Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DavidDvorkin

(19,479 posts)
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 11:39 AM Jun 2012

Loch Ness monster cited by US schools as evidence that evolution is myth

THOUSANDS of American school pupils are to be taught that the Loch Ness monster is real – in an attempt by religious teachers to disprove Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Pupils attending privately-run Christian schools in the southern state of Louisiana will learn from textbooks next year, which claim Scotland’s most famous mythological beast is a living creature.


http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/loch-ness-monster-cited-by-us-schools-as-evidence-that-evolution-is-myth-1-2373903
51 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Loch Ness monster cited by US schools as evidence that evolution is myth (Original Post) DavidDvorkin Jun 2012 OP
Why not teach Big Foot roams free at local Walmarts TBMASE Jun 2012 #1
Along with Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy. madaboutharry Jun 2012 #5
Desperate to find a pair of shoes that fit? MoonRiver Jun 2012 #7
That's no laughing matter. I could have sworn I saw him there this weekend! Arkansas Granny Jun 2012 #37
Oh my... evolution is not based on the dinosaurs being dead cthulu2016 Jun 2012 #2
In fact there are many ancient species still alive that existed millions of years ago. DCBob Jun 2012 #10
The coelacanth lives MattBaggins Jun 2012 #40
We already do exist alongside "dinosaurs." Fawke Em Jun 2012 #14
And probably birds. Birds are likely the descendants of dinosaurs. yellowcanine Jun 2012 #38
Roaches. intheflow Jun 2012 #48
Quite a few creationists deny the idea of extinction as well as evolution Posteritatis Jun 2012 #28
It's almost as if they don't understand the theory they're arguing against 4th law of robotics Jun 2012 #47
This is stupidity on so many levels treestar Jun 2012 #3
LOL! The school mentioned was just found not to have a license to operate! (LINK) Poll_Blind Jun 2012 #4
Perfect - now they can't sue the colleges for not accepting FreakinDJ Jun 2012 #12
Alumni could probably do a number on the school, though. (nt) Posteritatis Jun 2012 #29
Personally I think Nessy Drale Jun 2012 #6
+1,000 freshwest Jun 2012 #18
Don't miss the comments section at the link malthaussen Jun 2012 #8
That's embarrassing. Quantess Jun 2012 #9
Why would it even matter? 14thColony Jun 2012 #11
No-one tell them about coelacanths. Spider Jerusalem Jun 2012 #13
"...creationists don't understand Darwin, natural selection, or how evolution works." yellowcanine Jun 2012 #39
The book is called 'Biology 1099' muriel_volestrangler Jun 2012 #15
Ogo Pogo! Ganja Ninja Jun 2012 #16
Fucking morons. Iggo Jun 2012 #17
Perhaps the LA schools are proof that US education is a myth. Full circle. freshwest Jun 2012 #19
One of the commenters from the article made a really good point. pennylane100 Jun 2012 #20
What's even scarier is that 70% of Americans believe coalition_unwilling Jun 2012 #49
Are you saying that there is not special angel to watch over you pennylane100 Jun 2012 #50
They teach that as a religious belief, not as science rox63 Jun 2012 #51
"publicly-funded vouchers" used by parents to subject their children to this stuff aint_no_life_nowhere Jun 2012 #21
The second most outrageous fact? I live in South Louisiana. skip fox Jun 2012 #36
They obviously don't teach the formal rules of logic in their X-ian homeschools either corkhead Jun 2012 #22
My archaelogical dig in Honalee suggests they may be on to something IDemo Jun 2012 #23
How Embarrassing! gaspee Jun 2012 #24
You said it. surrealAmerican Jun 2012 #34
The Christian religious right is the greatest threat to America today RainDog Jun 2012 #25
Of course these idiots realize that there are species nadinbrzezinski Jun 2012 #26
Actually, Nessie is frogmarch Jun 2012 #27
Well, I am a disbeliever. RebelOne Jun 2012 #30
Did you look behind the couch? DavidDvorkin Jun 2012 #32
Nope, looked there and no Nessie. RebelOne Jun 2012 #41
A myth is used to debunk a supposed myth. tabatha Jun 2012 #31
When you have schools that teach kids that The Flinstones was a documentary... MrScorpio Jun 2012 #33
The Chruch: Basing Fantasies on Fanticies for Over 2000 years!!! skip fox Jun 2012 #35
Maybe it shows that education at privately-run Christian schools is a myth. AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #42
Oh, that's good! DavidDvorkin Jun 2012 #46
Everybody knows Nessie is really one of HP Lovecraft's "old ones". Erose999 Jun 2012 #43
Well, to be fair ... dawg Jun 2012 #44
Even assuming that Nessie is real, how does this disprove evolution? 4th law of robotics Jun 2012 #45
 

TBMASE

(769 posts)
1. Why not teach Big Foot roams free at local Walmarts
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 11:42 AM
Jun 2012

He's been seen just as frequently in grainy footage

cthulu2016

(10,960 posts)
2. Oh my... evolution is not based on the dinosaurs being dead
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 11:43 AM
Jun 2012

"Youngsters will be told that if it can be proved that dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time as man, then Darwinism is fatally flawed."

What an insane argument. Evolution doesn't put an expiration date on species. It would be all the same to evolution if a plesiosaur were alive in Scotland.

The sad error here is that they say the world is only a few thousand years old and thus men must have existed alongside dinosaurs in the past. But men currently existing alongside a dinosaur wouldn't change things one bit... it says nothing about the age of the Earth, only about the ongoing success of the loch ness monster species.

DCBob

(24,689 posts)
10. In fact there are many ancient species still alive that existed millions of years ago.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 11:53 AM
Jun 2012

Hard core creationists are completely and utterly clueless.

