From Memri:
'the Kuwaiti education ministry plans to delete Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the high school curriculum. This article states that everyone has the right to freedom of religion, including the freedom to change his religion and beliefs. Dr. Rashid Al-'Anzi, chairman of the committee on human rights curricula, explained that the article was deleted "because it is contrary to the Islamic shari'a… and is not in accordance with what we want the pupils to learn."'
Sound familiar? Isn't that why many on the Christian Right want evolution out of science classes, or why they pull their child from school altogether so they can homeschool the Godidit version of science?
Here is what Dr. Ahmad Al-Baghdad, a Kuwaiti reformist, states when it comes to secular science and education:
"It is no coincidence…that education is failing in all Arab countries. Is it reasonable for everyone to ignore the fact that education cannot be religious in its content and orientation? Unfortunately, everyone is disregarding the fact that education cannot work, in any society, unless the contents of the curricula are secular, or at least modern…
"Introducing religion into every scientific field [of study] causes a drop in the level of scientific teaching. I ask the minister of education to have a look in one of the elementary school arithmetic books, which have been infused with religious contents that do not belong in them…
"We are not permitted to adopt the secular teaching methods, although we know that the secular Western or Japanese education is much more effective, pedagogically and scientifically, than the quasi-religious education [that exists] in the Arab states… Secularism is a way of life which is completely impossible [for us] to implement in our education [system]… The best proof of the [religious] orientation [of Arab education] is the deletion of articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because they are contrary to Islam.
"The expected result of this hodgepodge method of teaching human rights in Kuwaiti schools is that pupils will acquire a deficient and distorted understanding of the truth, and will also learn things that are false. The balanced approach that the Arab education ministries are aiming for - [an approach] that combines religion and secular sciences - has not been realized in a satisfactory manner, or to be more precise, has failed completely.
"Until the Arab governments decide on their pedagogical philosophy - [and adopt] a purely religious philosophy or a purely secular one - scientific education will remain a tattered hodgepodge [of conflicting notions], and will produce graduates that have diplomas instead of people with a [true] love of knowledge.
"Anyone who believes he can walk a tightrope for very long is deluding himself and will end up failing abysmally. This is what happens to anyone who places himself under the control of the religious groups, who have never brought humanity anything but misery."
He'll probably wind up in the West. This is what happens to Arab/Muslim intellectuals. Good for the Western gene pools though. We need smart guys like this procreating in the West.
I don't know how true it is, but according to some recent articles, the braintrust in Saudi Arabia is considering banning the letter X, because it is a cross.
Here is a gem from the land of intellectual darkness:
Saudi Arabia's commission issued this 'famed 1974 fatwa — issued by its blind leader at the time, Sheik Abdul Aziz Ben Baz — which declared that the Earth was flat and immobile. In a book issued by the Islamic University of Medina, the sheik argued: "If the earth is rotating, as they claim, the countries, the mountains, the trees, the rivers, and the oceans will have no bottom.'
In a university book? Don't count on the cure for cancer coming from an Islamic state.
But don't expect it come from the American Bible Belt either. Just look at the recent words of Marshall Hall of Cornelia, Ga., is a retired schoolteacher who has spent the last 30 years protesting the teaching of evolution. His books argue not only that Darwin was wrong but also that science has been wrong ever since Copernicus and that the idea of Earth turning is a "carefully crafted Bible-bashing lie."
A teacher? I feel sorry for his former students.
Before I get flack from modern Christians who will say this fixed earth guy is not representative of the American education system, I would like to draw attention to the new source of information for reality deniers: The Conservapedia.
Their mission:
Conservapedia is a much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American. On Wikipedia, many of the dates are provided in the anti-Christian "C.E." instead of "A.D.", which Conservapedia uses. Christianity receives no credit for the great advances and discoveries it inspired, such as those of the Renaissance. Read a list of many Examples of Bias in Wikipedia.
Conservapedia is an online resource and meeting place where we favor Christianity and America. Conservapedia has easy-to-use indexes to facilitate review of topics. You will much prefer using Conservapedia compared to Wikipedia if you want concise answers free of "political correctness".
Yep, the Fundies have found another way to try to dumb down America. Again, I'm convinced that the more they expose their beliefs on the internet, the more they are shooting themselves in the foot. YEC's cannot withstand scientific confrontation.
I really don't mind their page on Atheism. It actually looks like it was written by an Atheist.
But check out their "kangaroo" entry:
Origins
According to the origins model used by creation scientists, modern kangaroos, like all modern animals, originated in the Middle East[1] and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah's Ark prior to the Great Flood. It has not yet been determined by baraminologists whether kangaroos form a holobaramin with the wallaby, tree-kangaroo, wallaroo, pademelon and quokka, or if all these species are in fact apobaraminic or polybaraminic.
Also according to creation science, after the Flood, kangaroos bred from the Ark passengers migrated to Australia. There is debate whether this migration happened over land[2] -- as Australia was still for a time connected to the Middle East before the supercontinent of Pangea broke apart[3] -- or if they rafted on mats of vegetation torn up by the receding flood waters[2].
I wanted to edit it and add a third possibility (but I wasn't able to sign in and open an account for some reason):
Kangaroos could have floated on the back of crocodiles from the Middle East to Australia. Since there was plenty of fresh dead people and animals in the water, and crocodiles live in the water, they were full, and had plenty of leftover food. So they didn't have to eat living animals, and even thought ahead (probably God inspired), to bring living animals with them to Australia so that crocodiles in the future would have something to eat.
A Qur'anic version of the Consvervapedia would probably do very well in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
On the Conservapedia see also Thoughts From Kansas, Boing Boing, and Librocrats.
