Wtf?!?!

[Kärnfysikern]

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/

I hope its just bullshit and that the report doesnt exist(the write states he hasnt been able to find it),

Creationism in Our National Parks


If you thought that censoring talk about global warming and suppressing the free speech of government scientists was bad enough, last December the government reached a new low. According to documents released on Dec. 28, 2006 by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Bush administration appointees will not allow rangers at Grand Canyon National Park to mention that the earth is more than a few thousand years old. “In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” said PEER 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.’” I have been unable to confirm this report in my own enquiries among rangers and on the NPS website, but perhaps the order is still being considered at the NPS and has not yet been forced on the rangers.

This is just the latest step in a creeping introduction of religious fundamentalism to our National Parks. Under the “faith-based” initiatives of the Bush Administration, the National Park Service (NPS) is now creating “faith-based” parks by placing crosses in numerous places, and Biblical verses on the plaques overlooking the Grand Canyon. These plaques were reinstated by Bush appointees after the NPS director had them removed on advice of lawyers in the Department of the Interior. In August 2003, the creationist book Grand Canyon: A Different View, by Tom Vail, was introduced to the Grand Canyon bookstore. It promotes the absurd idea of young-earth creationists that every layer in the Grand Canyon (PLUS its subsequent carving) can be explained by Noah’s flood. There were national protests from geologists, all the relevant scientific organizations, and NPS personnel (including the entire NPS geologic staff), and Park Service Superintendent Joe Alston blocked its sale. But Bush appointees at the NPS headquarters intervened and overruled Alston. NPS Chief of Communications David Barna then told Congress and reporters that there would be a review of the issue, but no such review was even requested, even after 3 years — and the creationist book is still on sale in the Grand Canyon! And it is clear that the Bush appointees in the NPS are pandering to the religious right. According to an NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy, speaking to a Baptist news agency, “Now that the book has become quite popular, we don’t want to remove it.”

The political bias of the process is even more starkly revealed by the way in which the NPS policy approves books for sale in its parks. The policy clearly states that the books are supposed to reflect only the highest quality of science and support approved interpretive themes. According to records, Grand Canyon officials rejected 22 other books for placement on the shelves in 2003, and approved only one — the creationist book. In 2005, the NPS approved Director’s Order #6, section 8.4.2, which states that “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.”

This raises even larger, more troubling issues. It’s already bad enough that only a minority of Americans have even a limited understanding of evolution, and a majority still believe the creation story is literally true. It’s worse that creationists have effectively destroyed the teaching of evolution in science classes around the country by pressure on school boards and textbook publishers, even though the courts have ruled against them every time. Now their attack is focused on geology and the age of the earth, making one of our most essential sciences highly vulnerable. If creationists managed to put their bizarre notions of geology into place, do you think that we would have another new oil discovery, or find any more precious minerals or groundwater? Not likely! Their first attack is naturally in a place like Grand Canyon, which is so popular and so clearly shows the immense span of earth’s history, but who’s to say where they’ll strike next? Many of the national parks, such as Petrified Forest and Dinosaur and Badlands and John Day Fossil Beds, also display an impressive record of fossils changing through time in way that cannot be explained by the Bible. According to PEER Director Ruch, “As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan.”

[zodiac666]

i just read the bold, if that's true someone should be shot

[RA]

People who dont know any better say Bush is a right wing Republican..hes far from it. The politically correct police strike again.

[Logan13]

Johan, Why in the world would you take what this website says as fact? This is another one of their fringe articles............
The Spaceships of Ezekiel
by Tim Callahan
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-0...tml#spaceships

A perennial example of a supposed ancient record of extraterrestrial contact, used by authors asserting that alien astronauts visited the Earth in antiquity, is to be found in the first chapter of Ezekiel, in which that prophet, in exile near Babylon, recounts a vision (Ezek. 1:4–28):

As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each had four faces, and each had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under the wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another; they went straightforward, without turning as they went.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straightforward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living creatures was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro, like a flash of lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.

Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction; their appearance was like the gleaming of chrysolite; and the four had the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. The four wheels rims were so high that they were dreadful and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still they let down their wings.

And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was a brightness round about him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.

Such was the appearance of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard the voice of one speaking.

What most often strikes UFO enthusiasts as reminiscent of a spaceship, other than the fact that everything that’s in it is airborne, are the wheels. Before dealing with those specifically, however, let us consider the vision as a whole and see if the imagery of the ancient religions of the Near East isn’t a better fit as the source of Ezekiel’s vision than the imagery of a spaceship.

