For The Blank Page

So this morning, picking up the best Sunday takeaway breakfast the average man could hope for (well for under $10 anyway) i was distracted by today’s edition of the Sunday Mail.  Not usually one to buy a newspaper in its physical form on account of anyone that spends enough time on the net shouldn’t need to support the wastage of paper that is the daily newspaper.  So back to the point, this is the front page headline that ensured i would buy the paper out of disbelief more than anything else “Primary school students are being taught that man and dinosaurs walked the Earth together”.

As i read the article it continues to explain that some of the religious instructors in Queensland’s primary schools have informed children that dinosaurs existed in the same era as man.  That Noah collected the dinosaur eggs for the ark (which doesn’t explain why the are currently extinct?).  That Adam and Eve were not eaten by dinosaurs because they were under some form of protective spell (possibly similar to the one that protected snow while she was sleeping i guess ?).  Best of all, there is fossil evidence that proves it all.

Now don’t misunderstand my position on the RI program in primary schools.  I think religion is something that everyone should understand at least a little about, considering approximately 85% of the worlds current population has some form of belief system.  Part of my own understanding of Christian beliefs and the bible originated in primary school religious education classes.  It appears that the problem with these specific religious instructors is that these classes are not being used to offer information on religion but instead to prey on a child’s imagination with ridiculous disinformation tactics that make me wonder if they have even read the bible, not to mention a single piece of empirical data on the subjects they are attempting to teach.

Without further ranting on how such religious disinformation impedes the progression of our society i will say that toward the end of the article i did have to smile with a spark of optimism when i read this testimonial.

A parent of a Year 5 student on the Sunshine Coast said his daughter was ostracised to the library after arguing with her scripture teacher about DNA.

"The scripture teacher told the class that all people were descended from Adam and Eve," he said.

"’My daughter rightly pointed out, as I had been teaching her about DNA and science, that ‘wouldn’t they all be inbred’?

"But the teacher replied that DNA wasn’t invented then."

After the parent complained, the girl spent the rest of the year’s classes in the library.

Little girl i place all my hopes for your generation with you.