Now, I’m not saying this article is not a teenage troll making fun of homeschooled Christian kids in New Zealand…but I am saying it has the potential to illustrate the point quite effectively.

It’s from the October 3 edition of Northern Outlook, a New Zealand paper. Available online here: http://www.fairfaxmedia.co.nz/ad-centre/newspaper-details.dot?id=10760 and you can view the published article with a free 7 day trial.

A scientific law is not a theory that graduated. Think of it as a curve that was fitted to a set of data points. Why is the pressure of a gas inversely related to its volume? Boyle didn’t know, but he made some measurements, and that’s what it was. Why is the gravitational attraction of two bodies inversely proportional to the
square of their separation? Newton didn’t know– he said so himself. But, from astronomical measurement made by others, it seemed to be the case.

A theory is a deductive (not inductive) system that consists of a set of principles or postulates, plus definitions and constraints. From those, one can predict measurable phenomena in such a way that if the measurement is attempted and the prediction was wrong, the theory has been disproven. It can’t be proven, but it might be disproven. It’s not necessarily THE best explanation– there might be many possible explanations. For an example, physicists abandoned Newtonian gravity for Einstein’s theory long before Newtonian gravity had really been played out. A theory is preferred if it’s simple, beautiful, has a wide scope and predicts diverse things, and especially if it prompts experiments that would have been meaningless without the theory to interpret them– general relativity and the speeds of clocks at different heights is one example, a matter that Newton’s contemporaries never even thought was in question.

As for young earth creationism, I’ll just say that at the high school level the students should be taught mainstream science– the stuff that is generally practiced by the majority of scientists. High school is not the place for fringe theories, or even to present unresolved scientific questions so that “the students can decide for themselves”. Or we could save a lot of time by asking the high school kids if supersymmetry is the correct successor to the standard model of particle physics?

“I know I am being effective when you troll here solely to attack me.”

5+ links to the SafeLibraries blog

“I take the evidence as it comes.”

“Should I ever figure out who you are, I may bring defamation of character charges against you.”

Conspiracy theories, I’m-rubber-you’re-glue-defensiveness, blog pimping, claims of objectivity, and legal threats. That’s a SafeLibraries bingo!

If all you have is a single instance, that’s a pretty broad brush to paint an entire organization. That’s like saying since you got bad service at Walmart that the entire corporation hates customers. It’s a smear, it’s a libel, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

I hope AL is enjoying this conversation with a martini.

“Third, your research into this ‘terrorist link’ is not exhaustive in the slightest.” Perhaps, but ALA’s Judith Krug admitting to the NYT that she wished the Florida librarian had not called the police on the 9/11 terrorist because it broke his patron privacy rights is pretty telling right there. People hear that and they are shocked. To this very day the ALA advises community libraries to wipe computer records to prevent authorities from obtaining information under the USA PATRIOT Act designed to prevent terrorism. One library director even used the ALA directive to cover the tracks of a guy viewing child porn in the Holyoke Public Library. To me, that makes her an accessory to the crime.

“As you tirelessly link the ACLU and ALA together, then it would follow that the ALA would support the free speech rights of hate and racist home grown terrorist groups as well. You just go with the politically convenient Islamophobia. That’s reprehensible.” The 9/11 terrorist who killed about 3,000 people was not a “home grown terrorist group.” Further, my pointing out that Judith Krug, the de facto leader of the ALA for four decades, sought to protect the terrorist’s rights has nothing to do whatsoever with “politically convenient Islamophobia.” You obviously keep repeating that defamation for a reason, namely, to cover up the ALA’s support for the 9/11 terrorist. Should I ever figure out who you are, I may bring defamation of character charges against you.

“When you abdicate such freedoms for the specter of security, you betray the ideals of the Founding Fathers. You wrap yourself in the American flag, but you sully it with your words and actions.” As the NYT article pointed out, no one blames the Florida librarian for turning in the 9/11 terrorist, except Judith Krug speaking on behalf of the ALA and not as an individual. So apparently to you, everyone in the USA except Judith Krug wraps themselves in the American flag only to sully it.

@TerroristFriendly, if you are going to troll and defame me, at least do it on my blog and stop using the AL’s LJ blog for that purpose. For my part, I will not respond to you further here, even if you repeat the same defamation for the fourth time.