First of all, Ezekiel says he saw the apparition as a cloud coming on a wind from the north. The word translated as “north” is, in the original Hebrew, zaphon, a word that means “hidden” or “dark” and is only associated with the north as being a quarter of the compass that was gloomy and unknown. To the north of the civilized world in the perspective of the ancient near east lay wild barbaric lands out of which such nomadic peoples as the Cimmerians and the Scythians erupted to wreak havoc on the settled world. Thus the portent of the cloud is ominous or mysterious. However, zaphon is also the name of a locality, Mt. Zaphon in Lebanon, the home of the Canaanite gods. The patriarch of the Canaanite pantheon, El, was merged with Yahweh and is referred to in the Bible in the plural / intensive form Elohim. In fact the two names were often coupled as Yahweh Elohim, translated in the Bible as “the LORD GOD.” In co-opting El’s name, Yahweh also co-opted his wife, Asherah, whose image is constantly being removed from the Temple by strictly Yahwist kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah (2 Kgs. 18:4 and 23:6). Yahweh also would have been seen by his worshipers as taking over the sacred mountain of the Canaanite gods, Mt. Zaphon. Thus, the cloud that approaches from the north (zaphon) is both mysterious and holy.

Next, let us consider the living creatures within the flaming cloud. Though having the form of men, they have two sets of wings, four faces, and feet like calves’ hooves. This chimera-like anatomy has been glossed over by those seeing Ezekiel’s version as a spaceship. Their explanation is that the four faces are the faces of different alien beings looking out of different windows of the spacecraft. Given Ezekiel’s primitive mind-set, the argument goes, he certainly couldn’t have understood what he was seeing. However, for someone who was overawed by indescribable space aliens, Ezekiel was very precise and particular in describing what he saw.

[Kärnfysikern]

Johan, Why in the world would you take what this website says as fact? This is another one of their fringe articles............
The Spaceships of Ezekiel
by Tim Callahan
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-0...tml#spaceships

A perennial example of a supposed ancient record of extraterrestrial contact, used by authors asserting that alien astronauts visited the Earth in antiquity, is to be found in the first chapter of Ezekiel, in which that prophet, in exile near Babylon, recounts a vision (Ezek. 1:4–28):

As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each had four faces, and each had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under the wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another; they went straightforward, without turning as they went.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straightforward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living creatures was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro, like a flash of lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.

Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction; their appearance was like the gleaming of chrysolite; and the four had the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. The four wheels rims were so high that they were dreadful and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still they let down their wings.

And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was a brightness round about him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.

Such was the appearance of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard the voice of one speaking.

What most often strikes UFO enthusiasts as reminiscent of a spaceship, other than the fact that everything that’s in it is airborne, are the wheels. Before dealing with those specifically, however, let us consider the vision as a whole and see if the imagery of the ancient religions of the Near East isn’t a better fit as the source of Ezekiel’s vision than the imagery of a spaceship.

First of all, Ezekiel says he saw the apparition as a cloud coming on a wind from the north. The word translated as “north” is, in the original Hebrew, zaphon, a word that means “hidden” or “dark” and is only associated with the north as being a quarter of the compass that was gloomy and unknown. To the north of the civilized world in the perspective of the ancient near east lay wild barbaric lands out of which such nomadic peoples as the Cimmerians and the Scythians erupted to wreak havoc on the settled world. Thus the portent of the cloud is ominous or mysterious. However, zaphon is also the name of a locality, Mt. Zaphon in Lebanon, the home of the Canaanite gods. The patriarch of the Canaanite pantheon, El, was merged with Yahweh and is referred to in the Bible in the plural / intensive form Elohim. In fact the two names were often coupled as Yahweh Elohim, translated in the Bible as “the LORD GOD.” In co-opting El’s name, Yahweh also co-opted his wife, Asherah, whose image is constantly being removed from the Temple by strictly Yahwist kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah (2 Kgs. 18:4 and 23:6). Yahweh also would have been seen by his worshipers as taking over the sacred mountain of the Canaanite gods, Mt. Zaphon. Thus, the cloud that approaches from the north (zaphon) is both mysterious and holy.

Next, let us consider the living creatures within the flaming cloud. Though having the form of men, they have two sets of wings, four faces, and feet like calves’ hooves. This chimera-like anatomy has been glossed over by those seeing Ezekiel’s version as a spaceship. Their explanation is that the four faces are the faces of different alien beings looking out of different windows of the spacecraft. Given Ezekiel’s primitive mind-set, the argument goes, he certainly couldn’t have understood what he was seeing. However, for someone who was overawed by indescribable space aliens, Ezekiel was very precise and particular in describing what he saw.

uhm did you even read what you pasted? it is a debunk of some ufologist using biblical stories as evidence for ufo's. the sceptic is a good magazine that focus on debunking claims of the paranormal.

[Logan13]

uhm did you even read what you pasted? it is a debunk of some ufologist using biblical stories as evidence for ufo's. the sceptic is a good magazine that focus on debunking claims of the paranormal.

They make a living out of trying to debunk religion, that is their agenda.

