Created by Noah’s flood a few thousand years ago?
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
“In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”
In August 2003, Park Superintendent Joe Alston attempted to block the sale at park bookstores of Grand Canyon: A Different View by Tom Vail, a book claiming the Canyon developed on a biblical rather than an evolutionary time scale. NPS Headquarters, however, intervened and overruled Alston. To quiet the resulting furor, NPS Chief of Communications David Barna told reporters and members of Congress that there would be a high-level policy review of the issue.
According to a recent NPS response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by PEER, no such review was ever requested, let alone conducted or completed.
A flood couldn’t have formed the grand canyon no matter how big it was. It would have to have been millions of repeating floods in a short amount of time to do something like this. Didn’t Noah’s flood occur in the middle-east/mediterranean sea area? Not south-west North America. You’d think the native Americans at that time would have have stories of a flood that large. Unless they were all wiped out anyway.
I can’t believe this story. Why should the Bush administration have any say about this anyway? fucking retarded.
As an atheist I see nothing wrong with a grand canyon gift shop selling a book about Noah and the canyon. If someone wants to believe that premise, that’s their right. And if the gift shop wants to profit off of that belief, that’s their right.
That being said, to forbid park employees from talking about the scientific age of the canyon is ludicrous.
Even if the Dems get up on their hind legs in Congress — a question that will remain unanswered for months to come — the entire bureaucratic infrastructure of our nation has been modified, interlaced with superstitious ideology to satisfy the Republikan power base.
It will take a continuation of the process that began with the recent federal elections just to begin to get government back to what used to pass for reality in this fountainhead of political opportunism. We probably need carpetbaggers from another galaxy to help us out of the morass these fools have constructed.
The scary part is, how many children are being raised by these religious wackos to believe the Earth is only a few thousand years old. Are we headed into another dark age where the church tells us everything we need to know. Where thought and knowledge is blasphemy. And just so you know most Republicans don’t subscribe to this nonsense, just like most Democrats don’t subscribed to Hollywood’s view of the world.
Just who voted for the moron that put these sorts of idiots in all the fed agencies? Raise your hands so we can spit on you. (just kidding, but not much)
I love the irony of this crap being espoused by the governemnt on one hand, and then whining about how we are losing ground to the rest of the world in Science and Terchnology, and Medical research.
Duh!
We should call the Bush education program “All children left behind!”
This really bums me out. Wouldn’t it be cool if society was concerned about rational people being offended?
I’m offended at the suppression of science in the name of God.
I’ll take this press release seriously when Grand Canyon National Park takes down this page:
http://www.nps.gov/grca/faqs.htm#old
or cuts out the stuff about the canyon being five or six million years old.
It reads as follows:
“How old is the Canyon?
That’s a tricky question. Although rocks exposed in the walls of the canyon are geologically quite old, the Canyon itself is a fairly young feature. The oldest rocks at the canyon bottom are close to 2000 million years old. The Canyon itself – an erosional feature – has formed only in the past five or six million years. Geologically speaking, Grand Canyon is very young. ”
Some Christian fundamentalists believe the earth is 6010 years two months and a couple days old. If they read what the NPS says about the age of the rocks and the canyon, know how to count, and can think, perhaps they’ll be offended.
But the NPS, at any rate, hasn’t modified their statement about the age of the Grand Canyon….much as the Bushies might like them to.
Check it out and see for yourself…
Quothe the Simpsons..
As for science versus religion, I’m issuing a restraining order. Religion must stay 500 feet away from science at all times.
It was not created in a flood – it was created as a “make-work” project under the WPA in the 1930’s.
An atheist will tolerate having prayers in schools and the word god on the money so why can’t ultra-christians tolerate geology? Tolerating physics, biology and chemistry would also be a plus.
I am not offended of ultra-christians changing the book. I am just amazed at the lack of toleration.
Another attack by the Christo-Facist Zombie Brigade!
