Posted on 10/24/2006 10:55:25 AM PDT by lizol
Neanderthal man walks among us, Poland's far-right says by Jean-Luc Testault
Mon Oct 23, 11:22 AM ET
WARSAW (AFP) - Poland's far-right League of Polish Families (LPR), which is part of the coalition government, claims Darwin's theory of evolution is all wrong, that humans lived alongside dinosaurs and that Neanderthal man is still among us.
Last week, Poland's deputy education minister Miroslaw Orzechowski, a member of the LPR, bluntly rejected British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and his postulate that man is descended from apes.
"The theory of evolution is a lie, a mistake that we have legalised as a common truth," said Orzechowski.
"We must not teach lies, just as we must not teach evil in the place of good and ugliness in the place of beauty."
This weekend, Orzechowski was given some high-level support when European lawmaker for the far-right party, Maciej Giertych -- the father of LPR leader Roman Giertych -- told a seminar that Neanderthal man still roams the planet, notably in the United States where examples can be spotted in a boxing ring.
"A scientist showed me a picture of an American boxer. He had all the traits of Neanderthal man. These people are among us. They are part of the human race, probably more prevalent once upon a time, but who still exist," Giertych, who has a doctorate in biology, told the seminar.
Taking up the mantra of creationists -- who have a strong following among Christian fundamentalists in the United States, but whose theory that God created all living creatures at the same time has not won a huge following in Europe -- Giertych also propounded that man and dinosaurs roamed the earth together.
"Research shows that dinosaurs and man were contemporaries. In every culture, there are indications that we remember (dinosaurs). The Scots have Loch Ness, we Poles have Wawel dragon (in Krakow), Marco Polo spoke of an imperial carriage in China which was pulled by a dragon," Giertych said.
Giertych's son Roman, currently Poland's education ministry, insisted, however, that such anti-Darwinist outlooks would not impact on the school curriculum.
"The status of the theory of evolution will not change in Polish schools," he said Monday in a radio interview.
But he held back from condemning those who have criticised Darwin.
Meanwhile, teachers appear to fear there could be a backlash, with only those who toe the creationist line making it through the selection process in Poland's education system.
Centre-left daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported last week that a high school in the central city of Lodz had removed posters showing the evolution of man from the australopithec to homo sapiens.
Teachers' fears are understandable as LPR has been trying, since it joined the three-way coalition government in May, to stamp its ideology on Poland's education system.
In June, the head of a teacher training school in Poland was fired for publishing the Polish language version of a Council of Europe brochure that the education ministry said encourages contact between pupils and gay groups.
Under Giertych, the education ministry has also tried to take the works of Polish 20th century writer Witold Gombrowicz off the curriculum in Polish high schools, arguing that he was not patriotic enough.
To counter the LPR's anti-Darwin message, Poles have turned to the late pope John Paul II, who in a speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1996 said: "Truth cannot contradict truth."
"Today, almost half a century after the publication of the Humani Generis encyclical (in 1950 by Pius XII), new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis," John Paul II said.
"It is remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory," the pope said.
These are deep conclussions... from evolution theory to anti-Semitism?
You know, don't you, that "that's sooo condescending" is from one of the earlier Geico Caveman commercials. Delivered with a little snort and an effete toss of the head by the caveman tickling the ivories of the baby grand.
I believe I went out with a couple of Neanderthal women, my first year in college.
:') Nope, not doin' it. ;')
The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
Hmmm - I've often said the same thing...
somebody wake up on the wrong side of the rock???
D'OH!!
Yeah that new caveman ad with the split-screen is even more hilarious.
They are even worse science-deniers than the ones in the US. Well, just as bad.
"Research shows that dinosaurs and man were contemporaries. In every culture, there are indications that we remember (dinosaurs).
All that's lacking is scientific evidence. Old stories are nice, but look at all those dinosaur fossils--none of which are in association with human fossils (or even primate fossils).
Look at all those early hominid fossils--none of which are in association with dinosaur fossils.
Even most creationists admit those footprints in Texas are faked.
And this is supposed to be evidence for dinosaurs and man living contemporaneously? What a laugh!
Actually this is kind of refreshing in contrast to mewling American creationists who whine like liberal intellectual relativists/nihilists about "fairness," "balance" and teaching "both sides". I mean the guy is an idiot, but at least he has the courage of his convictions; and however preposterous his claims, he's at least willing to follow them to their obvious and logical conclusions.
If you genuinely believe evolution is a "lie" and/or pseudoscience, then of course it follows that you should advocate its exclusion from science curricula. But here, on these very threads, we have creationists baldly assert that evolution is a lie, but insist they wouldn't think of banning it and only want to "balance" it with creationism or ID.
They take the position that idea "A" is utterly lacking in merit, and indeed is thoroughly invidious, and that idea "B" is both true and socially beneficent, but want both taught as equally valid!
the 1st one ordered the 'duck with..."
the second one didn't "have much of an appetite"
What problems would those be?
Just another uneducated stupid moonbat.
Cite sources please. And not some creationist screed from an uninformed and biased website please.
[pinging Coyote since he knows about this stuff professionally]
It's my understanding (don't have time to research right now) that Neanderthals had a differently-shaped rib cage. If this is so, why not produce an x-ray of a living person with that sort of bone structure? I've never seen such a thing.
I asked Dave to share with us just one reason he thinks the evidence doesn't support evolution. It's been well over a full day now, with no response.
Did you actually expect one?
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