Huh!?!

F1nut

The insanity continues.....

NEW YORK ? In a bizarre case of political correctness run wild, New York educrats banned references to "dinosaurs," "birthdays," "Halloween" and dozens of other topics on city-issued tests.

That is because they fear such topics "could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students."

Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists; birthdays are not celebrated by Jehovah's Witnesses; and Halloween suggests paganism.

Even "dancing" is taboo, because some sects object. But the city did make an exception for ballet.

The forbidden topics were recently spelled out in a request for proposals provided to companies competing to revamp New York City's English, math, science and social studies tests given several times a year to measure student progress.

"Some of these topics may be perfectly acceptable in other contexts but do not belong in a city- or state-wide assessment," the request reads.

nooshinjohn

I wish I could say I am shocked or suprised. What I can say is that if this is not proof positive that we have loosed the inmates and have let them run the asylum, I have no idea what is. The last place these buffoons should be trusted is with your kids.


Wake up people.

falconcry72

dinosaurs??? i just don't get how they ever could have existed... the earth is only, like, a couple thousand years old...

decal

falconcry72 wrote: »

dinosaurs??? i just don't get how they ever could have existed... the earth is only, like, a couple thousand years old...

You're a funny guy falconcry.:cheesygrin:

obieone

And HOW MUCH are New Yorkers paying in property taxes:eek:
SCHMUCKS!

drumminman

Un-f%$#ing believable! Perhaps everyone should sit in a cave and stare at their navel. Then no one would get offended.

Upstatemax

obieone wrote: »

And HOW MUCH are New Yorkers paying in property taxes:eek:
SCHMUCKS!

Forget just property tax, just about every tax is higher than average here, I also pay some of the highest payroll taxes in the country as well...

Pay through the nose for the "privilege" of living here while total idiots run the state into the ground.

It's not just the politicians, pretty much 90% of state employees seem to have an IQ of 80 or less.

George Grand

If they don't study dinosaurs, they're never going to know how your hair got like that.

SolidSqual

Without starting any nasty debate on the subject, has anyone ever wondered why it has to be evolution or creationism? Why couldn't it be both? It seems to me that Evolution would be a very god-like process of making human beings. Perhaps God tweaked his creations until he got them right. Or, perhaps we evolved from sludge to present and then at some point God said, "yup, I like those creatures most, I'll stick a soul inside them now so that they may choose grow in my image."

I liken this debate to the notions of whether your life is fate or your choices. Why not both? Perhaps you are fated to go in many directions, but your choices eliminate and create directions over time.

txcoastal1

Down with Barney...never liked him anyway:cheesygrin:

falconcry72

SolidSqual wrote: »

Without starting any nasty debate on the subject....

lol, epic last words. :biggrin:

falconcry72

SolidSqual wrote: »

...has anyone ever wondered why it has to be evolution or creationism? Why couldn't it be both?

It's common among modern Christians to "believe in both", as you put it. It's generally people on the extreme edges that have to have it one way or the other.

I'm not religious, and I'm not going to make any declarations about "what it is". Having a concrete, comprehensive understanding of the origins of the universe is a little above my paygrade.

grimmace19

Someone I indirectly work with gets offended and furious at the talk of dinosaurs. From what I gathered she believes they were made up by scientists to give them something to work on. She also hates the idea of bigfoot... it's too bad for her that the boss is a bigfoot fanatic.

maximillian

SolidSqual wrote: »

Without starting any nasty debate on the subject, has anyone ever wondered why it has to be evolution or creationism? Why couldn't it be both?

Micro-evolution is supported in the Bible, but not macro-evolution. Genesis states that things reproduce after their "kind" so variations in a kind, i.e. micro-evolution. However, macro-evolution cannot coexist during creation because according to the Bible death didn't occur until Adam's fall.

Then there's people that believe in evolution and man's coexistence with dinosaurs (created alongside everything else). There's even a whole museum on this:

http://creationmuseum.org/

Notice how I didn't share my view, and won't to avoid an argument. Just wanted to say that creationism and evolution shouldn't exist side-by-side. I guess intelligent-design and evolution (i.e. Star Trek TNG's "The Chase") could coexist, but then anything can coexist in the Star Trek universe.

thsmith

I was watching Bill Maher lastnight and this is exactly the kind of insanity he thrashes on.

Big Dawg

drumminman wrote: »

Un-f%$#ing believable! Perhaps everyone should sit in a cave and stare at their navel. Then no one would get offended.

Apparently you haven't seen my navel.

steveinaz

This kind of thing just makes me wonder, where do the idiots come from, that come up with this stuff? And why does anybody listen to them, to the point of implementing such idiocy?

SolidSqual

steveinaz wrote: »

This kind of thing just makes me wonder, where do the idiots come from, that come up with this stuff? And why does anybody listen to them, to the point of implementing such idiocy?

Knowing how hard it is to actually pass and implement law in government, the fact that this passed means that there is a majority and a consensus. That's scary. That being said, this could just be an agency decision. In which case, one crazy lib was appointed to run the show . . . will of the "uneducated" masses be damned.

maximillian

BTW, I wonder why the left Santa Claus and the Easter bunny untouched? Perhaps since Santa Claus has christian, pagan, and corporatism roots he appeals to everyone. For the Easter bunny perhaps because the Easter bunny is attached to chocolate, and everyone loves chocolate.

brgman

They would do much better to ban politicians.
They are the scariest beasts there!

cnh

SolidSqual wrote: »

Without starting any nasty debate on the subject, has anyone ever wondered why it has to be evolution or creationism? Why couldn't it be both? It seems to me that Evolution would be a very god-like process of making human beings. Perhaps God tweaked his creations until he got them right. Or, perhaps we evolved from sludge to present and then at some point God said, "yup, I like those creatures most, I'll stick a soul inside them now so that they may choose grow in my image."

