Oh I think it’s a great idea only teaching facts in schools, such a great idea in fact I feel they should go further, and only teach facts when dealing with religious issues also. Though I daresay our little politician friend might object to such a fair scheme no?

So he’s claiming that religious claims are themselves “facts”? Let them keep opening up their dumb mouths… it only reinforces the fact of their ignorance.

(Shakes head.) Do guys like this realize how much they keep lapsing into parodies of themselves?  Yeesh.

I know its my biggest pet peeve, but the Southerners make it so hard not to stereotype themselves.

That’s not true.  I know numerous people from the deep south that make it very hard for one to fit them into stereotypes.  A very good friend of mine from Tenessee is now a professor who works on issues regarding evolutionary theory and prediction.  I also have an ex that was from North Carolina who broke tons of stereotypes that I didn’t even realize that I had (despite her accent, which quite often had me breaking out in laughter).  Moreover, if I’m not mistaken both GeekMom and Deadscot are from Texas (or at least are in Texas, correct me if I’m wrong).

Texas despite being geographically waaay south. I wouldn’t consider it “deep south.” Just as I don’t consider Florida deep south either. I was born in Texas…

Good ol’ Ben Barnes.  This is the same incompetent nincompoop that introduced legislation last year that would require unwed mothers to surrender the name of the father in the interest of health care protection.

At least they presented the professor’s view on the matter which illuminates what a jackass Barnes truly is.

BTW: Captchas only seem to be working with Firefox.

Sepharo,

I think you’re going through a little bit of denial

Smileys just don’t like me.

Well, I have to say I grew up here in Texas, so I don’t know whether that’s worse for me or for Texas.  If it weren’t for deadscot being here, though, the state’s collective IQ level would be down around freezing ...

I ♥ Geekmom!

In general, it seems that states with a low population to area ratio tend to think in a more simplistic and self-serving manner.  Myopic may be a better definition.

Most of the people that I know have never been exposed to different cultures, religions or races (barring Hispanics).  They merely take the logic that applies to their ‘world’ and extrapolate it to apply to the country as a whole.  Or in the case of our Texan President, the entire world.

“The idea that matter is made of atoms is a theory. The idea that there is some kind of force that brings us back to earth if we jump up is a theory, it’s called gravitational theory,� She added. “If we’re not allowed to talk about one theory, then we shouldn’t be allowed to talk about all other theories.�

And if we’re not allowed to talk about theories, then we can’t teach science at all because guess what, science is built on theories!

Way to go, Ben “obviously never took a science class” Bridges.

I also had a friend in college; she was from Texas and also one of the most liberal people I know.  Then there are my cousins...let’s just say “boondocks,” shall we?

Hi all:  Too often, science is seen as a bunch of facts to memorize, rather than a process.  Alas, in order to get enough info to formulate a theory, or to understand the process, one often has to memorize a bunch of previously unknown facts.  People who think science is just facts are seriously mistaken, since we all know that science is an ongoing endeavor, not a static list.

SG
(I know, preaching to the choir, however....)

Hell, let’s just throw out all the textbooks and bring in a preacher.

I’m a Midwesterner stuck in the South. I have developed a prejudice which I have to constantly keep an eye on. It was just so easy. Things that were absolutely unacceptable where I am from are nothing here. Take the use of the word “fag,” for instance. Of course, I heard it while I was growing up. Most often it was used to indicate something entirely separate from sexual orientation, and it was used among friends. However, to use it in a school setting (in a classroom) was unacceptable. People knew better. When I heard it in my classroom here, within a class discussion on homosexuals, only the girl from NY and I flinched.

Many times, I have heard African Americans referred to as “coloreds,” and if you are from the North, you had better apologize for the Civil War because it is still being faught down here. I see confederate flags every day, but where I am from, displaying one of those is just as good as hanging up a sign that says “please kick my ass.”

Religion. . . well, wait a minute. Let me be precise. Christianity invades every aspect of my life here. I am contantly on guard in my school, my children’s schools, and even while I am renewing my tags I see references on the walls to the Bible. My daughter was involved in class prayer every day before lunch, a prayer session led by her teacher, until I printed information from the ACLU website and mailed it anonymously to the principle who put a stop to it, but not before the teacher chastized the “person who would do such a thing” in front of her classroom. (By the way, the way the prinicple and teacher handled it was to have the teacher leave the room before prayer time, and it was then a supposedly voluntary and student initiated legal loophole.) I hear references to the Bible - no kidding - at least 3-4 times a week, and just about every single day since I have been in school. That might not seem so bad, but they are quite often to let you know that being non-Christian means you are either worshipping “the devil” or far worse, you are an atheist and either way, going to hell. I have lost patience with it, which is of course a problem that only hurts me in the long run.

One of my teacher’s was actually reprimanded for telling my class he didn’t believe in heaven or hell - which ironically, no one but the person who complained can remember him saying.

It is maddening here.

I had no intention of starting the Civil War again, right here on SEB, so let me just say that these are my own personal and possibly limited experiences here, and I am only saying the South is just. . . different.

Live from the South, I am “Justice Day.”

I feel for ya Justice [hits chest with fist]. What the hell did you do that made you get stuck in the South?

My daughter was involved in class prayer every day before lunch, a prayer session led by her teacher

Oh, that’s a big No-no. Doesn’t help to improve the ACLU’s image as God-haters though.

TheBo$$, are you being sarcastic? If so, I’m not confused about my attitude, but I’m also not making this shit up. If not, well, I had a very good reason for coming here, but it isn’t something I am willing to make available for those who would tell me what my options really were and what choices I should have made. I have heard “if you don’t like it, go back where you came from” and it isn’t a realistic, but a cheap idea.

