Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

I have been pointed to this video (below in three parts) enough times that I thought I'd post it here. The fellas follow an all too familiar case in which some God-fearing townsfolk demand creationism be taught along side of evolution.

Warning: there are some cuss words, but remarkably few given the outrageous drive to kill science and fertilize religion in the minds of the young government school students.







What I find the most curious is that under the guise of teaching science, where evolution is just a "theory", the creationists claim that both evolution and creationism be taught and then let the children decide which is a better fit in their lives. What a good idea! Why didn't those pedagogues think of that earlier:

Johnny, here is a book. There are many words in here that must be learned through a consistent systematic approach starting with the letters of the alphabet, the sounds those letters make, alone and when blended with other letters before those words can be read. Then you must develop a vocabulary in which you understand the meaning of those words in order to read sentences without stopping to look up every word in a dictionary (another book with lots of words). You may find this book very difficult to understand at times and will need to focus very hard if you wish to finish it. Even then, you may not like what you learn when you read it, but in the end you will be empowered to make discoveries on your own.

Or...you can just sit back and listen to me tell you a nice, comfortable story that will confirm and perpetuate your current understanding. You choose.

I have no doubt that reality will prevail. I just wonder why the trend to return to the dark ages is so well tolerated and prevalent.