Fawke Em

(11,366 posts)
14. We already do exist alongside "dinosaurs."
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 12:02 PM
Jun 2012

Alligators and sharks to name two that are widely known.

There are tons of others, but everyone knows what alligators and sharks are.

Posteritatis

(18,807 posts)
28. Quite a few creationists deny the idea of extinction as well as evolution
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 01:52 PM
Jun 2012

After all, if God created a species he wouldn't allow it to vanish entirely, yadda yadda.

To them, evolution does put an expiry date on species, which their theology teaches are supposed to be permanent.

 

4th law of robotics

(6,801 posts)
47. It's almost as if they don't understand the theory they're arguing against
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:45 PM
Jun 2012

"Having never learned anything about darwin or evolution I can conclusively state that it is all false!"

/just like opposing books/movies that they've never read/watched.

Drale

(7,932 posts)
6. Personally I think Nessy
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 11:45 AM
Jun 2012

fell through a time portal and came to Loch Ness by accident, that or aliens put her there to fuck with us.

14thColony

(1,515 posts)
11. Why would it even matter?
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 11:55 AM
Jun 2012

If a moder-day plesiosaur would undermine evolution, then the dragonfly, jellyfish, stomatolite and coelacanth should have blown it apart a century ago. Says more about the authors' utter ignorance than anything else.

 

Spider Jerusalem

(21,786 posts)
13. No-one tell them about coelacanths.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 12:00 PM
Jun 2012

Or sturgeon.

And specific examples of "living fossils" don't disprove evolution; it a specific animal evolved to fit an ecological and evolutionary niche and its environment has remained largely unchanged, and it faces low predation or environmental influences, then there's no reason to expect that it would evolve beyond its existing form. This just shows that creationists don't understand Darwin, natural selection, or how evolution works.

yellowcanine

(35,699 posts)
39. "...creationists don't understand Darwin, natural selection, or how evolution works."
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:07 PM
Jun 2012

Ya think? What gave it away for you?

Ganja Ninja

(15,953 posts)
16. Ogo Pogo!
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 12:08 PM
Jun 2012

Champ is a picture of a log. The Loch Ness Monster is a toy submarine with a head made out of plastic wood. Ogo Pogo is a Plesiosaur!
http://video.adultswim.com/the-venture-bros/two-ton-21.html

pennylane100

(3,425 posts)
20. One of the commenters from the article made a really good point.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 12:22 PM
Jun 2012

The fact that Catholic schools teach transubstantiation is just as ridiculous.

 

coalition_unwilling

(14,180 posts)
49. What's even scarier is that 70% of Americans believe
Tue Jun 26, 2012, 01:02 AM
Jun 2012

angels really exist. Don't have a source for the figure, but I'm pretty damned sure I saw it well sourced here quite some time ago.

pennylane100

(3,425 posts)
50. Are you saying that there is not special angel to watch over you
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 05:59 PM
Jun 2012

When I was very young, my dear Mum told me that god had assigned my own angel to protect me. I know that she just wanted me to feel safe but I did not like the idea of this spirit being with me twenty four hours a day. I think that many Catholics still believe that stuff.

rox63

(9,464 posts)
51. They teach that as a religious belief, not as science
Wed Jun 27, 2012, 06:20 PM
Jun 2012

And at least Catholic schools teach that evolution is real. Although I abhor many things about Catholic teachings, their schools generally have a decent academic curriculum. (I attended Catholic schools throughout my childhood, so I know whereof I speak.)

aint_no_life_nowhere

(21,925 posts)
21. "publicly-funded vouchers" used by parents to subject their children to this stuff
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 12:30 PM
Jun 2012

"Thousands of children are to receive publicly-funded vouchers enabling them to attend the schools – which follow a strict fundamentalist curriculum."

That's what I find especially outrageous.

skip fox

(19,359 posts)
36. The second most outrageous fact? I live in South Louisiana.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 02:54 PM
Jun 2012

Which means my taxes with go to the double fantasy world, cartoons based on cartoons. Geez!

RainDog

(28,784 posts)
25. The Christian religious right is the greatest threat to America today
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 01:46 PM
Jun 2012

Their erroneous religious belief is more important to them than making sure children have a foundation in the sciences - which is vital for so many jobs.

They are a group that expresses hatred toward fact.

We would be better off, as a nation, if they decided to emigrate and create jesusland.

 

nadinbrzezinski

(154,021 posts)
26. Of course these idiots realize that there are species
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 01:47 PM
Jun 2012

that precede dinosaurs... see SHARK...

Oh never mind



You got to wonder why the rebellion failed against Rome. I mean T-Rex version the Tenth Legion... my money would be on a really pissed off T-Rex

DavidDvorkin

(19,479 posts)
32. Did you look behind the couch?
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 02:19 PM
Jun 2012

That's where the dinosaurs turned out to be all this time, according to the Dilbert comic strip.

RebelOne

(30,947 posts)
41. Nope, looked there and no Nessie.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:12 PM
Jun 2012

Though I do have a photo of Nessie on the bank of Loch Ness. But of course, it was a model the guide put there.

MrScorpio

(73,631 posts)
33. When you have schools that teach kids that The Flinstones was a documentary...
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 02:25 PM
Jun 2012

Then something is seriously hosed with the education system in the country.

dawg

(10,624 posts)
44. Well, to be fair ...
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:40 PM
Jun 2012

it does seem to prove that Homo Erectus is still alive and well and running a school in Louisiana.

 

4th law of robotics

(6,801 posts)
45. Even assuming that Nessie is real, how does this disprove evolution?
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:44 PM
Jun 2012

Unless they're trying to prove she's magical which then disproves science somehow.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Loch Ness monster cited b...