Bill Nye, The Science Guy pisses off Waco fundies.

[Dr.Phool]

You can either dazzle them with brilliance, or baffle them with bullshit.

Bill Nye, the harmless children's edu-tainer known as "The Science Guy," managed to offend a select group of idiot adults in Waco when he suggested that the moon does not emit light.

As even most elementary-school graduates know, the moon reflects the light of the sun but produces no light of its own.

But don't tell that to the good people of Waco, who were "visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence," according to the Waco Tribune.

http://www.sploid.com/news/2006/04/battling_the_je.php

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/04/06/04062006wacbillnye.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=11:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[DUHandle]

1. Now I know how the city got it's name n/t

reason for edit: correct typo

[oldtime dfl_er]

7. call it Wacko

that's one place I never want to go near


http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/1097640

[sinkingfeeling]

2. And the Bible verus does not say that the moon emits light. The

uneducated are determined to stay that way.

[jrw14125]

3. former home of that freedom-loving american, david koresh...

[XemaSab]

6. right down the road from that freedom-loving american, george bush

[salvorhardin]

4. I read about that a couple days ago

Bill Nye is one of the most inoffensive and likable guys I know of. It takes extra hard work to be pissed off by Bill Nye.

[BattyDem]

5. Wait a minute ...

These idiots actually think the moon glows? :rofl:

I bet they think it's made of cheese, too! :P

[Dr.Phool]

9. Pepper cheese. It glows from the heat!

[BattyDem]

28. LOL!

:D

[MADem]

10. Hell, honey, it's JEEBUS's NIGHT LIGHT!!!

God plugs it in at night when he tucks you in, ya see! He must have one screaming shit of an electric bill!

[BR_Parkway]

17. Can cows jump?

[TrogL]

39. Whatever happened to the unicorns and dragons?

They're both in the Bible.

[Warpy]

8. If ever there was a reason to reopen state mental institutions

it's the prevalence of fundamentalist wack jobs in areas of this country. Their ignorance doesn't border on pathology, it IS pathology.

Some of them can probably be deprogrammed. Most will likely need drugs.

We need to put them someplace where they can't keep hurting the rest of us.

[MADem]

14. You know, I would just be overjoyed if some ballsy HBO producer

...would do a brutal miniseries on THESE nutjobs. Of course, they'd probably go ballistic and all "dark-sided" on the hapless producers, but it would probably shine a real light on just how fucking nuts these people really are for the rest of the nation.

I think much of America does not realize that a not insignificant percentage of this country is made up of people who really aren't very sharp knives in the utensil drawer of life.

[spag68]

24. fundamentalists

seem so far in space, have you ever wondered how "regular" religious types can put up with it.

[TriMetFan]

11. oh My God! These people are so_______!

I guess they think the cow jumped over the moon and that it is made out of cheese.

[MADem]

15. Which is why it must be safeguarded, so the gubmint don't go up there

and take it, and convert it into...............WELFARE CHEESE!!!!!!!!

[BR_Parkway]

20. Now I'm never going to get this monitor clean, thanks!

[BlooInBloo]

12. The TRUE reason republicans get elected...

... Americans are idiots...

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.html

[IChing]

13. why do you post this when there is one on the same page?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=888522&mesg_id=888522

with 17 recommendations and 81 comments

[Dr.Phool]

16. Because I checked a couple of pages

And found nothing. The other one was from yesterday.

[IChing]

21. It is on the greatest page right now

it was on this page when you posted yours
I hate double posts unless it is thread 2 or 3

[Brotherjohn]

18. To be fair to Waco, the original article says most people enjoyed...

.. the presentation, and the article cast Nye in a positive light.

[ChickMagic]

19. Why, yes! It's green cheese....

but as it filters through our atmostphere, it appears to be white.
Albedo, the magic dragon, eats the cheese, causing it to become smaller.
He's lactose intolerant, however, and as he pukes up the cheese, the
moon comes back.

Don't you cretins know anything????

