Tulsa Zoo To Feature Display On Biblical Creation

[Rhiannon12866]

TULSA, Okla. -- The Tulsa Zoo will add a display on biblical creation following complaints about other displays with religious significance, including a Hindu elephant statue.

The Tulsa Park and Recreation Board approved the display this week after more than two hours of public comment from a standing-room-only crowd.

Some objected that religion shouldn't be part of the taxpayer-funded scientific institution.

But those who favored the creationist exhibit, including Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune, argued that the zoo already displays religious items, including a statue of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh and a globe inscribed with an American Indian saying: "The earth is our mother. The sky is our father."

Tulsa resident Dan Hicks said, "To not include the creationist view would be discrimination."

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/travelgetaways/4593745/detail.html

This is very disturbing, at best, against the law, at worst.:-(

[Arianrhod]

1. Well, it's never against the law

when the laws are being written by the morons with an agenda.

I would say they have a point, except that everyone in America is already familiar with Noah's Ark. Geez, they blast that nonsense out in children's Saturday cartoons! It's not as if no one had ever heard it before.

But how many American children learn about Ganesha, or even about Native American religions? (Besides being told that they are abominable or ridiculous beliefs.) These others deserve some air time; there's no such thing as "discrimination" against a monopoly.

Fundamentalist Christians are running scared. We ought to make them more so.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I totally agree with you.

When the "Deep Throat" story broke, Keith Olbermann said that Nixon was a president who thought of The Constitution as "optional," and that nothing was illegal, if the president did it. And I posted the question in KOEB: "Gee, who else does that sound like?!":grr:

I think it's important that children learn about a whole range of beliefs. Then, they know their options. I know little about religion, since I was exposed to so little, and I regret it. After 9/11, I dragged out the encyclopedia to find out what Muslims actually believe. I just had no idea.:shrug:

As for the Fundies, they scare me to death! So I'd like to think that they're running scared!
:scared:

And I'm so glad that you found my thread. This was the second headline, last night, on Buzzflash, and I posted it with you in mind.:hi:

[onager]

3. Yes, thanks for posting this over here...

I've read some other background on this. Apparently Dan Hicks is a lot more than just a "Tulsa resident." He's a professional Fundie who has been harassing the zoo and other civic organizations for years.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. You're welcome. I thought it was important.

And thanks for the info. Since I live in the Northeast, Dan Hicks was not on my radar screen. But he's yet another one who we have to keep an eye on. So many Fundies, so little time. *sigh* The fact that they've hijacked this country and have taken over the controls is a real reason for fear and concern among those of us remaining in the sane proportion of the population.:-(

[melv]

5. Tulsan here.

and a highly embarrassed one at that.

I will tell you that today's paper (Sunday edition) was filled with letters to the editor expressing their outrage over this.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. You have no reason to be embarrassed

It's the Fundies who should be ashamed of themselves!:grr:

But that's just great that there was outrage over this! It's about time that people stood up to these ignorant bullies!:applause:

Thank you for letting us know! It's nice to get some good news, for a change!:hi:

[Arianrhod]

7. Why, thank you. :)

I say they're running scared, but we must realize that this is what makes them so dangerous. Like the * administration itself, they know their days are numbered, so they are capable of literally anything.

My old Fundamentalist preacher used to say, "The devil hates to be laughed at." I think that's a good rule of thumb to follow when dealing with these wackos. Laugh at them. Ridicule them. Make them blush and bluster and fume and rage.

Personally, I never miss a chance to make a Creationist look like the idiot s/he is. :D

[Rhiannon12866]

8. You're most welcome. :-)

I agree that they're dangerous, but I don't know any, personally, except that one girl from work, and I just wrote her off as ignorant. Actually, it both shocked and disturbed me, that someone, in this day and age could believe such an outmoded concept, but I was certainly aware that some people, somewhere, still do. I guess I believed that they were relegated to rural part of the red states.:shrug:

The ones that scare me most are the fundies, like Bush* and Gale Norton, who believe that the end days are upon us, so there's no need to preserve this planet for future generations because there won't be any! To me, they're the most dangerous, because they can do so much harm in such a short time. They've already made a damn good start!:scared:

Anyway, I'm on board with your mission, should I ever run across another one. Keep up the good work!:hi:

[Arianrhod]

9. hahaha

The Evolution Army marches on. :D

I have literally known hundreds of Fundamentalists and Creationists. I currently work in an extremely conservative office, so I also have Freepers and other assorted nutcases swaggering around as if they were somebody. I used to get angry; now I just feel sorry for them.

But laughing at a Freeper gives the same result as laughing at a Fundamentalist. And laughter is much healthier than anger. :)

[Rhiannon12866]

10. I used to laugh at Freepers. Now I get ticked off.

Though I live in serious Freeper country, I've only been attacked twice, unless you count my mother, which is a whole other story. On election day, some geezer accosted me on the parking lot of PetsMart. I had Kerry buttons on my jacket and a Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker on my car. So this moran just had to say something, asked me if I was voting for Bush*! I pointed to my buttons and said "What do you think?!" He launched into a tirade, though it wasn't mean-spirited, using all the empty campaign slogans, like "we have to fight them over there, so we won't have to fight them over here!!!" Well, my veterinarian is a fellow liberal, and we had just been laughing at the stupidity of this very thing! So I couldn't help it, and just burst out laughing!:D

However, more recently, I got into it with another Freeper, in the very same place. My dogs were there for grooming, and the woman I know best from my vet's office suggested that I spend my time waiting at the Barnes and Noble, in the same plaza. We've talked, and I know that she supported Kerry, but doesn't know a lot about politics. So, when I came back for my dogs, I told her that I'd started reading Joe Wilson's book, "The Politics of Truth." I was explaining the whole Joe Wilson saga to her, when I saw her face change. Someone was standing behind me, eavesdropping. It was an elderly woman, on crutches. And my friend said to her, "I guess you're for Bush*?" And this elderly Freeper launched into this huge tirade about how we shouldn't "lick Saddam's boots" and how Bush Sr. should have taken him out! I couldn't let it go. So I told her, very slowly and clearly, quoting what Poppy Bush said, in 1996, on the fifth anniversary of the "first" Gulf War, that the reason that he didn't take out Saddam, when he had the chance, was because this "would have turned the entire Arab world against us and destabilized the region." I have no idea if she heard me, since my friend shoved me into an exam room, so I'd be out of the way of this Freeper's swinging crutch!:grr: