjuna during the great Mahabharath war that it is ok to kill your elders, teachers and friends in the cause of Dharma(goodness).
10. “He lived poor and he loved the poor.” He was a king
11. He was transfigured in front of his disciples. He did not have any disciples during his lifetime. Only people he ruled over.
12. In some traditions he died on a tree or was crucified between two thieves. He was killed by a hunters arrow.
13. He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. He did not rise from the dead. His body was left behind on earth. His soul ascended to heaven.
14. Krishna is called the “Shepherd God” and “Lord of lords,” and was considered “the Redeemer, Firstborn, Sin Bearer, Liberator, Universal Word.” He is called Shepherd God in all the sense of the word, as his clan, Yadavas, were shepherds (cow herds to be exact.)
15. He is the second person of the Trinity, and proclaimed himself the “Resurrection” and the “way to the Father.” He is an incarnation of one God in the triumvirate of Brahma(God of creation), Vishnu(God of sustaining) and Shiva(God of destruction). Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu.
16. He was considered the “Beginning, the Middle and the End,” (“Alpha and Omega”), as well as being omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.There is a story in Hindu mythology in which Vishnu (whose one incarnation Krishna is) and Shiva fails to find the beginning and end of the supreme power. So no one ever claims Krishna is all these stuff.
17. His disciples bestowed upon him the title “Jezeus,” meaning “pure essence.” Don’t know. Never heard of this
18. Krishna is to return to do battle with the “Prince of Evil,” who will desolate the earth. Krishna is just one incarnation of Vishnu, who, in his own words, will incarnate to cleanse earth of evil, whenever evil becomes too much. There has been 9 till date, one more to follow.
Just correcting some misconceptions in Moses post. I do not claim that these facts about Krishna are true, just that this is how it is represented in mythology.
Just for the records, I am an open minded Indian Christian (neither a theist nor an atheist, an agnostic, maybe).
———-
*
On a lighter note, there is a joke in India, where a student asks his teacher that if Kamsa knew Krishna would kill him, why did he put Devaki and Vasudev in the same cell. :-)
———-
Hmm… I voted yesterday. I went back just now to vote again, and got the little window saying I’d already voted today. Dishonest Christers!
Looks like they have removed the poll as it was not getting the result they wanted.
Does anyone know the final result of the “poll”?
I think we should email them and ask “what happened to the poll?”
Here’s the contact email [email protected]
I like to see if they actually respond.
I was on the poll less than an hour ago, must have been right before they pulled it down, it was still 98%+ No, less than 2% yes.
Ok, last post from me on this one…I promise.
The final was 8209 “no” or 98.2%
148 “yes” or 1.8%
I saved the page link so it can be view here (or until they remove the page).
http://rememberthycreator.com/index.php?option=com_poll&task=results&id=1&Itemid=28
C.
Janine writes:
Also, I am assuming you think sodomy is morally wrong. If that is the case, teacher, why do you have such a sodomy friendly moniker? Or does you moniker draw it’s inspiration from one of Ivan The Terrible’s favorite means of execution?
Please help me out, teacher. I am deeply confused. It seems only you can answer
Well, my name comes from the fact I was enrolled in the MD/PhD program at Yale. The enrollees in this program and other graduate programs must perform figurative, and occasional, literal, pole greasing of one’s superiors in the evolutionists hierarchy in order to obtain a place within it. Since I was convinced the religion of evolutionism was the truth, I assumed this sort of activity was mankind’s highest calling. Well, one day I was staying overnight in a Motel 6 and I picked up a Gideon Bible. Upon reading it I knew the religion of evolutionism was a sham! This book contained all the truths my textbooks ignored or supressed. I then started praising the name of Jesus and never stopped!
Ok,
I had to post again. Everyone, please click on “Pole Greaser’s” name above for a link to Wackalooneyville. Looks at the fine examples of “Copernican and Darwinian Myths” and “The Global Warming Obsession Rests on Acceptance of Billions of Years of Evolutionism” whatever the hell that means. I think it may be humor, but can you really be sure when it comes to fundies?
C.
