Merged Evolution battle brews in Texas / Victory for Evolution in Texas

[Elizabeth I]

You said a mouthful there, Elizabeth! Every time a thread pops up about an event or social phenomenon in Texas -- anywhere on the 'Net, not just here at the JREF -- people who don't live here, and/or have never spent a day in their life here, decide to chime in about how deplorable the culture in Texas is, how stupid its residents are, how backwards its ways.

These are the same people who will argue with you if you talk about the Texas coastline ("Texas does not have beaches or islands!") and who think Texas is a desert full of cacti and tumbleweeds. To them, it seems, our cultural heritage is as barren as they imagine our landscape to be.

...yes -- this state is full of Christians. Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists. I invite one and all to point to a state in the US that is not. Meanwhile, as evinced in the OP, we also have masses of free-thinkers, intellectuals, scientists, skeptics, agnostics, atheists, educators, artists -- in short, people who defy the absurd stereotype forced on us by the rest of the country.

Yep, I had Chocolate Bunny Brunch on Easter Sunday with the San Antonio Atheists - good food and good company (and the restaurant owner wound up comping our entire group.) Along with a really exciting art community, San Antonio has a thriving biomedical industry and is home to the Southwest Research Institute. As a result of hosting "Mexico: Thirty Centuries of Splendor," the San Antonio Museum of Art now houses the Rockefeller collection of Latin American folk art. We have one of only four campuses of the Culinary Institute of America (which consistently disorients me by abbreviating itself "CIA.") True, our symphony struggles almost constantly (and I hate that), but the community always manages to help it pull through.

Houston has hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers involved in the oil and space industries (not quite so many in space any more, damn it! ) - including our own Tricky - along with the Menil Collection, among other museums, and the Houston Grand Opera. I once drove myself almost crazy with covetousness at a Fabergé exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth. Even benighted Dallas has an opera company and several fine museums.

And, oh, yeah, no less than the New York Times reported that, "Parenting by Gays is More Common in the South." San Antonio, Texas, has the largest percentage (34%) of LGBT couples raising children in the country.

Are there ignorant, bigoted people in Texas? Of course there are. Where aren't there ignorant, bigoted people? Do you need to paint every square foot of the state and every member of the entire population with the "ignorant bigot" brush? Only if you intend to place yourself right there with the rest of the ignorant bigots.

I say: Fine. Good. Stay out. Keep to your delusions. The traffic is getting too thick around here anyway.

Yes, I'd like to add that the state is full of rattlesnakes so irritable they bite themselves if they can't find anything else, and waterbugs big enough to saddle and ride, if they weren't so ugly. The fire ants are putting together a PAC to run one of the queens for governor. The dust constantly blows so thick and hard in West Texas that all you need to do to sandblast your car is leave it out of the garage. Sorry I said all that good stuff up above. I take it back. All you people really need to stay out of Texas. You wouldn't like it.

Look at it this way: If you need heart surgury, would you want a surgeon who was taught creationist garbage in school to be digging around in your chest cavity?

Exactly. The average Texan's IQ may be 4 points lower than that of the despised Okies to the north. The average Texan may cling stubbornly to an ancient and outmoded religious ideology. But that doesn't mean they want poorly educated people digging around in their chests.

There are only moderate creationists in operating rooms.

What the hell? (And most of the Texas residents I know can spell "surgery.")

 

[Vortigern99]

^ ^ ^ Nominated.

 

[RandFan]

Look at it this way: If you need heart surgury...

What the hell? (And most of the Texas residents I know can spell "surgery.")

Ouch!

 

[RhodyDave]

Good news! Refreshing to see that reason is winning out over superstition, even if it's just this one example.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Ah, but you live in Austin, the only ray of light in this black hole that is a 268,580-square-mile state with a population of 24,782,302 people, all of whom are of course (with the exception of Matt Dillahunty and his meager crew of four or five enlightened beings) exactly the same kind of people, sharing exactly the same beliefs and spending all their spare time listening to country music, getting drunk on Lone Star, shooting "evil-lutionists," and looking for queers to stomp.

