Sunday, April 28, 2013

Were You There?




Back on April 21st, Jesse Griffin posted a diary at The Immoral Minority that claimed a school in South Carolina was giving 4th graders a science test about origins which required the students to answer in conformance with the Biblical book of Genesis to do well, or even pass.  He posted the above image of the first page or the exam.

I looked at it and thought this must be a parody of what they test these kids for in Xianist schools.  Every question was absurd.  I was pretty sure Jesse had been caught taking a great comedy gag for something it was not.

I'm not sure anymore.

The varacityesque website, Snopes, rated the story as "probably true" last week, but now is less sure.  They do note that people researching the story are trying to home in on the school, even though it is obvious this might expose the dad who took the test screenshot, and the kid who took the test, to risk.

In states with voucher programs in their schools, tax money helps prop up this bullshit child abuse.  Our Alaska legislature wants your tax money to prop it up here too.


It's not about faith or truth.  It isn't even about Jesus loving infant velociraptors.

It's about money:

 

The creationist curriculum industry is rabidly seeking evangelical welfare programs from local, state and national governments.  With passage of voucher programs in more and more states, these companies might be considered stock opportunities, because it certainly is a growing segment of the economy.

Back to the science test story I initially doubted.

Jesse wrote his post a week ago.  Then the story sort of disappeared.  But it came back at the end of the week.

If it turns out that this is indeed a genuine 4th grade science test, the most troubling part of it is the final question, "The next time when someone says the earth is billions or millions of years old, what can you say?"



What can you say?

Was Jesus actually resurrected, for starters.

Were you there?

But that's faith.  This was represented as a science test.

I wasn't there when the kid supposedly took this test at a small school in the deep South back on March 28th.  But I'm hoping to be there when we find out whether or not this test was actually administered, and whether or not the school gets any government funds or credits beyond normal religious exemptions.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

please let us know if this is true or not.

Anonymous said...

As someone who has studied this for years, this is consistent with the type of garbage the religious right uses in their Matsu Madrassas and other similar 'schools'.

Two links. Same video embedded at both.

A quick peek at the future Louisiana science curriculum

Louisiana Voucher Students Headed to Schools using A Beka, Bob Jones, and ACE Curricula [Video]

Students will be taught that humans and dinosaurs walked on earth together, and this instruction will be paid for with public funds. How do we know this?


The father responsible for posting the test should have done so in an anonymous fashion.

Anonymous said...

Good luck on the children of these schools every being competitive in the job selection, much less ever getting into legitimate schools of higher education. Unbelievable luddites wasting the child's understanding of reality.

Anonymous said...

In our family this is what we call "where baristas come from".

Anonymous said...

This turns out to be real. But wait...there's always more when it comes to these cretins!

Note the claim "The school’s science curriculum does include the theory of evolution."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/16/christian-school-atheist-controversy-over-creationist-quiz-may-keep-academy-open/

Just like this idiot who obviously has a problem understanding cause and effect. Specifically these baby bumps are the logical outcome and proof that the schools curriculum works as intended.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/16/michigan-school-bans-baby-bumps-from-yearbook-pics/

Local school superintendent Barry Seabrook told the Associated Press that having the two girls’ pregnancies displayed would run contrary to a state mandate basing sex education on an abstinence-based policy.