Uh oh, are we talking imaginary friends again? I’m inviting all of you to join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. http://tinyurl.com/9tvwf
Uh oh, are we talking imaginary friends again? I’m inviting all of you to join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. http://tinyurl.com/9tvwf
I’m with Drifter Smith. I found the same FAQ he did and find it odd that the website can say how old but the rangers can’t? Sounds dubious. I think that ‘fact’ was used to sensationalize and draw attention to the fact that people don’t like the book sold in a National Park gift shop.
I agree that it shouldn’t be sold there, mostly because it’s fundamentalist garbage, but the way the message is being brought across is just wrong.
Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees.
Why am I not surprised? The Bush administration wants a stupid population that’s easy to control.
Its funny that we have to cover up FACTS with lies.
Isnt that what happened in the PAST with religious based Europe??
#8 – This really bums me out. Wouldn’t it be cool if society was concerned about rational people being offended?
Comment by jammerB — 12/29/2006 @ 6:36 am
Fuck Yes!
I’m am about at the end of my rope with Xians.
Notice the complete lack of Creationists posting? Funny, ever since the Reps lost Congress it’s so hard to find anyone defending positions like this on the Internet. Some might say that now that the Dems are coming into power that the Bush bunch are trying to hide all the grants they gave through the government to faith based organizations that used the money to pay shills to promote these views. But I’m sure that’s not true!
Still… where are they? Also the people who used to constantly affirm Bush as a superhuman hero. Gone or very scarce… ever since the election loss… hmmmm.
#2 SN
Oh come on! It is government establishment of religious beliefs that directly contradicts all of the scientific knowledge we have of Geology. My tax dollars help pay for that library and I don’t want them using it to promote religious nonsense and the first amendment agrees with me. They are there to educate the general public about the amazing feats of nature they see before them using science not religion.
Just wait until the Spaghetti Monster hears about this.
“In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology”
The rational scientific thinkers of the world need to start flexing some political muscle. Washington should worry more about offending us, not fundamentalists.
Milo…I was wondering the same thing. As you know by now all the editors at Dvorak Uncensored are on the lookout for these sorts of anti-science stories which seem to be overlooked by the mainstream media. In the process someone sends out a memo to the creationist crowd and they come in and make a bunch of gratuitous comments. Something wasn’t triggered this time. Unsure why. I’m guessing that there is a robotic mechanism triggered by key words which are obviously missing in this story. And make no mistake these are not mainstream Christians, They are the new lunatic fringe.
Milo, I’m a Bush supporter, but I don’t buy into all this fundi religious bullshit. I’ve always thought those who look to the church for answers are weak in the mind and are afraid to think of other possibilities. Life frightens them, and the church gives their small minds comfort.
I’d like to see some independent verification of this story. This smells like smear nonsense to me, especially since the NPS has not changed the data on the site, the books they sell or, as per this past spring, the information on the tour, as I heard a guide tell me herself the geological age of various parts of the Canyon.
So…yeah. What’s the story here again?
John:
I’m convinced that most, nearly all, of those fundie posts were nothing but Astroturfing. The well is now running dry.
Going forward I predict many pundits puzzling over America’s sudden turn to the liberal. Most of them will know why but won’t say so. It doesn’t make for good television to say that most of your audience are troglodytes who can’t think for themselves.
USA: The only developed country where you’re better-considered if you are unintelligent and/or a religious fanatic.
Let’s all join hands and sing “kill the Christians!”
Geologically the Grand Canyon is rather recent. The geologists dated it to the end of the last ice age. As the glaciers melted, there was a large ice dam that captured a giant lake on the east side of the Rockies. Finally the ice dam broke and a gigantic torrent poured out and carved out the grand canyon. The ripples in the river bed were mistaken for hills for a long time. The ‘gravel’ was house-sized boulders.
Sorry to ruin your hate-fest with truth, but there it is.
ok this is just basically fucking stupid