Gore Film Sparks Parent's Anger

[Starla]

Gore Film Sparks Parents' Anger
Showing 'Inconvenient Truth' Would Require Counterpoint

By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 25, 2007; Page A12


FEDERAL WAY, Wash., Jan. 24 -- Frosty E. Hardison is neither impressed nor surprised that "An Inconvenient Truth," the global-warming movie narrated by former vice president Al Gore, received an Oscar nomination this week for best documentary.

"Liberal left is all over Hollywood," he grumbled a few hours after the nomination was announced.
The Federal Way Public Schools Board of Education, including members from left, Thomas Madden, David Larson, Edward Barney and Charles Hoff discuss the controversy surrounding the Al Gore-narrated movie. (By Joshua Trujillo -- Seattle Post-intelligencer)

The Evolution Of an Issue
President Bush's statements on global warming:
NOW
"America's on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil. And these technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment, and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change."
- Jan. 23, 2007
FIRST TERM
"We must also act in a serious and responsible way, given the scientific uncertainties. While these uncertainties remain, we can begin now to address the human factors that contribute to climate change. Wise action now is an insurance policy against future risks."
- Feb. 14, 2002
CAMPAIGN
"Global warming needs to be taken very seriously, and I take it seriously. But science, there's a lot -- there's differing opinions. And before we react, I think it's best to have the full accounting, full understanding of what's taking place."
- Oct. 11, 2000

Hardison, a parent of seven here in the southern suburbs of Seattle, has himself roiled the global-warming waters. It happened early this month when he learned that one of his daughters would be watching "An Inconvenient Truth" in her seventh-grade science class.

"No you will not teach or show that propagandist Al Gore video to my child, blaming our nation -- the greatest nation ever to exist on this planet -- for global warming," Hardison wrote in an e-mail to the Federal Way School Board. The 43-year-old computer consultant is an evangelical Christian who says he believes that a warming planet is "one of the signs" of Jesus Christ's imminent return for Judgment Day.

His angry e-mail (along with complaints from a few other parents) stopped the film from being shown to Hardison's daughter.

The teacher in that science class, Kay Walls, says that after Hardison's e-mail she was told by her principal that she would receive a disciplinary letter for not following school board rules that require her to seek written permission to present "controversial" materials in class.

The e-mail also pressured the school board to impose a ban on screenings of the film for the district's 22,500 students.

The ban, which the school board says was merely a "moratorium," was lifted Tuesday night, subject to rigorous conditions. Still, the action has appalled the film's producers and triggered a ferocious national backlash.

Members of the school board say they have been bombarded by thousands of e-mails and phone calls, many of them hurtful and obscene, accusing them of scientific ignorance, pandering to religion and imposing prior restraint on free speech.

It has been a terrible ordeal, school board member David Larson said during a long, emotional speech at the board meeting.

"I am here to foster healing in our community," he said, while noting with sadness that "civility and honest discourse are dying in our country."

What the school board had really intended to do, Larson and school board members insisted, was not to stop schools from teaching the science of global warming, but merely to follow long-standing school board rules that require students to be exposed to "other perspectives" when they view a film like "An Inconvenient Truth."
Washington Post

If these Evangelicals don't want anything scientific being taught in public school, maybe they *all* need to home school.
It's scary to see how fast they can shut something down in a PUBLIC school all in the name of their religion.

[DeviousJ]

By the way, if anyone wants a free copy of the DVD then here you go

Carry on!

[Trotskilicious]

I love how we keep our kids stupid for political reasons. In the future, textbooks will become textphamplets and school will be shortened to an hour of pro-american indoctrination a day.

[Nate the Grate]

I'm STILL confused at why global warming is a "controversial" issue. This isn't Fahrenheit 9/11 shit, the science is actually pretty solid. Just kinda shows that our nation will find anything to divide itself up over.

[phaedrus]

Originally Posted by Nate the Grate

I'm STILL confused at why global warming is a "controversial" issue. This isn't Fahrenheit 9/11 shit, the science is actually pretty solid. Just kinda shows that our nation will find anything to divide itself up over.

i'd say that the controversy surrouding whether or not climate change is a real phenomenon equates to the controversy surrounding whether or not man evolved from ape-like ancestors.

where the real controversy lies is in what the overall effect of climate change will be, and further, what should be done about it. that being said, there is little doubt in the scientific community that we need to take drastic action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce the damage that will be caused in a relatively very short time.

sorry, i'm not really contributing anything new, i'm just pointing out where the "controversy" lies to encourage a more intelligent discussion, instead of debating the merits of naysayers' arguments. people like those from the article above are best left ignored (especially by school board trustees). the fact that the school board trustees listened to the man speaks volumes about the sad state of public education in that part of the states.