The poll is strangley missing from the page…
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Final poll results:
No
8209 votes
98.2%
Yes
148 votes
1.8%
Well, if the poll’s gone…
Pole Greaser, since you’ve returned, would you mind explaining the link you perceive between “the religion of evolutionism” and the practice of consensual anal play? I admit, I fail to see the correlation, much less the causation, between the understanding of the process by which the diversity of life on Earth developed and the act of inserting a penis into an anus.
And really… you were an MD or PhD student and one night with a Bible killed all your critical thinking skills?
Ragutis @ #238, you might as well ask him what he was doing in a motel room? Pole greasing?
I can’t find the poll question. Can someone give the URL to the page that has the poll question on it?
Yep. Poll gone. Lots of bearded WASPS on that page.
Jeebus! Ken Ham looks like Dr. Zaius.
Congratulations, we ended up getting the poll pulled. I guess the opposition to the teaching of evolution was so great they didn’t need any more data.
Link to the poll directly.
(At least it works for me.)
Given the sheer depth of silliness involved, I’m going to have to call out the Poe Greaser for what it is. While his/her/its html skillz may be a tad rusty, the proper spelling and complete sentences were a dead giveaway (though the name didn’t hurt).
Looks like Ken Hamster and his merry band of ignorant, fraudulent asswipes have pulled their “poll”.
Jeebus, they are creepy bastards.
Just seeing their smarmy, baleful countenances makes me want to take a shower.
The Pole Greaser takes on the Poll Greaser.
Epic.
I’m surprised the poll question wasn’t: Should creationism be taught IN PLACE OF evolution in schools?
At least we’re making progress. They’re not trying to remove the teaching of evolution at least.
lostn
If I remember correctly after all the losses in the US with all those laws, the Creationists moved towards the “teach the controversy” argument.
Although I think that ideally they don’t want evolution taught at all.
arrrghghg POE POE POE!!!!!1
[comic book guy]
worst.beard.ever.
[/comic book guy]
You really have to feel sorry for Dr. Zaius, being compared to Ken Ham like that.
Pole Greaser:
Translation: I flunked out.
Well, one day I was staying overnight in a Motel 6 and I picked up a Gideon Bible. Upon reading it I knew the religion of evolutionism was a sham! This book contained all the truths my textbooks ignored or supressed. I then started praising the name of Jesus and never stopped!
Posted by: Pole Greaser
That’s funny! By reading the Gideon Bibles he kept finding in his hotel rooms, Steve Allen, former host of The Tonight Show, became an atheist. He found the contents to be barbaric.
PZ Whackaloon Myers,
You see, this sort of junior high bunk is why I can only give you credit for being a pop biologist at best. What in Sam Hill does this have to do with science? Nothing, but it says much for groupthink and your over-all maturity level.
Does you really suppose that science is determined by court cases and opinion polls? And does your childishness know no bounds?
Maybe you ought to stick to your alleged field of expertise…
–Sirius Knott
I admit I went to have a look at the poll, though skewing and voting many times is surely unfair even if it’s initially funny. The popularity of beliefs is not necessarily connected to their validity, so there’s little point. Besides, messing with their poll surely just confirms fundies beliefs that they’re persecuted and or surrounded by evil. Maybe it’s getting into a gutter of sorts too.
In a former life I taught American undergraduates some introductory zoology and was taken aback at the closed- mindedness of biblical literalists. I didn’t change any of their minds and every so often I have wondered what, if anything, might make any impression. One thing that will not, I am sure, is ridicule. Of course it’s sometimes appropriate and sometimes irresistable.
In the UK now students are taught “Critical Thinking” (see http://www.criticalthinking.org). I have no idea if it really does produce critical thinkers but it’s hard to argue with the idea of training people in this way when the tide of misinformation, conspiracy theories and nonsense people are exposed to today is almost enough to make one despair of the idea of democracy. (To say nothing of the election of idiots in consequence.)
I’d like to think that it should be possible to design experiments to demonstrate that the espousers of science and creationism aren’t engaged in a “he said, she said” debate, as many of the unconvinced apparently assume. Given the popular appetite for CSI and Survivor type TV programs, would it be possible to construct an objective test of critical thinking ability that would also make good entertainment?
After all, nobody’s beliefs will be challenged by a skewed poll.