:evilgrin:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. Oh yeah? What about those rare red moons? Is Albedo female and having

'her special moment' while she is filthy, unclean and vile to godly males?

[ChickMagic]

41. Yes, it's just that time of the month

It doesn't stop the magic dragon, though.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

42. gotcha. But what about the blue moons?

[ChickMagic]

43. They're just sad

because of PMS.

[Ian David]

22. Now we have to give equal time to Intelligent Luminosity...

Yes, people will take fundamentalists seriously when they spout this crap.

"I'm sad and lonely and desperate and in a condition to be easily manipulated."

"Let me tell you about Jee-zuss... He can make you happy!"

"That's great! Tell me more!"

"Well, first you have to believe that man and dinosaurs lived together at the same time, and that the moon shines with its own light."

"You're a fucking loony. I'm going to try Scientology instead."

[Ian David]

23. He should have waited until June 10th. That's Official Jesus day in Texas

Claim: By proclamation of Governor George W. Bush, 10 June 2000 was 'Jesus Day' in Texas.

Status: True.

<snip>

Origins: Yes, it's true. Texas Governor George W. Bush signed a memorandum on 17 April 2000 proclaiming 10 June to be 'Jesus Day' in Texas, a day that "challenges people to follow Christ's example by performing good works in their communities and neighborhoods."

The proclamation was viewable in the Governor's section of the the web site for the State of Texas, but only the last few months' proclamations are kept on the site, so this one is no longer available. Luckily, PBS has a copy housed on its site.





Note, however, that Governor Bush did not simply decide to create an arbitrary 'Jesus Day' for the State of Texas. His proclamation was issued in support of a national celebration of Jesus Day, an annual event supported by proclamations from other governors and mayors throughout America as well.
http://www.jesusday.org/welcome.php

Last updated: 30 July 2000

More:
http://www.snopes.com/religion/jesusday.htm

[sinkingfeeling]

27. You ought to send a copy of that to the WH. Then we'll all wait and see

what good works he will do on June 10.....maybe nuke Iran?

[rodeodance]

25. oh yes, i recall now-Nye was reading (disputing) Genesis.

....Nye was in town to participate in McLennan Community College's Distinguished Lecture Series. He gave two lectures on such unfunny and adult topics as global warming, Mars exploration, and energy consumption.

But nothing got people as riled as when he brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars."

The lesser light, he pointed out, is not a light at all, but only a reflector.

At this point, several people in the audience stormed out in fury. One woman yelled "We believe in God!" and left with three children, thus assuring that people across America would read about the incident and conclude that Waco is as nutty as they'd always suspected.

[Jade Fox]

26. The true Moonbats are revealed.......n/t

[Betsy Ross]

29. Dissing the lesser celestial god. n/t

[Initech]

30. It's official: America is the dumbest country on the planet.

I didnt think it was possible not to know that the moon doesnt emit light, but the stupidity of this country continues to out do itself on a daily basis.

[Ian David]

31. Fun Science Facts from "the" Bible

<snip>

God makes two lights: "the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night." But the moon is not a light, but only reflects light from the sun. And why, if God made the moon to "rule the night", does it spend half of its time moving through the daytime sky? Gen 1:16

All animals were originally herbivores. Tapeworms, vampire bats, mosquitoes, and barracudas -- all were strict vegetarians, as they were created by God. Gen 1:30

<snip>

When the animals left the ark, what would they have eaten? There would have been no plants after the ground had been submerged for nearly a year. What would the carnivores have eaten? Whatever prey they ate would have gone extinct. And how did the New World primates or the Australian marsupials find their way back after the flood subsided? 8:19

<snip>

"The whole earth was of one language." But this could not be true, since by this time (around 2400 BCE) there were already many languages, each unintelligible to the others. Gen 11:1, 6

<snip>

Why are some people born with disabilities? Because God deliberately makes them that way. Ex 4:11