[TuralyonW3]

I love how American people stretch their dicks aroun and fuck themselves in the ass

[christian zombie vampires]

the solution here is for someone (as high profile as al gore) to make a documentary on how evangelicals view global warming as one of the signs of jesus' imminent return/judgement day.

seriously. the fact that there is a massive amount of educated people out there believing that is like the scariest shit ever.

[Corganist]

Originally Posted by christian zombie vampires

the solution here is for someone (as high profile as al gore) to make a documentary on how evangelicals view global warming as one of the signs of jesus' imminent return/judgement day.

seriously. the fact that there is a massive amount of educated people out there believing that is like the scariest shit ever.

What is it with people on this board freaking out over every silly thing some fringe evangelical says and attributing it to "massive" amounts of people? Its not "scary" that there are a handful of nutjobs out there who have some wacky religious explanation for global warming. It may be silly, but thats all. The alarmist tone people have to this kind of thing is getting a little old. Does anyone seriously think for one single second that the official global warming policy of the United States is going to ever be anything even close to "Its a sign of the apocalypse."?

I've said before and I'll say it again: a lot of you severely overestimate the threat wacko religious doctrine poses to science and reasoning. Rational thought isn't going anywhere kids.

[undersco_red]

Originally Posted by Corganist

What is it with people on this board freaking out over every silly thing some fringe evangelical says and attributing it to "massive" amounts of people? Its not "scary" that there are a handful of nutjobs out there who have some wacky religious explanation for global warming. It may be silly, but thats all. The alarmist tone people have to this kind of thing is getting a little old. Does anyone seriously think for one single second that the official global warming policy of the United States is going to ever be anything even close to "Its a sign of the apocalypse."?

I've said before and I'll say it again: a lot of you severely overestimate the threat wacko religious doctrine poses to science and reasoning. Rational thought isn't going anywhere kids.

whats rational about religion.

[Starla]

Originally Posted by Corganist

What is it with people on this board freaking out over every silly thing some fringe evangelical says and attributing it to "massive" amounts of people? Its not "scary" that there are a handful of nutjobs out there who have some wacky religious explanation for global warming. It may be silly, but thats all. The alarmist tone people have to this kind of thing is getting a little old. Does anyone seriously think for one single second that the official global warming policy of the United States is going to ever be anything even close to "Its a sign of the apocalypse."?

I've said before and I'll say it again: a lot of you severely overestimate the threat wacko religious doctrine poses to science and reasoning. Rational thought isn't going anywhere kids.

I'm amazed, not freaked out. I think it's significant enough to note that....these evangelicals have enough influence to force a change in public school curriculum.
And why should they have the right to? Rational thought goes out the window once a school board bends to the will of an evangelical.
Simply put, he could have kept his child home that day, if he didn't want her to watch the "propagandist" film.
And really, what PART of science is OKAY with these people to teach? Their religious beliefs has no right seeping into any form of public education.
Next, they won't want anyone talking about the solar system, because it could lead to the belief in astrology.

[Mariner]

no. no way. can't be real. has to be an elaborate hoax:

Originally Posted by To Starla

Frosty E. Hardison

[Corganist]

Originally Posted by To Starla

I'm amazed, not freaked out. I think it's significant enough to note that....these evangelicals have enough influence to force a change in public school curriculum.
And why should they have the right to? Rational thought goes out the window once a school board bends to the will of an evangelical.

The problem is that the school board folded like a house of cards just because a few parents complained. This wasn't a case of evangelicals using some kind of political muscle to force a change of cirriculum on the school board like you guys are making it out. You give these evangelicals too much credit. If the school had any spine at all they would have laughed and told the complaining parents to fuck off and take their kids with them. But that wouldn't be very tolerant of other people's culture now, would it? People have to stop being such weenies when fringe religious groups demand ridiculous things.

[ryan patrick]

Originally Posted by Corganist

I've said before and I'll say it again: a lot of you severely overestimate the threat wacko religious doctrine poses to science and reasoning. Rational thought isn't going anywhere kids.

about 50% of americans still believe that the earth is about 6,000 years old and all life was created by god as it is today. these people vote. i'd say we're losing on the rationality front.

[ryan patrick]

and i'm not exaggerating. the exact poll was done by gallup in may of last year, and the exact wording was, "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so", which 46% of respondents agreed with. 36% felt that "Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process." and 13% that "Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process."

i think the influence of wacko religious people, i.e., the majority of americans, is worth worrying about.