Second, the “don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger” is tiring. Own your words if you really believe in them.

Third, your research into this ‘terrorist link’ is not exhaustive in the slightest. As you tirelessly link the ACLU and ALA together, then it would follow that the ALA would support the free speech rights of hate and racist home grown terrorist groups as well. You just go with the politically convenient Islamophobia. That’s reprehensible.

Your civil rights are yours to keep, not just when they are convenient to have. When you abdicate such freedoms for the specter of security, you betray the ideals of the Founding Fathers. You wrap yourself in the American flag, but you sully it with your words and actions.

SafeLibraries: Making Decisions for You about What is Safe.

Which group is excluded? Who wouldn’t be able to use libraries and get help? The only group I could see who would be excluded would be those who wanted libraries to buy young earth creationist books and then put them in the science section of the library rather than the religion section. Would any librarians really do that?

This isn’t a matter of politics or ideology, which is what seems to be loading the conversation on every side. Arguing against the problems with evolutionary theory or radiocarbon dating is one thing, whereas presenting any scientific evidence that the earth is 6000 years old is quite another.

Librarians have an educational role in acquiring and classifying information and in providing reference help. Since there is no truly neutral access to information, should we classify books about a belief based on religious faith with the religion books, or with the science books because the people writing them claim they are science or adhere to scientific standards?

What AL and the other librarians that have argued so vehemently for is simply another way to exclude a group of patrons because they don’t agree with their ideology, which flies in the face of what librarianship is supposed to be about. I’ve discarded the argument before it even gets started because it is based on stereotypes. Sorry it’s not to your liking. You’ll get over it. And the sarcasm is hardly useless when it points out how absolutely stupid someone else’s stereotype is.

It is difficult to lend credence to someone’s opinion when they begin their argument with ridiculous exaggerations. It is even more so when others defend the stereotype. In all, this has been a colossal waste of time over something that no one but Texas can resolve (in spite of all these librarians thinking that by stating their opinions loudly enough, it is somehow going to impact anyone outside of their own sphere of belief.)

Glad, by the way, that you’ve found a few homeschoolers a ‘joy to work with.’ Most of the librarians that have commented here would be a nightmare for the homeschooling patrons that I know. And that’s wrong.

Best wishes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_speed_of_light#References

This underscores the validity of comments about the zealous nature of both religion and science.

Basically, neither side can claim full knowledge (if they are honest with themselves). From my perspective, the Creationists I have met were generally more open to hearing other ideas than evolutionists.

BTW, moral education has nothing to do with science education so those that confuse the two are not really thinking hard enough about this topic.

We sent out children to private Christain schools mainly for the MORAL aspect of their education. They were taught all concepts relating to the age of the earth and human development, not just the Biblical one. We wanted our children EDUCATED not indoctrinated!

A truly interesting study would be to survey Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Atheistic private primary schools in the U.S. to see how each teach these topics. My personal guess is that Christian schools would (overall) be the most balanced.

That is simply because I am reporting on what the ALA has done, not on the state of the world. For example, ALA has, as the New York Times shows, supported the library patron privacy rights of a 9/11 terrorist over his being reported to the police.

I take the evidence as it comes. In the ALA’s case, it the ALA’s affinity that focuses on a single brand of terrorists, not mine. You can continue to attack me here, to troll and defame, but it does not change the history of ALA’s support for terrorists.

When people hear ALA supported the 9/11 terrorist, they are shocked. Of course you, @TerroristFriendly, are not. What a surprise.

You might also like these:

American Troops Defamed by ALA Councilor Peter McDonald
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2008/06/american-troops-defamed-by-ala.html

ALA Defends Book Confiscation Worldwide by Communist/Terrorist Regimes? SafeLibraries Asks ALA Councilor James Casey to Clarify Anti-American Stand
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2008/06/ala-defends-book-confiscation-worldwide.html

Occupied ALA Ignored Cuban Librarians; OWSLibrary is Not a Real Library and People Knew It Would Be Removed
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupied-ala-ignored-cuban-librarians.html

ALA Joins CAIR to Oppose Radicalization Hearings Sponsored by Congressman Pete King
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/03/ala-joins-cair-to-oppose-radicalization.html