Jindal, You Ass.
Just wanted to say it now and get it out of the way.

Pillaging Education
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – in one deft swing of a pen – has crippled his states education system. Starting in the 2012-2013 school year, the bill Jindal pushed through will let thousands of students start at or transfer to private Christian schools. When they attend those private colleges, voucher money will go along with them – in essence taking that funding away from public colleges so that those students can learn things like the KKK was a respectable group fighting for reform. No, seriously. Stop laughing. That tidbit came straight from the Bob Jones University Press American history textbook that is still in print and being used right now.

I caught wind of this on Pharyngula yesterday (Source article found here). I can imagine the blood vessels in PZ’s head visibly throbbing as he listed out a few of the gems found in these text books like:

-Science Proves Homosexuality is a Learned Behavior
-The Second Law of Thermodynamics Disproves Evolution
-No Transitional Fossils Exist
-Humans and Dinosaurs Co-Existed
-Solar Fusion is a Myth

 

Tax Dollars – Hard at Work
Eternity Christian Academy (ECA), in Westlake, LA, is one of the religious schools that is cleared to take advantage of the voucher monies. Eternity Christian is a big proponent of the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) system. Never heard of ACE? Well, their program is a simplistic reward / punishment system. Those that exceed at taking multiple guess, matching, or fill in the blank tests are allowed freedom to move around without permission. A system that rewards students like that just helps to reinforce the idea that classes and learning are not important. This program is a system of brainwashing. It’s used to reward people for being trained to regurgitate “facts” without any basis in reality. Worse yet, it does not want people thinking or questioning the books. The scientific method is frowned upon at best and plain problem solving is not allowed.

 

Weird Science
In their “science” books, ACE claims scientists speculate Noah took small dinosaurs onto the arc. They just took the absurd claim of the arc and added baby dinosaurs to it. Might as well ask “Do all unicorns fart rainbows?” Just bypass all the arguments against the existence of unicorns – just assume that it’s true – and ask if they toot out the world’s rainbows…

Even worse, if anything contradicts the Bible, it gets tossed out. Baby. Bathwater. Everything.  ACE is very clear on their method for dealing with bible/science contradictions:

True science will never contradict the Bible because God created both the universe and Scripture…If a scientific theory contradicts the Bible, then the theory is wrong and must be discarded.

 

Ignorance & Racism
Can’t fight it any longer… I need to share ACE’s stance on the KKK and apartheid. Got a well? Here’s some poison.

“The [Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross… In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians.”
~~~~
“For many years, the four racial groups were separated politically and socially by law. This policy of racial separation is called `apartheid’. South Africa’s apartheid policy encouraged whites, Blacks, Coloureds, and Asians to develop their own independent ways of life. Separate living area and schools made it possible for each group to maintain and pass on their culture and heritage to their children.”

 

Final Thoughts
I’ve brought up a lot of information – in a ranting sort of way – without much commentary. How is this conducive to the continuation of knowledge – let alone our species? It’s not supposed to be. ACE and other religious programs are preparing their students for the end-times. The Apocalypse and all that bad stuff. Ignore the past. Not preparing for the future – the end of the world will be here in our lifetime. To hell with the environment. God gave us dominion over all – use and abuse it. 

I’ll say it another way.  The Christian Death Cult is trying to hasten the demise of the world. Whether by slow environmental catastrophe or war that starts with intolerance against, well, everyone that does not subscribe to their brand of crazy. Programs like ACE, people like Jindal, and Schools like Eternity Christian Academy are all part of the problem. 

I do not want this to happen to our nation. That is a giant reason I got involved in atheism and skepticism in my community. That’s why I’m writing this now. To help others become aware of what is going on in the world – and change it. When the new Gallup polls say 46% of the USA still think god created man in the last ten thousand years, I get angry because I feel insignificant.  Then I remember all of you… and your friends… and their friends…   We need to be part of the solution. Get up off your ass and be proactive. I bet everyone reading this can come up with an idea to promote science and proper education for students of all ages. Know someone in Louisiana? Make sure they know about Jindal. Ask them if they want to return people to the stone age…

I will let the magnificent Christopher Hitchens share a quote that could have easily included ACE.

Do we not hear incessantly that the Hamas organization in Gaza is a provider of welfare to the poorest of the poor? Have we not heard this? Do we not hear that Louis Farrakhan’s crackpot racist organization, the Nation of Islam, gets young people off drugs? For all I know, it’s true. It not only says nothing about the truth or validity of their theology, but it must say a certain amount at least about our willingness to think wishfully or cultishly, which was, if you like, part of my point to begin with.

 

More Info
Check out the video for more mind-melting information about these programs and textbooks. If this is not enough to make a person rage, I don’t know what will.

 

I’m Mad As Hell…
Go watch the movie Network if you don’t know what I’m referencing…

 

~Wesley

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