[Karl Connor]

"No you will not teach or show that propagandist Al Gore video to my child, blaming our nation -- the greatest nation ever to exist on this planet -- for global warming," Hardison wrote in an e-mail to the Federal Way School Board. The 43-year-old computer consultant is an evangelical Christian who says he believes that a warming planet is "one of the signs" of Jesus Christ's imminent return for Judgment Day.

sounds like a sharp guy

[DeviousJ]

Originally Posted by Mariner

no. no way. can't be real. has to be an elaborate hoax:

GodDAMNIT I meant to quote that when I first read it

[Corganist]

Originally Posted by ryan patrick

about 50% of americans still believe that the earth is about 6,000 years old and all life was created by god as it is today. these people vote. i'd say we're losing on the rationality front.

Would you say that percentage is higher now than it was 25, 50, 100 years ago? I doubt it. Religion has been trying to stomp out science since even before Galileo. Despite all their centuries of trying to stifle it, scientific progress has continued on. What makes you think that religious people (who don't have anywhere near the power they had, say, in Galileo's time) have any better chance of countering science in this day and age?

i think the influence of wacko religious people, i.e., the majority of americans, is worth worrying about.

There's been nothing to worry about thus far, and this country has been much more religiously influenced in the past than it is now. I don't see how the fact that a percentage of the population holds a religious belief or two that I know is wrong should give me any cause for worry. The vast majority of those people believe what they believe and keep it to themselves, just like everyone else. A tiny minority here and there like to stir things up sometimes, but they're largely marginalized when they do. I'm sorry, but I don't think these people have any chance of making geology and evolutionary theory disappear, ever.

[ryan patrick]

Originally Posted by Corganist

Would you say that percentage is higher now than it was 25, 50, 100 years ago? I doubt it. Religion has been trying to stomp out science since even before Galileo.

no, but the percentage has remained roughly the same for the last 75 years. meanwhile, the government has become less secularized over the last century, and one of the fastest growing religion in america is evangelicalism. i'd say things are not getting better.

Despite all their centuries of trying to stifle it, scientific progress has continued on. What makes you think that religious people (who don't have anywhere near the power they had, say, in Galileo's time) have any better chance of countering science in this day and age?

post Roe v. Wade, the conservative religious movement in the U.S.A. has exerted increasing pressure on the mainstream. of course scientific progress will move on, but the highly religious are working to stifle it. otherwise we wouldn't be moving backwards towards giving creationism [disguised as "intelligent design" or not] equal weight to evolution in science education, and we wouldn't have all the problems with progress in the field of stem cell research.

There's been nothing to worry about thus far, and this country has been much more religiously influenced in the past than it is now. I don't see how the fact that a percentage of the population holds a religious belief or two that I know is wrong should give me any cause for worry. The vast majority of those people believe what they believe and keep it to themselves, just like everyone else. A tiny minority here and there like to stir things up sometimes, but they're largely marginalized when they do. I'm sorry, but I don't think these people have any chance of making geology and evolutionary theory disappear, ever.

even those that keep their beliefs to themselves still vote, and thus have a hand in dictating public policy. no, they can't make the theories disappear, but they can hinder progress. on the global warming front, it's much like the evolutionary problem. if you're a fundamentalist, or evangelical, global warming is either unimportant [because the apocalypse is part of god's plan, and thus human actions are unimportant to the state of the planet] or heretical [because god is in charge of the state of the planet, not humans]. and these people may not all be making angry calls to their school boards, but they're influencing public policy.

[christian zombie vampires]

so when i kept hearing about the importance of the evangelical/christian right vote and how bush strategized to get their vote because it mattered so much in the 00 and 04 elections, what's that all about?

bush's recent environmental acknolwedgements came to me as a complete surprise. up until like a year ago, the only possible explanation i felt could be drawn from his complete lack of environmental awareness was that he was pretty much in agreement with mr. hardison in the article there.

[Corganist]

Originally Posted by ryan patrick

no, but the percentage has remained roughly the same for the last 75 years. meanwhile, the government has become less secularized over the last century, and one of the fastest growing religion in america is evangelicalism. i'd say things are not getting better.

