Brainwashing

I was browsing the interweb today, and I was shown the grand folly of the web site http://www.conservapedia.com by a friend(thanks Joe!). This is a wikipedia written by homeschoolers and their ilk, and its highly disturbing. Its disturbing to me because it does precisely what a reference guide should NOT do, it puts forth an agenda, and is, and I quote:

...an online resource and meeting place where we favor Christianity and America. Conservapedia has easy-to-use indexes to facilitate review of topics. You will much prefer using Conservapedia compared to Wikipedia if you want concise answers free of "political correctness".

Well, isn't that just ducky. Instead of being a neutral document, lets put out a Christian reference to make sure that the brainwashed masses remain so. Some gems from the conservapedia include claims of live dinosaurs, which ironically is criticized for not being creationist enough for some, and this doozy:

The existence of unicorns is controversial. Secular opinion is that they are mythical. However, they are referred to in the Bible nine times,^[1] which provides an unimpeachable de facto argument for their once having been in existence.

Wow. Just, wow. The existence of unicorns is neither here nor there, but the idea of the bible being complete fact is just ludicrous to me. You know how someone mentions astronomical speeds or distances, and it just blows your mind? For example, that the brightest star in the sky is over 50,000,000,000,000 miles away but you can still see it? Your mind just shuts off, and just can't comprehend that kind of number. I feel that way about the infallibility of the bible, except in reverse. I can't comprehend how anyone can possibly believe that, and still have the right number of chromosomes.

Its not just the animal world that's getting abused like a buffet at a Ramadan sunset. The physical world is getting the left hook of God, too. The conservapediacs suggest that because the moon is moving away from the earth,(this is a fact, they can measure it with a laser) that is proof that gravity does not exist. What. The. Fuck. The moon weighs 7x10^32 kilos, if gravity didn't exist, it would certainly move away from the earth at a much higher rate than 3 cm a year. In fact, the difference seen by the apollo lunar laser ranging experiment(a very cool experiment name, by the way) puts the upper limit of change in Newton's gravitational constant at 1 in 100,000,000,000. Saying that the distance to the moon changing proves that gravity does not exist is like saying water is explosive because it contains hydrogen and oxygen. No, its not that simple, its even more idiotic. Its like saying someone I only know over the internet doesn't exist because I've never met them. No, thats not it either. See what I mean about not being able to fathom the horrible logic used?

For shits and giggles, I checked out their entry on Sir Isaac Newton, who I know was a VERY devout Christian, and studied nature and his surroundings to learn more about God. They put forth his bio pretty well, but they have to add this little tidbit to it as well:

The majority opinion holds that Newton was a unitarian (one God) and an Arian (Jesus was divine but did not exist eternally and was created by God at some point before coming to Earth)Both are commonly regarded by conservative Christians as the foulest of heresies, and Newton's adoption of them illustrates the folly of adopting personal religious beliefs rather than submitting to lawful authority.

Sigh. What does this possibly add? What does this whole farce of a reference document add? Nothing, really. All it does is provide a way for homeschoolers and conservative christians to further brainwash their kids. "Oh no, kids, don't go use the Wikipedia, use the Conservapedia!" Compare the Conservapedia entry on Sir Isaac Newton, and the Wikipedia entry on the same man. One is 4 paragraphs long, the other is more along the lines of 40. Its simply more informative. I'm not against homeschooling, per se, I think that given the right parents and right kids, it can be a great thing. However, when its used to brainwash the kids into the same backward, close-minded thinking that their parents suffer from, its a tragedy. And it's a disservice to the kids, because they're going to grow up, get a job, and tell Jim from accounting that he's going to hell because he believes that gravity exists. What good does that do anyone? I guess it continues the word of God, or at least their version, which, if you listen to them, is the correct version.

Should I leave a comment telling them that Isaac was most likely gay? Nah, it'd make their heads explode.