HOW OLD IS THE GRAND CANYON? PARK SERVICE WON’T SAY — Orders to Cater to Creationists Makes National Park Agnostic on Geology
Washington, DC — Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
“In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”
56 comments
It should be noted that they do provide a geologic age on their website .
That said, although I haven't visited the Grand Canyon, I've been to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and on the tours of the cave, the guides weren't allowed to give an age for the cave due to pressure from and incidents involving fundies. I can't believe the fundies are allowed any influence whatsoever. They should simply be laughed at.
Next they're going to stop all tours all together due to pressure from those of a certain religious sect who are offended by big friggin holes in the ground. If you're going to submit to the pressure of some religious fundamentalists, you have to submit to the pressure from ALL of them, dammit.
OH, FUCK YOU, BUSH!
Seriously, what the fuck?! Fuck! God fucking damn you fucking nutjob fundamentalists and your fucking idiot president! Fuck you with a red-hot shaft of spiked iron!
...Sorry, but that pretty squarely struck every possible button it could.
AAAAARGH!!! Bush and his fundie cronies cannot possibly be removed from office soon enough for my taste. This whole state of affairs is inexcusable, outrageous, and simply insane, an absolute betrayal of the public trust.
That ludicrous book had no business being sold there in the first place, and its continuing sale is shameful enough. But the gagging of park rangers on reporting matters of scientific fact is a truly monstrous case of pandering to willful ignorance and crass bullying by a powerful religiopolitical movement -- which has the gall to claim that IT is persecuted in this country!
Good grief! When did THIS become the Bizarro Alternate Universe, anyway?!?
~David D.G.
Now, I have to go to the Grand Canyon just so I can write a big "BULLSHIT!" in magic marker across the covers of those fucking Flood books.
Man those people are retarded. Let them have their fucking hissy fit by posting the real age of the canyon all over, who cares! Creationists are idiots.
Why don't we just march to their churches and write all over their Bibles that evolution is teh pwnage?
Oh, wait, that would be sinking to their level. But at times like this, I really don't care.
Avatar - Ex-fucking-zactly!
If the ignorant fucks want to stick their head in the sand, that's fine, don't go to museums and don't go to libraries and don't go to the fucking Grand Canyon - if you can't appreciate the geology, it's just a fucking big hole in the middle of nowhere. Stop spoiling it for everyone else retards!
When fundies who actually have a degree in geology can show me some kind of proof of this, then we can change what park rangers and books say.
Until then, why would we provide anything BUT the best scientific data we have?
That still doesn't excuse cowardice and pusilanimity on parts of those who should be united against ignorance and assorted efforts to undermine science. And if fundies would resort to criminal activities like using shotguns against anyone who thinks differently (like the abortion technicians at the family planning spree), then this better wake us all up in terms of realizing how evil fundies can be.
I'm reminded of a quote from a Frank Zappa song:
"This here song will offend you some,
If it does, it's because you're dumb!"
But according to the Fridanistic belief, the grand canyon was formed by the Goddess Frida and her prophets on The Day of Re-Creation when the earth was created again after it accidently had turned into chocolate...
And I'm a Fridanistic fundamentalist! I'm oppressed! I'm offended! I want attention too!
MILF-Chan, I agree - distorting or suppressing evidence and its interpretation in order to perpetuate myths is infinitely more abbhorent than the belief in those myths, and way past the limit of any tolerance of that belief.
I honestly cannot believe that fundies are able to get this level of influence in this field. Unbe-freakin-lievable. And this after I watched the Creationism episode of "Bullshit," where that one bastard tries to cite the Grand Canyon as proof of creation. Yeah RIGHT. A whole bunch of water flowing over some of the toughest rocks in the world is NOT going to carve out a canyon of THAT magnitude in a mere 40 days...unless if those days were thousands or millions of years EACH. Oig.
What pisses me off the most about this is the fact that it actually happened in the first place. Sure, the fact that the Bush administration is behind it pisses me off too, but still...they should NOT have this kind of authority over the NPA. Completely different arenas.
The world is not 6000 years old, get over it.
And MK, I'll gladly join in on that party.
Ugh. As an American and especially as I'm from an area with plenty of fundamentalists, I must say I'm disgusted at this turn of events.
By the way, I'm a born-again, evangelical Christian myself, but I prefer to use common sense and accept the evidence for what it is rather than invent crazy explanations for it. I've debated youth pastors before on evolution before, and have gotten very good at it. They continue using the same canned arguments that they've always used, though.
It really saddens me that the truth is being obscured because of pressure from these people.
And I'll bring the shrimps for the barbie... bwahahaha... we'll all be going to hell!
Seriously, this is so fucked up. This was posted at the end of last year. Anyone know if anything has changed yet?
I know the parks service wasn't actually set up to educate, but surely it's current main roles are conservation and education? I think this deserves some sort of class-action lawsuit.
it's interseting that one side of the argument (the argument that is in fact supported by 99% of scientists) is suppressed, but ONE - ONLY ONE - religious-based text is supported.
The slide into the dark ages continues in the US. I'm sorry, but in my dark dreams I can see scientists and others liberally educated enslaved (maybe as wage-slaves) serving the ends of the superstitionists. Paranoid maybe, but not totally unbelievable..
Further (having read the full article) surely all federal employees are answerale to the constitution first, and then to political appointees?
WAT?!
I'm aghast! Actual, scientifically derived information was repressed because of a fairy-tale?! I can not believe *choke*
Yeah, sorry... I couldn't finish that.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.