10/20/2004 09:34:00 AM|||Joe|||Will someone tell me what the problem with selling a creationist book at the Grand Canyon is? They should simply require that it be placed in the spiritual or inspirational section (which, according to the article, it has been). I've been there. They've got lots of non-science stuff there, if I remember correctly. Don't they have Native American spiritual stuff?

I think the problem is that the book is apparently trying to represent itself as science. From the article:

Critics believe the creationist book should not be sold by a shop on government property because it contradicts the park's mission to teach science.

Well, ok. Keep it in the inspirational section. Or get rid of it, but make sure to take all the books and pamphlets and whatever that tell about Native American myths too. You gotta be consistent.

I got a Corona baseball cap there. They sell booze there too. And stupid magnets and coasters. What do these things have to do with teaching science? Unless I'm thinking of a different shop. I could be. Maybe they are separate shops. Even if they are, the argument presented concerns government property, not the type of shop.

I should (again? I'm sure I've mentioned this before) say that I'm pretty much an atheist. And a wacky liberal. And I think science rocks. But I don't see what the big deal is. So I disagree with the premise of the book and I think it's nonsense. So what? How many people are gonna go through the tour, then pick up the book and say, “Holy crap! They lied to me!” if they didn't already believe this creationist nonsense?

This is some weird control issue, and I just don't get it.

Being liberal means being inclusive, folks. You have to tolerate ideas you don't like. I think putting the stupid book in the inpirational section is an acceptable compromise.|||109829007519189601|||Noah's Flood and the Grand Canyon