Christian fourth grade textbook, tries to explain electricity but just gives up

[Seedersandleechers]

This is an excerpt from a fourth grade science textbook for private Christian elementary schools. As with many of the explanations in the book, it starts off asking a question like “What is electricity?”, only to give up and say “Fuck it, it’s magic from God that humans will never understand.”
Because that’s really fucking helpful, and will give kids a good handle on the sciences. I wonder how many kids that went their entire grade school lives to evangelical Christian schools ended up in college, raising their hand in a basic college level science class and answering that electricity or the moon is just some sort of God magic that no one understands. This is surely equivalent to child abuse.

Oh, and if you liked that one, check out the explanation for the moon.



http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/10448934718/christian-fourth-grade-textbook-tries-to-explain

[ensho]

1. they would probably have nervous breakdowns explaining electicity in the

human body.

[hobbit709]

2. Does it tell them not to stick their fingers in the light socket?

Otherwise god will have a shitfit and zap them.

[RC]

4. The proper terminology is 'smite them'.

"Otherwise god will have a shitfit and smite them."

You must be some kind of educated Liberal or something to not know that. :hi:

[ixion]

3. Everything is a mystery to dumbass whacko fundie xians

Seriously.

[crim son]

5. Well, no wonder, if this textbook is any indication

of how they are educated. Creepy as hell.

[snooper2]

6. This is why someday only Juggalos and Juggalettes will believe in magical religions

:rofl:

Word UP ICP :rofl: It's all magic beeeyatch!

[mainegreen]

7. I call forth ELECTRICITY!

Shit. Well that didn't work.

I guess I better turn on the generator, aka, the magic-god-mojo-zapper-box.

[VWolf]

8. Holy shit, that chapter on the explanation of the moon

scares the shit out of me. WTF???

I fear for my country. I really do.

[enlightenment]

27. That is exactly what I just said after reading it.

Scary.

Of course I haven't read a public school fourth-grade science book in a long time, so who knows how dumb-downed they've become . . .

but at least I have to assume they are not telling kids that God clicked on the moon 10,000 years ago.

yikes.

[Zywiec]

54. Agreed. Definitely very scary. I wonder how many adults walk around thinking the same things? n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

74. think I will bookmark this...

to read at home.

[Neurotica]

80. Oh my

Planning on sharing with my husband, who works in the aerospace industry, and with the kids.

[DrunkenBoat]

90. this administration is giving money to religious charter schools. & trying to destroy the

public schools with charters as trojan horse.

does that scare you?

i honestly believe that the ptb want a large part of the population totally ignorant, and the churches are one of the vehicles they're using.

not just conspiracy stuff.

[WCGreen]

9. For many years, Catholics have not been considered "Christians"..

Perhaps that is why the Catholic schools are often the best schools in the large urban area.

[hobbit709]

10. H. Beam Piper's Null-ABC was prophetic.

[meegbear]

11. Light turns on, light turns off ... AND YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN IT!!1!

[awoke_in_2003]

75. I'm a believer...

:) That is the funniest thing I have seen mocking the "Tide" incident.

[Quantess]

85. Awesome!

:D

[backscatter712]

12. No wonder so many people in this country are so hopelessly stupid! n/t

[krispos42]

That explanation for the moon is fucking scary.

It's leading 4th-graders down the garden path to ignorance. That shit about the dust is just amazing in the assumption and manipulation.

And these are the people holding high office in government?

[mikeytherat]

16. Seriously scary.

That whole "science" book was a nasty mix of overt lies and bag-of-hammers stupidity.

mikey_the_rat

[JHB]

43. A lot of the lies are covert: cherry-picking their "science"

A number of things there were legitimate science...back in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

The lies are in the ignoring of later developments and counterarguments.

Creationist are famous for that. They've even conceded points when talking to scientists, but as soon as they're in front of the next crowd, that concession disappears like it never existed.

They don't argue like scholars, they argue like lawyers. They are advocates, and they will suppress information that does not make their case.