<snip>

# The bible says that hares and coneys are unclean because they "chew the cud" but do not part the hoof. But hares and coneys are not ruminants and they do not "chew the cud." Lev. 11:5-6

# Bats are birds to the biblical God. Lev, 11:13, 19

# Be sure to watch out for those "other flying creeping things which have four feet." (I wish God wouldn't get so technical!) I guess he must mean four-legged insects. You'd think that since God made the insects, and so many of them (at least several million species), that he would know how many legs they have! Lev. 11:23

More:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/science/long.html

[Ian David]

32. Take the Bible Science Quiz

Objective: Using the Holy Bible as your guide, correctly answer each of the following scientific questions. After you are finished, check your answers by by clicking here

Why are there clouds in the sky?

A. Heat causes water on the Earth to condense and rise into the atmosphere where it forms clouds.
B. Clouds are God's footprints in Heaven and are made up of the dust from his feet.

Why are some people blind, deaf, dumb or handicapped in some other way?

A. These deficiencies are deliberately inflicted on some people by God.
B. Most of these problems are caused by defects in the genetic make-up of an individual which are random and presently inexplicable.


3. What causes thunder and lightning?

A. God's will. Thunder is the sound of his bellowing voice. Lightning is a deadly force He deliberately hurls at various places.
B. They are the product of clouds colliding. Thunder is the sound the make and lightning is the electrical current produced.


4. Why do we sometimes see rainbows?

A. The colors are caused by the refraction of light which is inherent in the aftermath of a large downfall of rain.
B. God has them occur periodically to remind Him that He has promised not to brutally kill all the men, women, children and unborn children of the Earth again.

More (Take the quiz!):
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news0101/sciencequiz.html

[SidDithers]

33. Deep thoughts by Jack Handey...

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

:evilgrin:

Sid

[Rocknrule]

34. Like in Family Guy

the potty-training book "You're a naughty child and that's concentrated evil coming out the back of you"

[yellowcanine]

35. Gaaaw-duh said the moon gives off light, I beileve it, that settles it!

Dagnabbit!

[geniph]

37. I am now officially stunned shitless and speechless

There still exist people who can maintain, in the face of any and all scientific evidence, that the Moon is illuminated by itself? By what mechanism? What is producing this illusory glow?

Mother Mary and Joseph, every time I think the fundies have plumbed the deepest depths of the Dumbass Pool, they manage to dredge up yet another layer of dorkitude.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

38. because their instruction manual says so. And if you don't believe the

manual, you will fry in hell. Of course, hell has all the fun.

Whales are fish.
cutting hair around your ears leads to sin.
having sex when a woman menstruates is a mortal sin.
A wife must keep her wedding night bloody linens forever, to prove her virginity on that night.
It is ok to sell your daughters for cash if you have debts. They get to be sex slaves.
Stealing other tribes' girls for sex is fine.
Harems are good.
Spilling your sperm on the ground is fatal.
Impregnating your daughters is OK if they get you drunk in a cave.
Mixing and rotating crops insults god.
touching any part of a pig, even cured skin, is a mortal sin. (no more football, folks)

[B3Nut]

40. The funny thing is....

is that the passage in question doesn't teach either that the moon gives off light of its own or reflects it....it's a poetic literary device, not meant to be taken at literal face value. It's from the Psalms, which are poetic songs. Nye as well as the fundies are making the same exegetical mistake, attempting to literalize a work of descriptive poetry which is painting a picture of God's everlastingness, not attempting to scientifically describe the properties of the actual heavenly bodies. To say that the stars and moon literally govern the night is absurd; it's just poetry, and beautiful poetry at that. I would assume Nye was poking at the wooden literalism of fundamentalists, as I'm sure he's perceptive enough to see that the passage is poetic metaphor and not a literal pronouncement. It's rather sad that so many fundies have such a one-dimensional wooden view of the text they purport to base their lives on, since it's obvious they don't have a flying clue how to actually handle it. Disaster can be the only result...for proof I point to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the disastrous occupant thereof.

Todd in Beerbratistan