What "things" aren't getting better? How is evangelicalism being on the rise making things worse for anybody? I'm not a religious person in any way shape or form, but it drives me up the wall when people seem to treat the very existence of religion as some sort of blight on society that should be minimized.

post Roe v. Wade, the conservative religious movement in the U.S.A. has exerted increasing pressure on the mainstream. of course scientific progress will move on, but the highly religious are working to stifle it. otherwise we wouldn't be moving backwards towards giving creationism [disguised as "intelligent design" or not] equal weight to evolution in science education, and we wouldn't have all the problems with progress in the field of stem cell research.

We're not moving backwards towards giving creationism equal weight in science education. Come on. Once again, you're taking a few isolated incidents and turning them into some kind of massive trend. Yes, some religous wackos have tried to get their junk science taught in schools. And they've generally been met with ridicule and resistance on large scale whenever they do. We're far, far from teaching the book of Genesis in science classrooms.

And the stem cell issue is one of ethics and morals, which is not something that's exclusive to evangelical Christianity. I suppose its easier to think that all opposition to stem cell research is just a bunch of Jesus freaks being Jesus freaks, but that's not really the case.

even those that keep their beliefs to themselves still vote, and thus have a hand in dictating public policy. no, they can't make the theories disappear, but they can hinder progress. on the global warming front, it's much like the evolutionary problem. if you're a fundamentalist, or evangelical, global warming is either unimportant [because the apocalypse is part of god's plan, and thus human actions are unimportant to the state of the planet] or heretical [because god is in charge of the state of the planet, not humans]. and these people may not all be making angry calls to their school boards, but they're influencing public policy.

So what? There are lots of people out there who make up significant voting blocs whose public policy preferences I disagree with. I don't see how the Christian right is scarier than anyone else. If anything, I'd say they're less scary than most because most of their policy preferences are so clearly not grounded in anything resembling reason. Ideas are what influence public policy, and there are enough sensible and reasonable people out there (even amongst the ranks of religious folks) to know a bad idea when they see it and keep it from being implemented.

[mercurial]

Originally Posted by DeviousJ

By the way, if anyone wants a free copy of the DVD then here you go

Carry on!

is this for real ... i'm keen but dont wanna hand my details over to just about anybody unless i'm getting something worth my privacy y'know?

[DeviousJ]

Originally Posted by mercurial

is this for real ... i'm keen but dont wanna hand my details over to just about anybody unless i'm getting something worth my privacy y'know?

Apparently they paid for people's movie tickets when it was showing, but it seems they might be a bit swamped with demand and you might not get one
http://sharethetruth.us/articles/demand
So yeah they're supposed to be straight-up, but I don't know what your chances are unfortunately

[homechicago]

Originally Posted by Corganist

The problem is that the school board folded like a house of cards just because a few parents complained. This wasn't a case of evangelicals using some kind of political muscle to force a change of cirriculum on the school board like you guys are making it out. You give these evangelicals too much credit. If the school had any spine at all they would have laughed and told the complaining parents to fuck off and take their kids with them. But that wouldn't be very tolerant of other people's culture now, would it? People have to stop being such weenies when fringe religious groups demand ridiculous things.

.

[Starla]

Originally Posted by Corganist
The problem is that the school board folded like a house of cards just because a few parents complained. This wasn't a case of evangelicals using some kind of political muscle to force a change of cirriculum on the school board like you guys are making it out.

They didn't flex their political muscle, they flexed their religious beliefs and forced them on to the school. He claimed he wanted at least a counterpoint. The only counterpoint in this case would be a religious one, which has no place in public school.
And the teacher should have just set it up as a classroom study and sent home permission slips.
What amazes me is how threatened the father felt by a documentary. He shouldn't worry about his daughter being exposed to different views in the world, if he has parented and raised his child up in their religious belief. It seems he has little faith in his own child to form her own thoughts. Nothing can break down a person's faith in something,unless they allow it or never believed to begin with.

[Starla]

Originally Posted by christian zombie vampires

bush's recent environmental acknolwedgements came to me as a complete surprise. up until like a year ago, the only possible explanation i felt could be drawn from his complete lack of environmental awareness was that he was pretty much in agreement with mr. hardison in the article there.

LOL his family fortune is oil. He doesn't give a single solitary fuck about the environment. He was only throwing us a bone bringing that up in the state of the union, including Darfur. It's a little late for that now.

[GlasgowKiss]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned this but the problem i see is that you cant shit all over their beliefs because its not politically correct anymore.

[Corganist]

Originally Posted by To Starla

They didn't flex their political muscle, they flexed their religious beliefs and forced them on to the school. He claimed he wanted at least a counterpoint. The only counterpoint in this case would be a religious one, which has no place in public school.
And the teacher should have just set it up as a classroom study and sent home permission slips.
What amazes me is how threatened the father felt by a documentary. He shouldn't worry about his daughter being exposed to different views in the world, if he has parented and raised his child up in their religious belief. It seems he has little faith in his own child to form her own thoughts. Nothing can break down a person's faith in something,unless they allow it or never believed to begin with.