[krispos42]

53. "They argue like lawyers". Excellent way to put it

Facts don't matter... it's what they can convince the jury (the masses) to believe. Because, remember, facts have a well-known liberal bias.

[hootinholler]

25. Holy shit scary! n/t

[JHB]

42. The shit about dust (and the origin theories)...

...is old, outdated science. "Evolutionist" science at that.

All those theories (even the dust) arose as part of the normal process of science. And they have been refuted by science, due to more (and more accurate) date, more thorough analysis, better analysis, etc.

For instance, the assumptions about moon dust date from measurements and estimates of meteoric dust back before space flight. The textbook leaves out the part where once we got to the point where we could put up satellites and measure meteoric dust rates directly, the old numbers turned out to be an overestimate. Not a big deal to scientists, but a very big deal if you've hitched your young earth wagon to it.

They probably went with the "electricity is a mystery" bit because it's not mentioned in the bible. If you're a literalist, and something literally isn't there, it's a mystery to you.

[krispos42]

52. And where did the 0.0001" per year figure come from?

THEM.


They actually throw out that number as an "example", then use that arbitrary number to prove their own theory!



And I don't know about you, but I've felt electricity of both the AC and DC kind. ;-)

[JHB]

68. More cherry picking...

I'd read about the background on this years ago. The figure is from the scientific literature, but from the 1950s or so. It used the best methods available at the time, but obviously we can do much better now, when we can equip satellites to make direct measurements.

No acknowledgment that there have been more accurate methods developed and more accurate measurments taken. Just restatment of the version that fits their story.

On edit, looked up the sources and changed "1940s" to "1950s". These were some of the first attempts to estimate levels of meteoric dust (R. A. Lyttleton in 1956 and Hans Petterson in 1960).

Lyttleton and Petterson were like people trying to make out something they see hazily on the horizon. Now, we have the ability to go to that object and examine it clearly, but creationists insist on using the hazy, distant observations because it suits them (and not enough people know the story behind it to know how burstingly full of shit they are).

[AsahinaKimi]

13. Just reading that

gave me a headache.

[Occulus]

14. Again: Religions should NOT NOT NOT be allowed to operate schools!

And THIS IS WHY!

:banghead: :argh: :banghead:

[jberryhill]

15. That would be more credible if it named a publisher

Cute, though.

[mikeytherat]

22. BJU Press - Science 4 (Second Edition)

http://www.bjupress.com/about/look-inside-science-4.php

There's a link at the bottom of the article linked in the OP.

mikey_the_rat

[jberryhill]

31. Holy Crap!

"Have you seen this page scanned from an older edition (copyright 1990) of our Science 4 textbook floating around the blogosphere lately? Just do a Google search for “electricity is a mystery” (include the quotation marks) and you’ll see that it has been making the rounds."

http://www.bjupress.com/about/electricity-is-a-mystery.php

[NV Whino]

17. That is effing scary

And I urge you to read about the moon. Especially the section about the dark side.

[piratefish08]

18. best reply on that website:

T.J. 11 hours ago

I'm an electrician. I've felt electricity. And it hurts like a mother fucker.

[Seedersandleechers]

84. I've felt electricity too.

Knocked me to the ground and left me numb. Damn that hurt.

[Throckmorton]

87. Ow, Fire, Hot, Burns!!!!

Response of my 4 year old nephew after he unscrewed a light bulb and stuck his finger in the socket.

As a reformed Electrician myself (I took a desk job when I got fat and old), I just love than comment.

Does kinda call into question my sisters parenting skills (BTW, He is 20 now and studying electrical engineering).

[blogslut]

19. Remember Kids

Michele Bachmann got her law degree from Oral Roberts University!

[no_hypocrisy]

20. Lemme give it a try:

God put lighting inside wires that run to your house.