I liken this debate to the notions of whether your life is fate or your choices. Why not both? Perhaps you are fated to go in many directions, but your choices eliminate and create directions over time.

Actually Pierre Teilhard de Chardin would agree with you (Catholic thinker and paleontologist and geologist). A big proponent of Evolution who also believed that it was not a simple "random, directionless" process. I don't agree or disagree with him. But simply offer up the example.

On to NYC. Dinosaurs and birthdays and Halloween? ReallY! I used to work for the NYC Board of ED when I was a student in Manhattan. And all I can say is "any" student who has EVER taken the subway has seen far more "horrific" things than these before they even get to school!!

And anyone who has ever had kids or visited the American Museum of Natural History (I also worked there for a couple of years). Knows that the Dinosaur exhibit is perhaps the most popular exhibit for children in the entire museum; it draws the most oooohs and aaaahs!

There is a disconnect here. Kids living in NYC do NOT need to be protected from things that can't harm them because there is enough that "can" in the city and its five boroughs. Get REAL!

cnh

Kex

This controversy seems to have originated from guidelines issued for testing, so these topics are not actually banned from teaching, or the classroom. Kids in Kindergarten in Los Angeles are certainly being taught about dinosaurs, and celebrating Halloween as well as birthdays, not to mention St. Patrick's day and other obvious stuff.

Here's a link to the New York Post article, which, I think may have started the whole controversy:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/out_of_the_question_YegJJGCOo33j0CQsccdZuL

Here's a link to some comment from CBS New York, including a quote of the list of words. Not all of them are likely to seem quite so controversial.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/26/war-on-words-nyc-dept-of-education-wants-50-forbidden-words-removed-from-standardized-tests/

The New York City Department of Education is waging a war on words of sorts, and is seeking to have words they deem upsetting removed from standardized tests.

Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)
Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs
Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)
Bodily functions
Cancer (and other diseases)
Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)
Celebrities
Children dealing with serious issues
Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)
Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)
Crime
Death and disease
Divorce
Evolution
Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes
Gambling involving money
Halloween
Homelessness
Homes with swimming pools
Hunting
Junk food
In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge
Loss of employment
Nuclear weapons
Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)
Parapsychology
Politics
Pornography
Poverty
Rap Music
Religion
Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)
Rock-and-Roll music
Running away
Sex
Slavery
Terrorism
Television and video games (excessive use)
Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)
Vermin (rats and roaches)
Violence
War and bloodshed
Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)
Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

cnh

Oh, NY Post. That pretty much explains that. What the NY Times is for conservatives the Post is for the other side.

cnh

Kex

Actually, I think that's fair enough reporting if you stick to the facts and ignore the hype, although including the entire list of words makes more sense. There's also no mention of what grades these test guidelines apply to. For example, at some point, bodily functions and sex organs are part of the biology curriculum and will be included in testing. At some point, slavery and war are part of the curriculum and will be tested ... etc. etc.

Face

So much for the "Separation of Church and State".

If religious whackadoos want to teach their children an alternate version of evolution, they should do it in their own homes.

George Grand

Kex wrote: »

Kids in Kindergarten in Los Angeles are certainly being taught about dinosaurs,

Good. All I have to do is ask a kid from LA and I can find out what that dark, wavy, crest-like affair is on top of you-know-who's head. I'm thinking tightly woven fiber like rhino horn.

audiocr381ve

falconcry72 wrote: »

It's common among modern Christians to "believe in both", as you put it. It's generally people on the extreme edges that have to have it one way or the other.

I'm not religious, and I'm not going to make any declarations about "what it is". Having a concrete, comprehensive understanding of the origins of the universe is a little above my paygrade.

You're not going to make any declarations yet you just did.

It's generally people on the extreme edges that have to have it one way or the other.

brgman

you recently posted this-
"Prejudices are what fools use for reason"
Voltaire

"What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly -...

Now you post this-
If religious whackadoos want to teach their children an alternate version of evolution, they should do it in their own homes.

So you pick and choose your tolerance of others? Preach to others to be tolerant but you don't have be.
Let me guess-you're a liberal.
Just sayin'.

audiocr381ve

steveinaz wrote: »

This kind of thing just makes me wonder, where do the idiots come from, that come up with this stuff? And why does anybody listen to them, to the point of implementing such idiocy?

What's not stupid to you?

cstmar01

Darn, I was so hoping to get a tattoo of a Dino on my back and then run around NY naked and try to get people to take test that I state are state sponsered and ask them what their favorite candy is on Halloween while dancing a Birthday dance while singing YMCA.

Man people are strange.

Face

brgman wrote: »

you recently posted this-
"Prejudices are what fools use for reason"
Voltaire

"What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly -...

Now you post this-
If religious whackadoos want to teach their children an alternate version of evolution, they should do it in their own homes.

So you pick and choose your tolerance of others? Preach to others to be tolerant but you don't have be.
Let me guess-you're a liberal.
Just sayin'.

People are free to believe what they want, but religion does not belong in public schools. Those "whackadoos" I'm referring to are those pushing to have it brought to the schools and forcing their religious views onto others. And no, I would not consider myself a liberal.