This Really Really Really Sucks

For Immediate Release: December 28, 2006
Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337

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.’”

In a letter released today, PEER urged the new Director of the National Park Service (NPS), Mary Bomar, to end the stalling tactics, remove the book from sale at the park and allow park interpretive rangers to honestly answer questions from the public about the geologic age of the Grand Canyon. PEER is also asking Director Bomar to approve a pamphlet, suppressed since 2002 by Bush appointees, providing guidance for rangers and other interpretive staff in making distinctions between science and religion when speaking to park visitors about geologic issues.

In August 2003, Park Superintendent Joe Alston attempted to block the sale at park bookstores of Grand Canyon: A Different View by Tom Vail, a book claiming the Canyon developed on a biblical rather than an evolutionary time scale. NPS Headquarters, however, intervened and overruled Alston. To quiet the resulting furor, NPS Chief of Communications David Barna told reporters and members of Congress that there would be a high-level policy review of the issue.

According to a recent NPS response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by PEER, no such review was ever requested, let alone conducted or completed.

Park officials have defended the decision to approve the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View, claiming that park bookstores are like libraries, where the broadest range of views are displayed. In fact, however, both law and park policies make it clear that the park bookstores are more like schoolrooms rather than libraries. As such, materials are only to reflect the highest quality science and are supposed to closely support approved interpretive themes. Moreover, unlike a library the approval process is very selective. Records released to PEER show that during 2003, Grand Canyon officials rejected 22 books and other products for bookstore placement while approving only one new sale item — the creationist book.

Ironically, in 2005, two years after the Grand Canyon creationist controversy erupted, NPS approved a new directive on “Interpretation and Education (Director’s Order #6) which reinforces the posture that materials on the “history of the Earth must be based on the best scientific evidence available, as found in scholarly sources that have stood the test of scientific peer review and criticism [and] Interpretive and educational programs must refrain from appearing to endorse religious beliefs explaining natural processes.”

“As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan,” Ruch added, pointing to the fact that previous NPS leadership ignored strong protests from both its own scientists and leading geological societies against the agency approval of the creationist book. “We sincerely hope that the new Director of the Park Service now has the autonomy to do her job.”
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801

[Victus]

All of the natural formations and tidal anomalies in the nature preserves around my area are filled with science stuff beyond the dreams of most child-nerds. What exactly do they have at the Grand Canyon, "Due to controversy, we cannot tell you the age of this canyon. We can tell you that it ranges somewhere between 6000 years, and several hundred million".

"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.’”

Are they fucking serious? :mad::mad::mad::mad:
So what is next, universities will have to suspend belief in their geology depts. :mad::mad::mad:
That just pisses me off.

[Rhinoqulous]

Wow, this is pretty fucked up.

:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::w all:

[antix]

What the fuck is next? Wind Cave in the South Dakota Black Hills will offer literature that indicate the cave can be explained by Alice in Wonderland?

Or perhaps "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" will explain all life forms in the ocean?

Fucking Christ! :mad:

[ghoulslime]

Theists are very scary! This is a prime example of why I see no middle ground in dealing with religious lunatics.

This is why I find Ken Miller to be an oddball. He knows the earth is ancient, he knows evolution is absolute fact, yet he is a devout Catholic.

how? I mean, just how? This is beyond suckage, more like FUBAR.

What the fuck are these idiots? They're like little children with stupid fucking childish beliefs, who everyone has to take special care so not to shatter their childish beliefs. It's like a child emperor who believes in fairies, and the imperial advisors have to make society build fairy museums, and fairy schoolbooks just to shield his highness from reality, because they know he'll throw a shit fit of galactic proportions if he has to deal with fact. It's like that, except creationist fucks aren't children, nor emperors, they're just kidding themselves. So how the FUCK can something like this happen??? This is completely unacceptable, and stupid beyond belief. I seriously can't take this stupidity anymore, my brain is about to selfdestruct from observing stupidity rule the planet. Stop it, you theistic moronic creationist fucking fucks. Leave science alone, leave society alone, and leave us normal people the fuck alone, you stupid idiotic nonexistant skydaddy who raped a virgin who gave birth to himself and later commited suicide worshipping moronic fucking retarded shitlords of shit. Fuck off into heaven or hell or whereever the fuck you people want to go. Just fuck the fuck off.

Suspend their belief in geology? Since when was geology a religion? :wall:

You know what? I say creationists should surrender all technology or anything that is a product of science.

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.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Does that mean the Muslims in Egypt aren't allowed to say some geologists think the Sphinx is 12,000 years old now.

Maybe we should attack Egypt if they tell American tourists that.

psik

[Tenspace]

“As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan,”

:lol::lol::lol:

[Choobus]

psikeyhackr wrote

psik

still an arsehole

[calpurnpiso]

Christ-psychosis manifesting itself again......Hmm...and some people think Christians are sane and simply are using their religious schizophrenic beliefs as an excuse to act so utterly retarded............:lol::lol:...

This is stupid.