[OswegoAtheist]

34. Bravo! Here's your doctorate!

Oswego "That's actually pretty close to how Christian Science colleges work" Atheist

[justiceischeap]

21. Oh my goodness! I've been going through the books at the publisher's site

And it's horrendous. It's like a train wreck.

http://www.bjupress.com/

[surrealAmerican]

23. I wouldn't go so far as to call it child abuse, but ...

... it is definitely educational malpractice. Don't most states have at least some standards that apply to private schools? How are children who are taught with books like this going to pass state-mandated tests?

[salin]

24. It is almost as if the publisher are playing a joke on the schools

I followed the link to the book and the chapter on the moon. Moronic.

[hatrack]

26. As usual, Pharyngula delivers the snark goods!

Posted by: Mr Ed Author Profile Page | July 1, 2010 8:59 AM

As a new engineer I was seated next to a programmer who was a graduate of a christian university. Every so often he would make a statement like this that would make everyone else's head snap around. It wasn't just science, but history, government and sociology had all been perverted to reinforce christian dogma.

At one point we convinced him that before he called our European partners he had to convert time to metric. Ten hour day with hundred minute hour and a hundred second minute.
#16

Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM, CR Author Profile Page | July 1, 2010 9:03 AM

Jesus loves electrons, so they gather at his side;
When he sends them off, pretentious graven images get fried.
When electrons saw the monument, with arms raised to the sky,
It was time to come to Jesus, by and by.
#17

Posted by: Alice Bluegown Author Profile Page | July 1, 2010 9:04 AM

Once upon the 'eighties, there was a porn film called 'Three Cheers for BJU' - I suspect there's no direct connection to this publication, but the educational value would be roughly equivalent.
#18

Posted by: OurSally Author Profile Page | July 1, 2010 9:08 AM

Oh, yes, you can feel electricity. I have done so myself, and it hurt, and it picked me up and threw me across the room.


http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/07/frickin_electricity_how_does_i.php

[Modern_Matthew]

28. Time to end private schools once and for all. nt

[LibertyLover]

29. The security software at the office won't let me open the link

so I can't read the explanation for the moon. It will have to wait until I get home. But I'm sure it will be worth waiting for - so much of the fundamentalist Christian stuff is.

[Initech]

30. Did you see the link to the one snot the moon? Wow!!!!

:crazy:

[SfromCanada]

32. I can explain electricity for them

The earth is a big balloon, and God rubbed it against the side of his head and stuck it on a wall. That's where electricity comes from.

:think:

[FarCenter]

33. It's true -- when you "clap on, clap off", you put your hands together like you're praying

[LeftishBrit]

35. Just wow

How will these kids ever get into university, when competing with other applicants who've been taught proper science?

This has been less of a problem in the UK. State schools (including church-aided ones) follow the national curriculum; and those private schools that want kids to do well in public exams, tend to be strongly influenced by it. And the national curriculum does *not* recommend creationism in science lessons! There are also far fewer fundamentalist Christians here, and therefore far fewer fundamentalist private schools. However, the problem does exist, and may get worse due to the government encouragement for academies and free schools (= charter schools in America), which are harder to regulate; and due to their general reluctance to check up on any agency that's making a profit.

Here is an interesting recent link:

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15415

[Gari]

36. College?

If they go to Oral Roberts University, they won't encounter that pesky science and related facts.

[GreenPartyVoter]

37. Where's the Jesus facepalm pic when you need it?!

[Fozzledick]

45. Here ya go

[GreenPartyVoter]

66. Ah! Thanks!

:hi:

[Tsiyu]

38. We were building devices at that age

like radios and such.

That is child neglect right there.

But then, nothing new from that quarter. The good news is those kids will get out and one day see the real world and many will abandon their parents' devolved awareness of the sciences.

[hifiguy]

39. Umm. Spin a coil of wire inside a controlled magnetic field

and you get electricity. This has been common knowledge for at least 150-200 years. But then that's all that sorta "sciency" crap that nogoodniks like Faraday, Franklin, Kelvin, et al said and everybody knows you can't trust them.

