Miroslaw Orzechowski, the deputy education minister of Poland, told a national newspaper that he thinks that Darwin's theory of evolution should not be taught in schools because it is "a lie... that we have legalized as truth."
According to Orzechowski, the theory is "feeble", and Darwin himself was an "aged non-believer," not to mention "a vegetarian" (gasp).
I don't even know where to start with this report. How is this man in charge of education? Since when is Poland part of the American Bible Belt? What the heck does vegetarianism have to do with anything?
Of course, the irony is that if Darwin really was right, surely the idiots would have been bred out of the human race by now.
Comments (9)
Only if you assume the idiots cannot find breeding partners. Which is not, I submit, anything close to a safe assumption.
Posted by clare | October 15, 2006 2:14 PM
Posted on October 15, 2006 14:14
Having had some direct exposure to Polish culture, this, I'm sorry to say, does not surprise me. From what I've seen, they take the Catholic thing to a whole new level. Again, my exposure is limited, but from what I can gather, Irene's mom, for instance, is postively progressive compared to her family and friends back in the old country.
Posted by TB | October 16, 2006 11:35 AM
Posted on October 16, 2006 11:35
At last someone has made the link between vegetarianism and ungodlyness.
Posted by c | October 16, 2006 8:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 20:30
Don't tell Dr. T. ;)
Posted by Maggie | October 17, 2006 10:10 AM
Posted on October 17, 2006 10:10
"Darwinism: don't touch it with a ten-foot Pole"
How 'bout a 9-foot Hungarian?
Posted by Vicki Small | October 18, 2006 10:21 PM
Posted on October 18, 2006 22:21
:D Always glad when someone gets the headline! Of course, I usually try to avoid terrible puns at all costs ;)
Posted by Maggie | October 19, 2006 11:39 AM
Posted on October 19, 2006 11:39
Puns are great! Everyone needs a good groaner, now and then.
Posted by Vicki Small | October 23, 2006 11:42 PM
Posted on October 23, 2006 23:42
I see no irony or contradiction here — surely, an analysis following just "simple intuition" would make us Darwin defenders a bunch of self-contradictory clueless people:
Darwin being right would imply that Natural Selection would sentence idiots to extinction.
Idiots exist (obviously, because they fiercely claim that Darwin could not be right), which contradicts the above.
But then, Darwin would be wrong, which contradicts the initial premise.
Of course, very sadly, the saver for the above argument is that then we, Darwin defenders, would be the idiots — meaning that Darwin was right after all and there's no contradiction anywhere in the above (I hope I'm not contradicting myself!)
BUT .... Wait a second! Where in Darwin's theory do we get that idiots should be extinct due to Natural Selection?? What Darwin said is "survival of the fittest" (as opposed to survival of the "best", or the "most intelligent", etc.). IOW, those who are fittest to the given environment are those who ultimately survive.
So, in a world where the leader and most powerful country is led by an idiot of the caliber of George W. Bush, with the 60 million morons that re-elected him, the rules are pretty clear — the idiots are more than fit to survive in this idiot-controlled environment we live in.
It's a miracle that so many intelligent people still exist, which brings me again to the very point of my reply: maybe Darwin was wrong after all!
Carlos
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Posted by Carlos Moreno | October 29, 2006 10:20 PM
Posted on October 29, 2006 22:20
Carlos, what would this do to your analysis: Just suppose George W. Bush is not the idiot so many like to think? Just suppose he has a better grasp of what's at stake than those who oppose him? Then what?
I do not mean to imply that the man and his administration have not made a mess of the war, but . . . just suppose. . . .
Posted by Vicki Small | October 30, 2006 7:48 PM
Posted on October 30, 2006 19:48