![\"canyon\"](\"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/pics\/gcanyon.jpg\" "\\"canyon\\"")
(rant warning)\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n(rant warning)\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I have thoroughly had it with all this political correctness business. It’s about time we again say it as it is.<\/p>\n
If people are offended by the truth and the facts, then that’s their<\/strong> problem.<\/p>\n The latest “politically correct” idiocy I read this morning was about the Bush administration telling the Grand Canyon Park that their employees can no longer comment on the age of the Grand Canyon, so that they won’t offend creationists (probably based on the incorrect assumption that all creationists think the earth is only somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 years old). (See link to article<\/a>)<\/p>\n Folks, this is not<\/strong> politically correct. This is politically wrong<\/strong>!<\/p>\n It is wrong, it is cowardly stupid, it is frightning, it is dishonest, and above all, it’s unfair to our children when we are no longer allowed to teach them the facts of life, simply because a small group of people\u00c2\u00a0who are\u00c2\u00a0too delusional to accept some simple facts and too afraid to use their own God-given brain, could possibly be offended by the truth.<\/p>\n (the above sentence was designed to offend. Every time my right to free speech or free access to scientific knowledge is infringed upon or blocked in order to prevent some people from being offended, then I will have to protect my rights and access to knowledge by negating the effect of the political correctness by offending the very group that was being ‘protected’.)<\/p>\n So, since we’re now at a stage where, when you ask a park ranger how old the Grand Canyon is, he will put his fingers in his ears, close his eyes and starts humming loudly, we have to wonder how long it will take before he’s forced to explain that, well, there’s a distinct possibility that it’s 5,000 years old, created by Noah’s flood (or by a Scottish tourist who lost a dime). (Link to the Noah’s flood farce<\/a>)<\/p>\n And why stop at the age of the Grand Canyon? There is a large group of people, who, based on biblical interpretation, are convinced that the Sun goes around the Earth (geocentrism), and not the other way around (heliocentrism). Shouldn’t we tell our college’s astronomy departments to refrain from telling our children that the planet Earth goes around the sun, so that we don’t offend these geocentrists? (see for instance this website<\/a> -there are many like this, no kidding!-)<\/p>\n