Edison, let alone Einstein, would weep.

And yes, teaching kids this unreconstructed horse manure is child abuse, pure and simple.

[Permanut]

40. Heretics !!11!

The moon is ten thousand years old? Where does the Bible say that? Everybody who knows anything important about this sciency stuff knows the earth - and the moon with it - is SIX thousand years old. These children are being hopelessly brainwashed.

:sarcasm:

[Ilsa]

41. This is the page where they attempt to refute criticism:

http://www.bjupress.com/about/electricity-is-a-mystery.php

[DainBramaged]

44. And don't forget kiddies, if you throw the toaster in the tub with Mommy she will visit Jesus

[DirkGently]

46. Wow. The Moon chapter is amazing. People see "streaks," so the Moon must be young & active. LIARS.

:silly:

The whole point of the book is apparently to deride even the notion of people seeking explanations for things beyond Bibilical storytelling. It's full-on anti-science. Don't think -- just "believe."

Insane.

[Doctor_J]

47. So I gues I don't need to replace the battery in my clock

I'll just ask God to make it start up again.

I hope these graduates of the "Christian" schools will be able to take it on faith that making shoes for a Chinese company for $3/day was God's plan for them, because they won't be qualified for anything else.

[JoePhilly]

48. God of the Gaps.

[nolabear]

49. *sigh* That's not teaching, that's indoctrinating.

It's funny as hell except for those poor children who will lose the wonder of wondering. They should have to call it something other than "school".

[thucythucy]

50. I like the part where it says

"no one has ever felt electricity."

If the author or authors really believe that, I invite him/her/them to stick a few wet fingers into a light socket sometime.

I suppose this is the sort of quality education we can expect once the public schools are shut down in favor of vouchers.

[hifiguy]

61. I knew an electrician

who mostly did movie work as a grip. He called grabbing the hot wire by mistake "shaking hands with Jesus."

[11 Bravo]

51. The static electricity generated by Rush Limbaugh's thighs rubbing together ...

could illuminate Paducah, Kentucky.

[Seedersandleechers]

55. +1

[krispos42]

79. Add in corduroy...

... and he could light up the county.

[Zywiec]

56. Searching around I found this gem for 9th graders: Math for God's Glory

Math for God's Glory surveys mathematics in the Bible. It provides a firm foundation for each branch of math in contrast to the false philosophies of mathematics which promote science, logic, math itself, or the human mind as the basis of mathematics. With false philosophies so prevalent in our schools today, it is important to teach the true foundation of mathematics.

http://www.bjupress.com/product/237370?path=7631

This makes me very sad.

[Fumesucker]

57. Hmm... I've heard of something like that before..

Math for the glory of God I mean..

Kind of lends a whole new meaning to the term "fade to black".

http://downlode.org/Etext/nine_billion_names_of_god.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Billion_Names_of_God

[Zywiec]

60. Thanks. Sounds like a cool short story to check out. n/t

[hifiguy]

62. I see a problem here. Didn't the Arabs invent algebra?

And wasn't that some time after jeebus? And calculus didn't come along until Sir Isaac Newton, a millennium and a half later. Those poor kids. I am with Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens: indoctrinating children into their parents' religion is a form of mental child abuse.

[Warren DeMontague]

58. Remind me to only hire Atheist electricians, then.

I want someone who actually knows what they're doing.

[Fuzz]

59. I went to a couple of those schools growing up, and it's so true. The teachers

are idiots too in most cases and can't even answer simple questions.

[JoeyT]

63. "Some scientists say"

is on EVERY fucking page. I hope they get a reasonably bright kid in there that responds to "Some scientists say" with "Really? Name three."

[TeamsterDem]

64. No wonder people vote for dimwits like Bush, Bachmann, Perry, etc. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

65. Words fail me

and the moon... well there are at least two more theories and that chart is WRONG...

Oy...

