Inside a Bible Belt Classroom

[finnbow]

The last line of this video is priceless. These are future leaders of America (or at least the GOP).

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

The last line of this video is priceless.

Actually, the "Out Of Africa" hypothesis would suggest that "ar differnt skeeins" resulted from black people evolving lighter skins in response to the reduced solar radiation of more northerly latitudes. Wonder how them good ol' boys'd lak thayut.

These are future leaders of America (or at least the GOP).

Yeah, I know but, on the bright side, I'll probably be dead by then.

John

[Boreas]

The clip mentioned "Dayton" but not a state. There are several Daytons in the Bible Belt but I'm voting for Dayton, TX, northeast of Houston.

John

[d-ray657]

The teacher seemed like he was all over the place - or that he feared for his job if he really said what he thought of the students' approach to the subject. He almost appeared to be apologizing for "giving evolution a fair shake."

The really sad thing is that there is so much to the study of evolution that doesn't have squat to do with creation theory, but with adaptation of species to their surroundings. It would be a more effective presentation of evolution to remove it from the "evolution vs. creation" debate to a focus on what effect adaptions that are occurring even now have on our lives. For example, what the theory of evolution means to the development - or failure - of antibiotics. How evolution affects pest control, agriculture, diagnosis of disease, etc.



Regards,

D-Ray

[BlueStreak]

"I am not trying to disprove the existence of God. I merely wish to have a conversation with him. And find out how he did it."-Albert Einstein.

"The Bible says God created man in his own image. But it doesn't say how he went about it. And besides, who knows what God looks like?"-My Pops.

I feel sorry for that teacher. I sensed that he would love to tell those kids what he really thinks, but is afraid his career would end if he did.

Lots of curious statements in that video. Curious and full of sad forbodings, that is.

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Oh, and one more quote. Don't recall who said it, no one famous, it might have been someone in the old neighborhood. Anyways, here goes;

"If God created man in his image, then God would look something like you. And THAT'S a hellluva note, 'cuz you're one ugly son of a bitch."

Dave

[hillbilly]

[QUOTE=Boreas;32594]Actually, the "Out Of Africa" hypothesis would suggest that "ar differnt skeeins" resulted from black people evolving lighter skins in response to the reduced solar radiation of more northerly latitudes. Wonder how them good ol' boys'd lak thayut.


I'll tell how this good ole boy likes that. He knows better. Show me one fuckin' WHITE man in Africa thats EVOLVING black. We are different, plain and simple. We are all different for a reason. Why? How bout because it's the way God wanted it.

[merrylander]

Probably another bad translation, He created man as he imagined man should look.

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Probably another bad translation, He created man as he imagined man should look.

At first. But later on, when man was trying to build temples to reach the heavens above, God changed folks so they could not communicate. I know, it's all a mistery to me too. None of us were born then so who are we to argue either way.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Show me one fuckin' WHITE man in Africa thats EVOLVING black. We are different, plain and simple. We are all different for a reason. Why? How bout because it's the way God wanted it.

You don't get a white man "evolving" from white to black or black to white during his lifetime. What you get is populations who live in a particular area changing very gradually over centuries and thousands of years in response to the environment they live in. If large populations of white people moved back to Central Africa or some other tropical locale and stayed there as a discrete breeding population they eventually would develop darker skin. It would take eons though.

Since we're talking about skin color, I'll give you a simplified version of how that works. Human evolution occurred in Africa. That's pretty much undisputed by those who subscribe to evolutionary theory. So, while in Africa, humans - or their prehuman ancestors - developed (evolved) darker skin as a protection against the intense sunlight of the tropics. This protected them (us) from things like skin cancer and just plain old sunburn.

Now, when humans began moving north out of Africa as the Ice Age ended, (this took thousands of years), they found themselves living in areas where solar radiation was far less intense (because of the curvature of the earth). That meant our dark skin was no longer an adaptive advantage for our new environment. In fact, it was a disadvantage. For example, our dark skin inhibited the production of vitamin D, easy to produce in the tropics but much harder in Europe or Asia. Also, the dark pigment in our skin is genetically linked to sickle cell anemia. (Evolution ain't always perfect.) In Africa it was a worthwhile trade-off but not in Europe and Asia. So, what happened is people living in more northerly areas began over time to develop lighter skin because it worked better in their new environment.

In any population there is variation from individual to individual in many many ways. Some of us have lighter or darker skin coloration, even within the same "race". If it turns out that darker skin pigment confers a survival advantage, as it does in the tropics, those with the darker skin will have an easier time of it. That means they'll end up being healthier and stronger and better able to acquire a mate and pass on their genes to the next generation.

So, as these darker skinned people enjoy greater breeding success that means the characteristics of the population will change over time to include more and more people with darker and darker skin until a point is reached where the population as a whole possesses the characteristics that best suit them to their environment.

John