In Mosul, schools have been presented with a new set of rules, advertised in a two-page bulletin posted on mosques, in markets and on electricity poles. The statement, dated Sept. 5, cheered "good news of the establishment of the Islamic State Education Diwan by the caliph who seeks to eliminate ignorance, to spread religious sciences and to fight the decayed curriculum."
The new Mosul curriculum, allegedly issued by al-Baghdadi himself, stresses that any reference to the republics of Iraq or Syria must be replaced with "Islamic State." Pictures that violate its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam will be ripped out of books. Anthems and lyrics that encourage love of country are now viewed as a show of "polytheism and blasphemy," and are strictly banned.
The new curriculum even went so far as to explicitly ban Charles Darwin's theory of evolution — although it was not previously taught in Iraqi schools.
Abu Hassan and his fellow residents acknowledge the risks involved in keeping the children at home, but say that protecting their minds is equally important. "They will brainwash them and contaminate their thoughts," he said.
of course, there are some -- even on this site -- who will loudly proclaim that evolution is "just a theory" and that science is biased because it's not what g-d tells us. i don't know how it could be made more clear that religious extremism is harmful to a functioning society, and that "American Taliban" has never been a more apt description of the people holding US education hostage. the religious extremists in the US will never see they are indistinguishable from the Islamic extremists they rail against, even when their tactics and methods are shown to be equivalent to each other. i'm not sure this is something that will be fixed short of an all-out civil war in America, because being willfully ignorant is very difficult to combat when the truth will never be accepted as reality.
That last line, from you of all people, is utterly hysterical in its irony. I can have legit discussions with all sorts of liberals on this site. Joel, Legolas and the rest are at least amenable to rationality, reasonably well-informed, and capable of recognizing the differences between objectivity and subjectivity, even in regards to their own perspectives.
If the beheadings of people who disagree do not amply demonstrate the difference between the actual Taliban and the so-called namesake in America (not to mention the lack of any sort of actual unified organization), you are almost too stupid to bother explaining things too. But instructing the ignorant is a spiritual work of mercy, so I will endeavor yet again. One side in the discussion of teaching evolution is adamantly against the other being heard, and takes active measures to ban the dissenting opinions. That is not generally the religious side. Many people, including Noble Prize winning scientists, take exception to the theory of evolution, such as Hoyle & Wickramsingh, who have no religious impulses to motivate their disagreement. Since you have proven remarkably ignorant of such topics as history, banking, and the contents of articles you link to in the mistaken belief that they support your contentions, I highly doubt you have any understanding of the scientific arguments involved, beyond "A scientist told me so" which is the same argument from authority as "the Bible told me so". It is my experience that I understand the theory of evolution better than most people I discuss it with in a casual manner. My own support for alternative opinions similarly has no religious motivation, as it has no bearing one way or another on my religion. Proving that evolution happened does not invalidate my belief in Creation (actually, it would rather establish it beyond any doubt, as only the intervention of a deity could make the evolutionary process as described in most high school science classes, produce viable lifeforms). If anything, my doubts are motivated entirely by the obnoxiously dogmatic and factually incorrect attitude with which it is being taught. Debunked experiments (Urey-Miller), rejected theories (Lamarck), incorrect visual depictions (Haeckel) and flawed analogies (dog-breeding; car development), in addition to tautological reasoning and the aforementioned arguments from authority are all hallmarks of the curriculum, all to impose upon students the notion that this is necessary for them to accept, when in fact, I have yet to hear of any practical application for either argument that would make an iota of difference in any normal person's life. Rather that teaching actual relevant or practical science, a significant amount of any related course is spent forcing a captive audience to make an auto da fe to the non-disprovable doctrine of the evolutionary origins of the current species populating Earth.
I support the teaching of alternative theories to evolution, because I am tired of the smug establishment bullshit, arrogance and unscientific refusal to admit that the peppered moth photos they hold as absolute proof have been disproved for decades, and even if they were not hoaxes like the Piltdown Man and the Cardiff giant, would no more prove anything beyond a fluctuation in phenotypes than Darwin's finches. Scientists are supposed to offer a standard by which their theory can be disproved but all Darwin did was tell the paleontologists who pointed out the absence of any sort of evidence of evolution in the fossil record to get off their asses and find the proof that must be out there.
If any side is behaving like the Taliban, it is the one that bans all teaching of other ideas, clings to the pronouncements of authority figures and mindlessly repeats formulas and proverbs that have lost meaning over time, and which they don't understand in the first place.
I really don't expect any sort of rational examination from someone who claims that expecting a poor person to have trouble repaying a loan is proof of hostile opposition & bigotry, but what the hell.
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