The thing is that the same people who say this kind of thing about Texas would, I think, be - quite correctly - offended if someone were to say that all black people are shiftless or all Mexicans are thieves or all Jews are moneygrubbers or all gays are pedophiles. Stereotypes are wrong, unless of course you are talking about Texas.

She shoots, she scores.

You said a mouthful there, Elizabeth! Every time a thread pops up about an event or social phenomenon in Texas -- anywhere on the 'Net, not just here at the JREF -- people who don't live here, and/or have never spent a day in their life here, decide to chime in about how deplorable the culture in Texas is, how stupid its residents are, how backwards its ways.

These are the same people who will argue with you if you talk about the Texas coastline ("Texas does not have beaches or islands!") and who think Texas is a desert full of cacti and tumbleweeds. To them, it seems, our cultural heritage is as barren as they imagine our landscape to be.

I say: Fine. Good. Stay out. Keep to your delusions. The traffic is getting too thick around here anyway.

More on-topic, yes -- this state is full of Christians. Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists. I invite one and all to point to a state in the US that is not. Meanwhile, as evinced in the OP, we also have masses of free-thinkers, intellectuals, scientists, skeptics, agnostics, atheists, educators, artists -- in short, people who defy the absurd stereotype forced on us by the rest of the country.

This as well.

Are you aware that Houston is one of the premiere medical communities in the world? Your post doesn't make a lick of sense.

I might add that a very sharp and hardworking engineer, called on the JREF forums Geek Goddess, is a leader in a Houston area skeptic gathering. See also the research and education professional Elizabeth I ...

Anyway, it is nice to see that sometimes, the windbags in politics are countered by folks who have an interest in education.
Now, if we could only do something about that abomination called TAKS ...

 

[Rincewind]

Has Pat Robinson (Robertson? - you'll need to forigve me, I'm a European...) threatened Texas with divine retribution yet?

 

[Elizabeth I]

^ ^ ^ Nominated.

She shoots, she scores.

This as well.

I might add that a very sharp and hardworking engineer, called on the JREF forums Geek Goddess, is a leader in a Houston area skeptic gathering. See also the research and education professional Elizabeth I ...

Anyway, it is nice to see that sometimes, the windbags in politics are countered by folks who have an interest in education.
Now, if we could only do something about that abomination called TAKS ...

Thank you.

And I'm sorry I forgot GG. And Darth Rotor Johnson is right about TAKS.

 

[Vortigern99]

I became an atheist in Houston in the 80s. That city has a sizeable population of agnostics and free-thinkers -- precisely as one would expect from one of the biggest cities in the world.

 

[slingblade]

The average Texan's IQ may be 4 points lower than that of the despised Okies to the north.

Despised Okie, here.

Even I'm smart enough to know you don't mess with Texas. Or Oklahoma. 'Cuz we're OK.

 

[rwguinn]

I'm shocked.

Pleasantly so. This is the first sign of intelligence I've seen coming out of Texas in a generation.

I guess I must resemble that remark

 

[Weak Kitten]

This is wonderful news. Because of their size and population Texas often influences the contents of text books for the entire rest of the country. This is a great turnaround and I hope it continues in the future.

 

[Craig4]

This is wonderful news. Because of their size and population Texas often influences the contents of text books for the entire rest of the country. This is a great turnaround and I hope it continues in the future.

The reason for this is that the Texas market is the largest text book market in the country. They have a Statewide curriculum so when the State Board of education adopts a text it adopts it for the whole state. This gives Texas a lot of influence over what's taught in the rest of the country.

 

[bikerdruid]

This gives Texas a lot of influence over what's taught in the rest of the country.

that scary thought makes the news related by this thread that much more wonderful.

 

[Darth Rotor]

This is wonderful news. Because of their size and population Texas often influences the contents of text books for the entire rest of the country. This is a great turnaround and I hope it continues in the future.

