The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism. Sir William Osler (1849 - 1919)
I found it. Yup! I’ve finally discovered where George Dubya gets his information. I know where he does his research before invading countries. I know where he does his background checks before appointing people to important posts. I have found the very fount of wisdom from which the President drinks.
Consevapedia is the Christian fundamentalist version of Wikipedia. Describing itself as “A conservative encyclopedia you can trust.” Conservapedia strives to be “family friendly” and “clean”. It claims that its content is “true and verifiable”. Let me give you a flavor of this encyclopedia by citing excerpts from some entries I came across. They are listed here in no particular order.
• American Indians: “…Current anthropological and historical models have the first Native Americans crossing the Bering land bridge sometime after the Great Flood….”
• Theory of Evolution: You’ll see RED when you go to this one. All other encyclopedias I know of have the entry as Evolution, not Theory of evolution. The article opens with: “The Theory of evolution is a materialist explanation of the history of life on earth.” Next line: “An article by CBS News begins with the observation that, "Americans do not believe that humans evolved…” The article is basically a short put-down of evolution and a very lengthy defense of intelligent design. For a really good laugh, have a read of the reference list.
• Abortion: The bulk of the article focuses on the health hazards of abortion…such as breast cancer, would you believe?
• Sex: There is no entry for sex; one is redirected to Gender. Why!?
• Homosexuality: “Homosexuality is condemned in both Old and New Testaments. It is mentioned directly four times in the Bible.” …and other good stuff.
• Science: This is what I found under Science: “Bold textItalic textLink title THE EARTH IS 4.5 BILLION YEARS OLD. CRAZY LOONS!!!!!” Someone’s taking the mickey out of them?...hee hee.
• Condom: “The page you were trying to view has been deleted and protected to prevent re-creation.” …I kid you not!
• Reproduction: “This article was blanked due to vandalism.” …hmm…
• Moscow: Moscow is the capital of Russia. Alternatively, Moscow is a city in Idaho across the border from Pullman, Washington, in the rolling Palouse hill country.” Well that was very informative…
Ok, so I’ve had my little fun but the very sad thing is that in this, the information age, millions of residents living in what is arguably the most technologically advanced nation in the world will go to this site for information…and get misinformation. Carl Sagan, I’m sorry old pal but I fear the candle gutters more than ever.
“The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge, and there's no place for it in the endeavor of science…” Carl Sagan
Joseph Froncioni
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