Lying In The Name Of Religion

Image credit: Screenshot of AronRa's YouTube video by Cujo359

Much of the world seems to debate on YouTube and the other video sites these days. Here's an excellent example of this trend from AronRa. In it, he ably refutes the claim that he is employing a double standard when it comes to comparing creationism with evolution. This is a rather common debating point among creationists, and it's patently untrue. The fact is that the reason we don't take creationism seriously is that it fails the very scientific tests evolution had to pass in the 19th Century to become the working theory of how life came to its current form.

This video is an excellent synopsis of the case against creationism, and the reasons that evolution is accepted theory. The specific discussion has to do with the U.S. District Court case between a concerned parent and the Dover Area School Board. I use the word "theory" with some trepidation, as people who don't know anything about science assume that means it's not factual, but that is the proper term. If you're one of those people, then that word doesn't mean what you think it means. I suggest anyone who wants an overview of the subject should take the time (about eleven minutes) and watch this video.

He then goes on to accuse proponents of creationism of lying, as he has apparently done before. While I can't claim to know what is in the minds of such people, at the very least they are intellectually dishonest. They'd have to be. There's no evidence to support their hypothesis, and they have to know this, at some level. Whether they're fooling themselves or they're trying to fool the rest of us is the only question in my mind.

The screenshot I took of that video appears at the end. John E. Jones was the judge in the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District (PDF) trial, in which a parent sued the school district to get it to stop teaching creationism as science. To quote Wikipedia on the subject:

Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. (400 F. Supp. 2d 707, Docket no. 4cv2688) was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts against a public school district that required the presentation of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution as an "explanation of the origin of life."[1] The plaintiffs successfully argued that intelligent design is a form of creationism, and that the school board policy thus violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The judge's decision has sparked considerable response from both supporters and critics.

Wikipedia: Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District

The quote in the screenshot is from Judge Jones' conclusion in the decision (PDF) (it's on pg. 137). He, too, called creationists liars, after listening to them for days trying to dissemble their way through the questioning of the plaintiff's lawyers.

Normally, I'd embed this video, but I suspect that someone will make one of the spurious complaints that are often made by religious fanatics about videos that criticize their world view, and the video will be taken down while the matter is "resolved". I'll try to download a copy before that happens, but in the meantime, just click on the link.