[Kärnfysikern]

They make a living out of trying to debunk religion, that is their agenda.

No they take a scientific approach towards things.
Including biblical stories, ghosts, ufo's, mediums, telepathy, near death experiences and all other kinds of topics.

[SurfJunkie]

Download Penn and Teller's show called "Bullshit" from showtime. Try to find the "creationism vs evolution" episode. Touches on this subject with some serious fact and a bit of humor.

*WARNING* if you are a deeply religious individual it will piss you off. If you are open minded and appreciate alternative views and a good laugh.. you'll love it

[Tock]

Johan, Why in the world would you take what this website says as fact?

Logan, try this link -- it's the home page for the organization mentioned, PEER
www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801

--------

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 — 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.”

###

Read the PEER letter to NPS Director Bomar

View the NPS admission that no policy review on the creationist book has occurred

See the 2005 NPS Director’s Order #6 on Interpretation

8.4.2 Historical and Scientific Research. Superintendents, historians, scientists, and interpretive staff are responsible for ensuring that park interpretive and educational programs and media are accurate and reflect current scholarship…Questions often arise round the presentation of geological, biological, and evolutionary processes. The interpretive and educational treatment used to explain the natural processes and 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. The facts, theories, and interpretations to be used will reflect the thinking of the scientific community in such fields as biology, geology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, and paleontology. Interpretive and educational programs must refrain from appearing to endorse religious beliefs explaining natural processes. Programs, however, may acknowledge or explain other explanations of natural processes and events. (Emphasis added)

Trace how the creationist book controversy started and grew

Look at tax dollars used to support the Bush administration program of “Faith-Based Parks”

[BgMc31]

People who dont know any better say Bush is a right wing Republican..hes far from it. The politically correct police strike again.

So what is he? Please enlighten us!!! It's amazing that conservatives will distance them from GW as before they were all swinging from his nuts. It's just amazing how conservatives will find a way to blame so-called liberals and the so-called liberal media for anything!!!

[RA]

So what is he? Please enlighten us!!! It's amazing that conservatives will distance them from GW as before they were all swinging from his nuts. It's just amazing how conservatives will find a way to blame so-called liberals and the so-called liberal media for anything!!!

Hes a centrist if you have been paying attention. Look at the education bill, the farm bill, the fact that hes only vetoed one bill, I could go on but Im sure it will do no good. People who hate gw cant see past that.

His father was the same way. Reagan was much more conservative than either of the two.

If it were up to me I would have never had gw try this "new tone" bullshyt. Democrats just eat that up and spit it out. They dont want consensus..they want the liberal agenda, period.

I want someone more like Reagan who says **** off, were doing it my way.

[Kärnfysikern]

So me and tock are the only ones worried that the current administration is undermining the credability of the american scientific community? No matter how anyone feels for bush that is dangerous. America has since ww2 been leading the scientific race. I dont think anyone wants to se that changed.

[RA]

So me and tock are the only ones worried that the current administration is undermining the credability of the american scientific community? No matter how anyone feels for bush that is dangerous. America has since ww2 been leading the scientific race. I dont think anyone wants to se that changed.

I think your over stating things. How is this undermining the credability of the scientific community?

[Kärnfysikern]

I think your over stating things. How is this undermining the credability of the scientific community?

Well for instance the word of the scientific community is apperently not good enough to be told in the national parks.

Whats next? removing everything in schools books that claim the earth is older than 10 000 years?

The other things they have done is censur nasa scientists for instance. There are LOTS of scientists over there in the stattes that are seriously concerned with the current admin.

[RA]

Well Im guessing they are no fan of Clinton since he cut their budget

[Kärnfysikern]

Well Im guessing they are no fan of Clinton since he cut their budget

I guess most nuclear scientists and nuclear engineers hate clinton.

But clinton did not censur scientists.

Cutting budget happens every now and then, but a admin putting gags on scientists is a whole other thing.

[Kärnfysikern]

sceptic magazin was fooled

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-01-17.html

In last week’s eSkeptic , we published highlights from a press release issued by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), a Washington D.C.-based environmental watchdog group. That press release, dated December 28, 2006, was headlined:

HOW OLD IS THE GRAND CANYON? PARK SERVICE WON’T SAY
Orders to Cater to Creationists Makes National Park Agnostic on Geology

The first sentence of the release reads:

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.

Unfortunately, in our eagerness to find additional examples of the inappropriate intrusion of religion in American public life (as if we actually needed more), we accepted this claim by PEER without calling the National Park Service (NPS) or the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) to check it. As a testimony to the quality of our readers, however, dozens immediately phoned both NPS and GCNP, only to discover that the claim is absolutely false. Callers were told that the Grand Canyon is millions of years old, that no one is being pressured from Bush administration appointees — or by anyone else — to withhold scientific information, and all were referred to a statement by David Barna, Chief of Public Affairs, National Park Service as to the park’s official position. “Therefore, our interpretive talks, way-side exhibits, visitor center films, etc. use the following explanation for the age of the geologic features at Grand Canyon,” the document explains.