[Arugula Latte]

67. Why have so many countries advanced and embraced science while rejecting organized superstition

and ours has not?

[Warren DeMontague]

69. Where are all the special pleaders who love to complain about "religion-bashing"?

C'mon, I'd like to see the defense of this crappo.

[BiggJawn]

83. GAWD is not making enough electricity to light up their Bat Signal.

So they don't know we're facepalming and laughing at them.

[Rex]

70. Holyshit! What garbage, how can anyone teach bullshit and sell

it as education? How fucking pathetic! I wish religious people would stick to their 'field' of expertise (faith) and leave the real world to people that care about the truth and not some bullshit meant to fuck up kids heads! Unfuckingbelievable!

[Initech]

71. Holy crap.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

72. I guess that chapter on the origin of the moon-

-is their way of 'presenting both sides of the argument' and letting the kids make up their own minds.

Hurtling back to the Dark Ages: http://www.bjupress.com/about/look-inside-science-4.php

[SidDithers]

73. And tides. Don't forget tides...

Tides go in. Tides go out. You can't explain that.

Sid

[gristy]

76. what is this comma doing here?

Christian fourth grade textbook, tries to explain electricity but just gives up

[Fire Walk With Me]

77. It hurts, it hurts....

-Only a tiny amount of dust? Next to a photo of an astronaut's footprint, of compressed dust?
-No mention of tides and gravity? That one face is always towards us?
-No mention of the craters caused by passing stellar bodies, which might provide credence to the capture theory?
-No mention of stellar nurseries such as the Eagle Nebula? Would go to support the condensation theory?
-No mention that moon rock is utterly inert, utterly dead?
-No mention that the dinosaur-killing event might have been collision with the moon, causing it to catch in orbit?
-No mention of the freakin' Oort cloud and Kuiper belt? Goes to prove the condensation theory. If not, why is all that there?
-Using science against the science they don't like? Can't eat your cake and have it too!

fail

[JHB]

81. No mention of the current leading theory...

...of a collision between the proto-Earth and a sister planet about Mars-sized with nearly the same orbit. "Nearly the same" orbits are not viable over the long term, and inevitably they were in the same spot at the same time. Dynamic simulations have produced results where the mantle material "splashed" into orbit does collect into an object with compositional and orbit characteristics compatible with the early Moon.

The theories it does give are older ones that never worked out once one did the math about angular momentum and other dynamic factors, or geologic composition.

[undeterred]

78. That's pretty much how I felt about electricity and mageticism in Physics 102.

But even though I felt it was magic from God that I would never understand, I knew I couldn't put that on the test. :shrug:

[Quantess]

82. The underlying message:

Scientists don't know what they're talking about, they are just coming up with a lot of silly ideas that are kind of dumb when you think about it. So, don't listen to scienctists. Science is a crock and their theories are worthless.

[ck4829]

86. Have fun competing with South Korea!

[DCBob]

88. There is a segment of the American population that is heading backwards.

and its a large enough percentage to have serious impact on our politics and life in this country. Very disturbing.

[RegieRocker]

89. More problems once again I see in understanding the definition of

theory. Election theory vs current flow theory. Neither is proven one is accepted. We do not understand electricity. We only know how to use it in some ways. More alienating of religious peoples. You don't know jack about electricity and should not be criticizing others.

[DocMac]

91. WOW!!!

They repealed OHM's Law!!

[Gormy Cuss]

92. This thread is loaded with DUzys. n/t

[Seedersandleechers]

93. I would like to see a list of schools

that actually use these books. Maybe a lot of them are for home schooled children? The books must be selling or the cost for printing wouldn't be worth it.

[CanonRay]

94. I knew they were wacko, but I had no idea

Good grief.

[ThatsMyBarack]

95. Nothing more than....

Copying the bible.

[racaulk]

96. Kicking to read later.

For some reason, the link in your OP is blocked at my office. :shrug:

But thanks for posting this. I look forward to checking it out later! :hi:

[racaulk]

97. Kick