Evolutionists?

Question

Have you heard of this person?

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=6400

He teaches children to interrupt their teachers and to badger them with "questions", but to ask a volley so that the teacher has no hope of addressing them all. The parents take their children and teach them that their textbooks are lies.

I know that freedom of religion is important, but should this guy be stopped somehow? He's basically teaching children to agressively interupt their teachers and to disrupt classroom time. Surely that's against something. I mean, at the very least, the children might need to be sent to the principal or something if they keep trying to talk over their teachers and refuse to listen.

Is this covered by freedom of speech even though it teaches children to knowingly disrupt classes? What about the freedom of the other children to listen and learn? Isn't that being infringed on? I'm confused.

I just realized that the whole article isn't there. I'll copy and paste the whole thing for people who don't know who I'm talking about. Hold on, and I apologize.

Evangelist Ken Ham smiled at the 2,300 elementary students packed into pews, their faces rapt. With dinosaur puppets and silly cartoons, he was training them to reject much of geology, paleontology and evolutionary biology as a sinister tangle of lies.

"Boys and girls," Ham said. If a teacher so much as mentions evolution, or the Big Bang, or an era when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, "you put your hand up and you say, 'Excuse me, were you there?' Can you remember that?"

The children roared their assent.

"Sometimes people will answer, 'No, but you weren't there either,' " Ham told them. "Then you say, 'No, I wasn't, but I know someone who was, and I have his book about the history of the world.' " He waved his Bible in the air.

"Who's the only one who's always been there?" Ham asked.

"God!" the boys and girls shouted.

"Who's the only one who knows everything?"

"God!"

"So who should you always trust, God or the scientists?"

Stayath, I don't think children will understand much about abiogensis. Third grade is not for debating. If a kid asks why you can't devide by zero, how are you supposed to explain that to someone who couldn't possibly comprehend Calculus? Third grade is for being quiet and learning.

Answer 1

I think what this guy is doing is wrong. If a child truly has questions regarding his/her faith and evolution, they should be talked about privately, with a parent, teacher, and/or priest (reverend, rabbi, etc.) The only reason this guy is teaching the kids to badger is so that other kids in the classroom will hear the teacher get flustered, a natural response to badgering, and lose respect for their teacher. It's ok to question, great to question actually, but doing it disruptively just to convert other people and screw with them.

Answer 2

Interruption and out-shouting others is the standard tactic of right wing cowards. The basic respect it takes to be silent while others answer your questions is lost on them.

If a person's argument is right, it will withstand hearing facts that disagree with it. That the religious feel the need to prevent others from speaking reveals the weakness of religious diatribe (it certainly isn't worthy of the term 'argument'). If anyone disagrees, look at any debate on evolution; it's very rare to hear a scientific person use such a tactic, and if one does interrupt a godbot, it's almost always done to point out that the godbot interrupted.

When I encounter cowards who use that tactic, I shame them into silence.

"Why are you so afraid to hear my answers?"
"If you don't want to hear my answer, why did you ask the question?"
"Is this how your mother raised you, to be like an animal rather than a civilized person with manners and respect for others?"
"If your rebuttal is valid, then you can wait until I'm finished. The only reason to interrupt me is because your argument is wrong."

And so on. If they resort to cowardly methods, point it out and make them look ridiculous. Given that the godbots' arguments _are_ ridiculous, it's not difficult.


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Answer 3

This is entirely unacceptable. The parents of these children, if they have a concern, ought to fight through the school board to have a segment taught on the difficulties with Darwinism. If the faculty of the school is made up of real lovers of inquiry and truth, they will not have a problem with such a move. Also schools are not an adult civil enviornment and so the Freedom of Speech does not apply in the same way in that enviornment.

Answer 4

I don't think there's anything illegal about what he's doing. Immoral and dishonest, yes, but perfectly legal. The schools and teachers will deal with the students on an individual basis.

Hopefully the teachers will be kind enough to explain to the children how logically flawed this man's arguments are, and teach them more about how to think for themselves.

Answer 5

Man's a bit extreme. But the man's also self-defeating. The only validation of God being there is from the Bible, and the only proof the Bible is right comes from the Bible saying "I'm right." A flawed argument. I'm all up for freedom of religion, but not corruption of the young mind.

Answer 6

That is highly disturbing... it reeks of coercive persuasion otherwise known as "brainwashing". Man what I wouldnt give to kick that guys ***... I seriously hope that man is institutionalized. I think those kids should be saved from the brainsick delusions of such a person as that.... what a waste of grey matter, filling their heads with religious propaganda and spewing tunnel-vision smut in the hopes of futhering a religious agenda. Those poor children I can only hope that some escape that living hell of ignorance.

Answer 7

He is a disgrace.
This is dangerous indoctrination of children at its extreme. Evil and corrupt.
Is there any law which would prevent him from so doing? Maybe in schools but he couldn't be stopped from doing it in a church or even in an event in a public place where the attendees are invited, similar to an evangelist meeting.
Either way. He is a disgrace.

Answer 8

I have heard this "were you there" question before from creationists. They should ask themselves the same question about the bible stories. If this is there defense against all of the mountains of scientific evidence it is really pathetic. Teaching children religion is bad enough, but teaching them that science is not to be believed is child abuse.

Answer 9

If the parents of those children want them to grow up stupid, then I guess that's their perrogative. But if the child continues to interrupt then he should be disciplined just like every other student who is a disruption.
They can spout their stupidity all they want but it won't make it true and honestly the other children will think they are stupid too.

Answer 10

As per Monty Python's "SPAM!" skit (only loosely related to the Internet spam concept)...

I think it's wrong to disrupt the learning process for other students. Kids should answer questions out of curiosity, not out of spite.

If you want to ask stupid questions out of spite, that's what Yahoo Answers is for.

Exhibit A: Yahoo Answers