PEER is an anti-Bush, anti-religion liberal activist watchdog group in search of demons to exorcise and dragons to slay. On one level, that’s how the system works in a free society, and there are plenty of pro-Bush, pro-religion conservative activist watchdog groups who do the same thing on the other side. Maybe in a Hegelian process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis we find truth that way; at least at the level of talk radio. But journalistic standards and scholarly ethics still hold sway at all levels of discourse that matter, and to that end I believe we were duped by an activist group who at the very least exaggerated a claim and published it in order to gain notoriety for itself, or worse, simply made it up.

To that end I apologize to all of our readers for not fact checking this story before publishing it on eSkeptic and www.skeptic.com. Shame on us. But shame on you too, Mr. Ruch, and shame on PEER, for this egregious display of poor judgment and unethical behavior.

[RA]

lol, figures. All the long knives are out for Bush..

[Logan13]

So me and tock are the only ones worried that the current administration is undermining the credability of the american scientific community? No matter how anyone feels for bush that is dangerous. America has since ww2 been leading the scientific race. I dont think anyone wants to se that changed.

No, I just have a hard time believing this story. It would be beyond ignorant if it were true. If it were true, the mainstream press would have vilified Bush on it already. To my knowledge, they have not. If anyone has a link to a mainstream article on this, please post it.

[Logan13]

Logan, try this link -- it's the home page for the organization mentioned, PEER
www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801

--------

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 — 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.”

###

Read the PEER letter to NPS Director Bomar

View the NPS admission that no policy review on the creationist book has occurred

See the 2005 NPS Director’s Order #6 on Interpretation

8.4.2 Historical and Scientific Research. Superintendents, historians, scientists, and interpretive staff are responsible for ensuring that park interpretive and educational programs and media are accurate and reflect current scholarship…Questions often arise round the presentation of geological, biological, and evolutionary processes. The interpretive and educational treatment used to explain the natural processes and 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. The facts, theories, and interpretations to be used will reflect the thinking of the scientific community in such fields as biology, geology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, and paleontology. Interpretive and educational programs must refrain from appearing to endorse religious beliefs explaining natural processes. Programs, however, may acknowledge or explain other explanations of natural processes and events. (Emphasis added)

Trace how the creationist book controversy started and grew

Look at tax dollars used to support the Bush administration program of “Faith-Based Parks”

You obviously need a source, Tock.

[Logan13]

sceptic magazin was fooled

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-01-17.html

Me tell you!

[Kärnfysikern]

No, I just have a hard time believing this story. It would be beyond ignorant if it were true. If it were true, the mainstream press would have vilified Bush on it already. To my knowledge, they have not. If anyone has a link to a mainstream article on this, please post it.

Even though this story turned out to be utter bs there is still real concern. I made this post a long time ago but I will repost.

http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_int...statement.html

On February 18, 2004, over 60 leading scientists–Nobel laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency directors, and university chairs and presidents–signed the statement below, voicing their concern over the misuse of science by the Bush administration. UCS is seeking the signatures of thousands of additional U.S. scientists in support of this effort.

When scientific knowledge has been found to be in conflict with its political goals, the administration has often manipulated the process through which science enters into its decisions. This has been done by placing people who are professionally unqualified or who have clear conflicts of interest in official posts and on scientific advisory committees; by disbanding existing advisory committees; by censoring and suppressing reports by the government’s own scientists; and by simply not seeking independent scientific advice. Other administrations have, on occasion, engaged in such practices, but not so systematically nor on so wide a front. Furthermore, in advocating policies that are not scientifically sound, the administration has sometimes misrepresented scientific knowledge and misled the public about the implications of its policies.

The behavior of the White House on these issues is part of a pattern that has led Russell Train, the EPA administrator under Presidents Nixon and Ford, to observe, “How radically we have moved away from regulation based on independent findings and professional analysis of scientific, health and economic data by the responsible agency to regulation controlled by the White House and driven primarily by political considerations.”

Highly qualified scientists have been dropped from advisory committees dealing with childhood lead poisoning, environmental and reproductive health, and drug abuse, while individuals associated with or working for industries subject to regulation have been appointed to these bodies.

In making the invalid claim that Iraq had sought to acquire aluminum tubes for uranium enrichment centrifuges, the administration disregarded the contrary assessment by experts at Livermore, Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories

Some of those that has signed
http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_int...gnatories.html

http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/

Me tell you!

You where right this time cant deny that. Savor it for a while

[Logan13]

You where right this time cant deny that. Savor it for a while

Hell, It happens so often that I just take it in stride anymore...........