NY Times - The Crafty Attacks on Evolution

Much thought has brought me to suggest some upgrades to the "Intelligent" Design disclaimer being foisted on some backwoods unsuspecting school districts.

The original disclaimer, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered," is somewhat lacking in that it doesn't clearly identify that these people don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

Here's my revision: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a scientific theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things, much like the General Theory of Relativity is a scientific theory, not a fact, regarding gravity, but in contrast to Intelligent Design which is an armchair theory. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

"Disclaimer: Students are strongly encouraged not to jump off the gym roof into the scrap iron bin next to the metal shop in an attempt to prove the existence of a higher power. A convenient ladder is installed so that it's easy to see what not to do."

Seriously, sometimes crap like this makes me ashamed to be associated with the conservatives. Just think how the patchwork Republican platform would coalesce into a unified whole if only they could jettison the religious nutcases.

Man, those founding fathers sure did screw up in the first amendment, it should clearly have stated that you have the right to worship any stupid-assed thing you want, and make any speech you like, but it should also have included an enumerated right to peace and quiet if you don't want to listen to them.

Make no mistake, though, religion, regardless of the claims of shrill liberals, is on the whole is still on the decline in the US. Major organized religions will continue to fragment and degenerate into regional cults and ministries, which over time will evaporate, much as it has in Europe. What those liberals should be scared to death of is a conservative movement that shuts out religion.

Or maybe they should be afraid of the death throes of the traditional institutions. Or worse yet, the New Age "thinking" that replaces it. I can see it now, the big church down the street being replaced by a bunch of homeopath "chemists" mixing ever more dilute mixtures of pure water for sale, while poking people with little needles to steer their chi into their nether regions. I'll skip the links pointing to the growth of idiot "religions" like Wicca, acupuncture, homeopathy and vitamin peddlers at the expense of traditional ones, because you can click Google too (and I'm lazy).