You do realize, I hope, that with this vote comes a requirement (the usual rider to a bill) that each text book shall be delivered with a half dozen jalapeños grown in the Rio Grande Valley. (Hey, this is politics we are talkin' about here, you expect the agriculture (jalapeño) lobby to stay out of Austin? )

Enjoy!

 

[Elizabeth I]

Despised Okie, here.

Even I'm smart enough to know you don't mess with Texas. Or Oklahoma. 'Cuz we're OK.

'Sokay. We love you even if you are from Oklahoma. Shoot, we even let y'all hang out in Dallas during Texas-OU weekend.

that scary thought makes the news related by this thread that much more wonderful.

Did you read any of the rest of this thread?

 

[Toontown]

What the hell? (And most of the Texas residents I know can spell "surgery.")

Really? Can't say the same about most Texans I've met. I suppose I'll have to be more careful with my spelling, to avoid being unfavourably compared to Texans.

BTW, 1 in 3 Texans cannot read this sentence or comprehend the map depicted in the following link:

http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/docs/09illitmap.html

But it's good to know Texas atheists are a cut above.

 

[bikerdruid]

'
Did you read any of the rest of this thread?

yes i did.
however, with the numerous threads about rick perry, and the fact that executions happen regularly, and having met many texan rednecks tin alberta's oil industry, i don't have much of a positive exposure to texan culture.
sorry, but that is the 'image from afar'.
i'm pleased when ever i see something that rattles the paradigm.
no offense is intended to more enlightened texans.

 

[slingblade]

'Sokay. We love you even if you are from Oklahoma. Shoot, we even let y'all hang out in Dallas during Texas-OU weekend.

Well bless your hearts!

 

[Elizabeth I]

Really? Can't say the same about most Texans I've met. I suppose I'll have to be more careful with my spelling, to avoid being unfavourably compared to Texans.

BTW, 1 in 3 Texans cannot read this sentence or comprehend the map depicted in the following link:

http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/docs/09illitmap.html

But it's good to know Texas atheists are a cut above.

You read nothing else that Vortigern or I wrote, did you?

I can quote statistics too: 25% of adult San Antonians are functionally illiterate. 33% of high-school freshmen drop out before graduation. The number of births to unmarried teen mothers is one of the highest in the country. But I wonder if any of that could be due to cultural and economic factors, instead of stupidity? I wonder if there are any individuals or organizations working to help people who fit into those percentages? I wonder if there are any other areas of the U.S., or of the world, where people struggle with education?

If you suffer a traumatic injury, your bad luck may be offset if you have the good luck to do so in Houston, location of Ben Taub Hospital, one of the nation's best trauma centers. If you suffer catastrophic burns, you may well be airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio - whether you are military or civilian. The surgeon who removed my husband's kidney receives referrals from across the U.S.

Do some research before you shoot off your mouth, and don't tar everyone in Texas with the same brush. It's as stupid as you claim Texans are. But don't worry, I don't expect you to admit your mistake. Your arrogance and closed mind have already displayed themselves admirably.

 

[Darth Rotor]

You read nothing else that Vortigern or I wrote, did you?

I can quote statistics too: 25% of adult San Antonians are functionally illiterate. 33% of high-school freshmen drop out before graduation. The number of births to unmarried teen mothers is one of the highest in the country. But I wonder if any of that could be due to cultural and economic factors, instead of stupidity? I wonder if there are any individuals or organizations working to help people who fit into those percentages? I wonder if there are any other areas of the U.S., or of the world, where people struggle with education?

If you suffer a traumatic injury, your bad luck may be offset if you have the good luck to do so in Houston, location of Ben Taub Hospital, one of the nation's best trauma centers. If you suffer catastrophic burns, you may well be airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio - whether you are military or civilian. The surgeon who removed my husband's kidney receives referrals from across the U.S.

Do some research before you shoot off your mouth, and don't tar everyone in Texas with the same brush. It's as stupid as you claim Texans are. But don't worry, I don't expect you to admit your mistake. Your arrogance and closed mind have already displayed themselves admirably.

Shall we discuss MD Anderson cancer treatment center? Two people in my office have been there, and remain alive today, cancer survivors. Yay Houston!