About the ACLU, like a side on any other extreme, they can go too far and so I am not a card-carrying member. I was looking for a copy of the actual law and their website had it. What I mailed to the principle had no mention of the ACLU. I made sure of it because the issue wasn’t about “sides,” the issue was the law.

Hey Les & Company.  First time poster, long time lurker.

Having grown up in the South (Georgia, Sandy Springs, 18 years) and having a sister who is a teacher there (in Cobb county, no less), I feel obliged to offer a qualification to the above posts. 

It is true that some people in the South are intolerant.  I will be the first to admit such, as I grew up with some of them.  I have even participated in humorous arguments with indignant Californians over the War of Northen Aggression^TM.  Hell, my best friend’s mother had a Confederate Flag hanging on the outside of her house.  For the longest time I didn’t even take note of this - how often do we question those things that have been with us our entire lives?  Going to school in California gave me some perspective.  Telling some Californians I was from Georgia elicited responses akin to those I might expect if I told people I was from Jupiter.  Of course, telling some people in my home town about going to school in California often resulted in a similar response.  There seems to be a great deal of intolerance on both sides for people who seem, at first glance, to be very different.

Of course there is intolerance in the South.  As there is intolerance everywhere.  My ex-girlfriend (from the oh-so-liberal city of Seattle, where I now live) mentioned to me how it was frightening the first time she visited me in Atlanta, because she had never seen so many black people in her life.  A shop clerk here in Seattle last year responded to my assertion that I was from Atlanta with “Atlanta! That’s a brown town!”

Southern bashing has become quite fashionable (or perhaps it was always fashionable).  Criticism I can take - a lot of it is justified.  What I disagree with is blanket statements that imply all of us from the South are sister-fucking inbred hicks with shit for brains.  And believe me, I’ve heard plenty of that.  As evidence to the contrary, I will point you to this:

CNN Election Results

Of course, many would look at that map and say “Wow!  Look at all that red!  Maybe the Northeast and West coast should just secede!” Ha ha, very funny.  About as funny as me joking about the War of Northern Aggression^TM.  For those people with the incentive to actually click on a state, the results look very different.  For the sake of convenience, I’ll summarize the results of two states:

Georgia
Bush: 58% Kerry: 41%

California
Bush: 45% Kerry: 54%

Hmm.  All of a sudden things don’t look so stark.  Yes, I grew up in a conservative state, where Confederate flags abound.  However, I still turned out to be as much of a tree-hugging liberal as the best of the Northerners, and somewhat more so than 45% of California.  All I ask is that we keep this in mind before we write off the South.  Reach out, don’t deride - there are plenty of people there who think just like you.  Only the idiots make the news.

One last point.  Until recently, one of Georgia’s senators was Max Cleland, a triple-amputee - he left both his legs and and arm in Vietnam, when a grenade blew up right next to him.  A Democratic senator, Cleland was ousted in the 2002 Congressional elections when his opponent, Saxby Chambliss, questioned his patriotism:

“Cleland had voted for an amendment to the Chemical Weapons Treaty that eliminated a ban on citizens of terrorist nations being on U.N. inspection teams in Iraq. It was a majority vote, 56 to 44, and among those in support were Sen. Bill Frist, the stately chairman of the Senate Republican campaign committee who handpicked candidate Chambliss.”
[Link]

Well.  He was still voted out of office by some misguided Georgians, but some of us had to vote for him in the first place. 

Anyway, end of rant.  Have a nice day, y’all.

Hmm, for some reason the second link is not working.  Here is the URL:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A14474-2002Jun19

You have to paste it into your browser, clicking on it only results in a error.  Not sure why.

Welcome to SEB.  Always nice to hear a new voice, especially when it’s accompanied by such a rockin’ avatar!

And I think most of your points are well taken.

It’s strange. I’m originally from Maryland and never really considered myself a southerner, even though the state sits below the Mason-Dixon line. Now I’m living in Northern Michigan and I’m starting to realize that in many ways I really am a southerner. Not in matters of religion or politics but in genaral cultural ways. For instance, my style of cooking is very different from most people up here, I use a lot of hot spices and do a lot of deep frying. I like cajun type dishes. I drink bourbon, up here most whiskey drinkers prefer Canadian whiskey. I prefer southern music like Mississippi Blues and Zydeco and even some Country.

And then there’s snow. Did you know that people up here actually like the stuff? Unbelievable....

This dipshit needs to be the target of a good recall petition for being so amazingly stupid that it’s a wonder he remembers to breathe on his own.

Actually, whether through evolution or intelligent design, the human body is set up so you don’t NEED to remember to breath, despite your level of intelligence.

On reflection, we all should hope it’s by design, because then there’s a chance we can submit a change request.

I live in Atlanta. When you see things like what this state senator proposes you have to understand that he is appealing to his ‘base’ which in this case are bible thumping babtists who feel are feeling thier oates after many years of hiding thier beleifs because of the fear of ridicule the rest of the country would heap upon them. Many of these people are ignorant of the facts of thier states and countries history and in fact are ignorant of the very bible the treasure so much. But enablers like Ben Bridges allow these people to stand before the world and to proclaim thier ignorance from the mountain tops. Personally this trend in American politics(one that extends far outside the south) is very disturbing because I see it as the laying of the ground work for a potential demogogue to appear the next time we have a true national crisis. This trend stifles intelligent rebuttal and encourages intolerance and misconceptions. So if someone is spouting garbage call them on it in a forceful way--make them look stupid and maybe we can encourage these nimrods to get it right or crawl back under their rocks!