ID - The Spawn of Creationism

Many Europeans are still happily oblivious to the ongoing "battle" between Creationism (oops - I mean "Intelligent Design") and Evolution in the United States (well - in a few states at least). Advocates of Intelligent Design believe that life is too complex to be a result of random events and that it requires a creator. So what these ID supporters are trying to do is this: Make PUBLIC schools teach Intelligent Design along with evolution. If this happens it means that tax dollars are used for religious purposes and that is against the Constitution of the United States (which Bush is already violating with his faith-based programs). ID advocates of course argue that ID has got nothing to do with religion but does anyone (other than religious nutjobs) believe that for a second? Simply put - this is just another attempt by Christians to make public schools teach Creationism.

So basically this is what they are trying to do: Anyone can create a theory (Intelligent Design in this case) and call it "logical" ("life is complex = life has a designer"). Now if this theory (and it really is just a theory while evolution is a scientific theory - meaning evolution is valid and can be observed, repeated and developed) happens to have many supporters (=many religious nutjobs) and if some of those supporters happen to have enough influence and money you can try to make schools teach your theory. So that's all there is. Intelligent Design is not a result of scientific research - it's a guess based on a religious fictional story. It has no facts to support it - only that some think that it's logical. And this is what they want to teach you at school? Evolution can be observed and it is repeatable. Intelligent Design is neither observable nor repeatable - it's just a wild guess.

Ask these Intelligent Design "theorists" (=pseudoscientific clowns) do they accept the possibility that UFOs (intelligent lifeforms creating life = intelligent design) created mankind and they'll find a way around it. Ask them do they accept the possibility that there were many "intelligent" beings (=gods) behind the creation of the universe and they'll find a way around it. That's because these Christians accept only one God - not gods or ufos. Surely there are secular ID supporters but they're not the ones gathering all the publicity.

Many ID advocates (Creationists) would like to think that their "theory" is challenging evolution. Give me a break. This pathetic attempt will fail just like every similar attempt before has failed. Even small victories for Creationists usually end up being reversed sooner or later and it's always evolution in the end that triumphs. And then there's Europe of course. No matter what goes on in The Eden of Ignorance (the Bible territory in the United States - Texas & co.) the post-religious Europe will most likely survive this new wave of idiotism (and have at least one good reason to laugh at America).

The Creationists still have one base left - private schools. Public funding for public schools in the United States is relatively weak and forces many American parents to send their kids to private schools. Is this a problem? Not really. In case you didn't know they teach religion at schools here in Finland (as is done in many secular European countries) and our people are not that religious. Religion is a separate subject at schools and does not compete with evolution during science classes. When teaching religion they don't teach that someone created the universe but that according to a religion someone created the universe.
Besides - religious behavior correlates with a person's IQ. In a nutshell - the more religion the more stupidity. If you're born smart enough you won't become religious. So the Christian "Right" (capitalism has got nothing to do with religion - in fact capitalism was a result of liberal non-religious ideas) in America - a strong supporter of social darwinism is actually a victim of their own (but unrecognized) sociobiological beliefs.

You might ask yourself - do adults actually belive this stuff? Yes - they do believe this nonsense. That makes you wonder - should we reshape the description of the word "adult" to mean a person who's grown-up and doesn't believe in Jesus? I say we should.

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the endless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries" -James Madison (4th President of the United States)

"To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the variety of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant - inexcusably ignorant." -Daniel Dennett

Two excellent pro-science blogs:
http://www.pandasthumb.org/
http://pharyngula.org/
Scientific answers:
http://www.talkorigins.org/
The Clowns:
http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/

Celebrate human stupidity

Just posting this in case you missed it (and you did). Three Israelis were killed (all women) by a Palestinian terrorist - at least thirty others were wounded. This happened in front of a shopping mall in Netanya. As it turned out - this small period of peace lasted for five months (although it did include a few smaller incidents).

So the next time things go to hell remember who ruined it all - again. Do any of you seriously think that Israel should just stand by while its citizens are blown to hell? If the Palestinian leadership is too weak and corrupted to act is that not a good reason for Israel to take care of things? You think any civilized government - capable of dealing with the threat - would just stand by and watch its own citizens die? Without a doubt violence creates more violence but the ball is still in the hands of Palestinian leadership - if it can't stop the killings it has failed.

ABCNews
BBC

Understanding terrorism?

Madrid bombings were a success to Islamic terrorism. As a result of them the Spanish public threw Aznar's party out of Spain's lead and called in a socialist government who then withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq. Just great - and now that the strategy worked in Spain they gave it a try in Great Britain. A great amount of blood is in the hands of Spain's socialist government and the public who foolishly voted for it.

Great Britain won't do the same. Tony Blair is more resolute and dedicated to what he believes is right - and the folks in the UK share a bit different and more victorious past than their Spanish counterparts.

One reason why the left will always stand weak in front of this threat is its failure to understand terrorism (although it's usually their arrogant claim that they are actually the ones who understand it). Many feel sympathy toward these nutjobs and try to understand their motives. However there's only motive behind their actions - insanity. Jihad is their justification for their insanity. You just can't go and deliberately kill innocent people and explain your actions by some cultural, political or financial differences - or religion. These people are no different from those kids who take out some of their school mates before blowing their own brains out (in the US, Germany or wherever) - it's just the means to channel this insanity that are different in different cultures.

There are differences however. Let's say you're a father in Iraq and a misguided US missile kills your entire family. As a revenge you take your gun and shoot someone who represents the US military. At some level
that might be considered to be understandable behavior. However this is not the source of organized terrorism. How many of the 9/11 hijackers had lost someone close to them because of the United States? As far as I know - none (9/11 Commission Report). Some were from wealthy families, some were from poor families, some had a bright future ahead of them (getting educated abroad) etc. - but they all shared a psychological weakness which later turned into insanity.

All these things in Madrid, UK and across the globe come down to one thing - Iraq. Iraq's fate will define the power of terrorism in the future. A success in Iraq will be be a victory for the civilized world. A failure in Iraq will guarantee more terrorism. That's why it's even more important now than ever to together help Iraq. The EU and the UN should together build a plan to stabilize Iraq by sending in peacekeepers and money instead of maintaining their selfish anti-American policy. And Italy should reconsider its decision to set a timetable for its withdrawal.

And maybe once Iraq becomes a stable region these nutjobs lose a great amount of their means to spread terror.