I'm not defending the father for his actions. The man is obviously deluded. I'm just saying that the article makes it look like the school board just went into panic mode over what looks to be a handful of parent complaints (at most). It doesn't look to me like the complaining parents had to "force" their beliefs on anybody. The school board appeared all too ready to do it for them.

I am a little interested in whether or not all the parents who opposed the viewing of the movie did so on religious grounds. I know it'd be hard for the media to pass up on a story about a guy named Frosty who thinks global warming is a sign of Jesus coming back...but I wonder if some of the other parents might have had more sensible position on the matter.

[Injektilo]

I was instantly reminded of :

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28308

TOPEKA, KS--The second law of thermodynamics, a fundamental scientific principle stating that entropy increases over time as organized forms decay into greater states of randomness, has come under fire from conservative Christian groups, who are demanding that the law be repealed.

Above: Conservative Christians protest the second law of thermodynamics on the steps of the Kansas Capitol.

"What do these scientists want us teaching our children? That the universe will continue to expand until it reaches eventual heat death?" asked Christian Coalition president Ralph Reed, speaking at a rally protesting a recent Kansas Board Of Education decision upholding the law. "That's hardly an optimistic view of a world the Lord created for mankind. The American people are sending a strong message here: We don't like the implications of this law, and we will not rest until it has been reversed in the courts."

The controversial law of nature, which asserts that matter continually breaks down as disorder increases and heat is lost, has long been decried by Christian fundamentalists as running counter to their religion's doctrine of Divine grace and eternal salvation.

"Why can't disorder decrease over time instead of everything decaying?" asked Jim Muldoon of Emporia, KS. "Is that too much to ask? This is our children's future we're talking about."

"I wouldn't want my child growing up in a world headed for total heat death and dissolution into a vacuum," said Kansas state senator Will Blanchard (R-Hutchinson). "No decent parent would want that."

Calling the second law of thermodynamics "a deeply disturbing scientific principle that threatens our children's understanding of God's universe as a benevolent and loving place," Blanchard is spearheading a nationwide grassroots campaign to have the law removed from high-school physics textbooks. The plan has already met with significant support in the state legislatures of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi.

Above: Christian Coalition president Ralph Reed holds a textbook he claims is being used to teach physics in schools.

"My daughter's schoolbooks tell her that we live in a world ruled by disorder," said Knox Heflin, one of several dozen fundamentalists who spoke out against the teaching of the law at a Statesboro (GA) School Board hearing. "That's a direct contradiction of what it says in the Bible, about how everything is going to get better, and we'll all live happily up in heaven after the End Times."

"The only 'heat death' Jesus ever mentioned is the one that sinners will suffer for all eternity in the Lake of Fire," said Indianola (MS) School Board president Bernice McCallum. "Now more than ever, we need to hear what the Bible has to say about our public schools' physical-science curricula."

Leading physicists contend that, as the foundation of much of our current scientific understanding, a reversal of the second law of thermodynamics would have massive ramifications on the future of both our nation and the universe itself.

"Were the second law to be repealed, random particles would collect and organize themselves instead of dissipating, which could affect such basic processes as combustion, digestion, evaporation, convection--that sort of thing," Columbia University superstring theorist Dr. Brian Greene said. "There wouldn't be much sunlight, either, because all stars, including our sun, would be collecting photons from surrounding space instead of emitting solar radiation. Oh, and the universe would begin to contract rather than expand, which could possibly turn back the flow of time itself, sending our cosmos spiraling inward toward a reverse Big Bang, a sort of 'Big Crunch,' if you will."

"In light of all this," Greene continued, "I would sincerely hope that our nation's legislators think long and hard before making any decisions to amend or repeal this law."

Despite such warnings, the grassroots movement to eliminate the second law of thermodynamics appears to be gathering strength.

"This is America," said Duane Collins, a Gatlinburg, TN, distillery operator and father of five. "And in this country, we have the God-given right to change laws we don't think are Christian. We are united in our demands that the second law of thermodynamics be repealed, and our voice will be heard no matter what. That's just a plain fact, and nothing anybody says can ever change it."

[Trotskilicious]

So who has even odds on another version of the Scopes Monkey Trial by the end of the decade?

[Mexicola]

Dude, Kitzmiller v Dover was just over a month ago.