Bob Jones "Educating" Children: A Case Against Dogma? Or Against Dumb-Ass Internet Memes?

I don't like in this blog to just take shots at Christian subculture without doing some sort of analysis that redeems the good intentions and the genuine good that often lies behind it.

But it was tempting to pass on the following meme from Bob Jones University's Science 4 student textbook with no more than a "WTF?" 

At least, the Internet says that's where it's from, and who am I to argue with the Internet.

I read it and was justifiably appalled:

That's pretty terrifyingly stupid stuff, and I was all set to make the case that dogma blinds people to reality, yada yada.  I may make that case over something here sometime: I've seen similar epic dumbness from Christian curricula (though usually they save the real witlessness for the age of the earth, dinosaurs, and evolution, and give magnetism and electricity a pass).

But being curious, I went in search of the book in question and found a sample chapter, funnily enough on electricity and magnetism, at BJUP's (no, seriously, that's what they call themselves) site.

I'm a bit of an expert on electricity and magnetism, having put literally scores of 9 volt batteries in my mouth and having scrubbed dozens of balloons on my head to stick them to walls.

And that chapter's not bad stuff, really.  It starts off dully enough (this is a law for those who write textbooks for children) talking about powerlines.  But it moves into an age-appropriate discussion of electricity that does not attempt to prove that it comes from the sun or from God giving the Archangel Gabriel a noogie.

I have no idea whether the page posted above, which I've found in several places around the Internet, actually appears in the chapter, or used to, or never did.  What I'm pretty sure of is that it doesn't fairly represent whatever BJU is offering now.

Further research shows that this is most likely some Internet troll taking shots at Christians on the false assumption that they do not know how to do science.  And while I've been critical of introducing theological interests into science, I'm much more critical of this kind of dishonesty.

It pisses me off.

It's hard enough having a decent discussion about Christians (who really can be WTF-level appalling about things like this) and learning without all the muddy water.

Comments

[Sandra]

Amen. Christian teachers, preachers, curriculum writers (for both school and Sunday School), et al, say enough ridiculous and unsupportable stuff without anyone putting words into their mouths. It's not that hard to find something to ridicule if that's what one has a mind to do--why lose the moral high ground by making it up?

And I also agree that it is easy to ridicule because it is so hard to sit by and watch such well-meaning and good-intentioned people purposely shut down their thinking brains for "the glory of God". That is so painful to watch, or participate in, that in our own psychic defense we poke fun as a way to distance ourselves from our own pain.

[EricW]

Looks to me like a page from a Watchtower tract or Awake! Magazine issue (also a JW publication) :^D

[Kathy]

I had a read through the comments on that blogspot, and one of the commentors said that he has that particular Science book and this page does not appear in that book. So, I'm guessing it is a scam.