Do The Evolution

What in the hell is wrong with people? Namely, Ohio?

The same state that tipped the scales to elect our current president is now moving to replace the theory of evolution in schools with so-called "intelligent design" theory. Honestly, I just do not understand this. Let's look at the flaws of inserting a variant of biblical creationism into science class textbooks:

- Evolution is a valid scientific theory with plenty of evidence to lend it credence. Even if it is presented as only one widely supported theory, why would a biblical story be presented as an alternative in a public school where religion is meant to be kept OUT? What about non-Christian students? What about people who are Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, atheists, or of any other religious persuasion? What makes a literal interpretation of the Christian bible a viable alternative to scientific theory?

- Didn't we already cover this, oh, EIGHTY YEARS AGO? Now I attended a private, religious, Jewish day school. In that school we were taught every biblical story, EXTENSIVELY, over our eight years of Jewish education. But guess what? We ALSO read Inherent the Wind and watched the movie version as well. And it was clear, even in middle school, that the religious extremism that caused a school teacher to be put on trial for teaching evolution was horribly misguided. Now one thing I love about Judaism is that it encourages INTERPRETATION, which, sadly, seems to be an art that is left up to demogogues and politicians lately, and is frowned upon when practiced by the general populace. All one has to do is to look at the writings of the most respected and revered ancient biblical scholars - people like Moses Maimonides and Rashi. These scholars recognized that the bible - yes, that holiest of holy books, contained a plethora of vague passages, inconsistincies, and puzzling sections. So what did they do? They INTERPRETED. They created what is known as a MIDRASH - stories and explanations that filled in the gaps of the bible. But these stories were recognized as just that - human-created additions to a long, winding, and ultimately ambiguous text. And that was the beauty of bible studies in middle school - we were always encouraged to have an open mind. We discussed how the scientific reality of dinosaurs, for example, could coexist with the biblical story of seven days of creation. Now ask almost any rabbi if dinosaurs existed - of course, being rational human beings, they'd say yes. Now look at dinosaur fossils - we can carbon date them and determine from when they emanated. Clearly, these creatures existed long before the first humans ever did. So how could any rational person say that on a literal sixth day of creation, humans were created, apparently mere hours after animals first roamed the earth? The absurdity of saying that biblical stories should be factored into science textbooks is amazing.

- Now, evolution - we know that there have been numerous human fossils found that show a clear progression from prehistoric cavemen to modern humans. Why would anyone deny that? I just cannot see any logical way to deny that evolution happened, and still happens today, and will continue to happen. It's fact. Okay, so what about the Big Bang? Now this is one thing where most can agree - science does not yet have a definitive answer? But does the bible? Surprisingly, yes, it does. It really is amazing just how scientifically accurate the creation story of the bible is when looked at in a non-literal manner. But, does that mean that one specific religiously-oriented version of the creation story should be presented in a science textbook? Only in the proper context. Mention the parallels between scientific theory and biblical accounts. Mention that the complexities of life cause many to speculate on some kind of "intelligent design" that sparked the universe's origins. But - do not use the murky science behind the Big Bang as an excuse to discount science as a whole when it comes to creation. The fact is we don't know what happened, and it's something that should be discussed and debated intelligently -- NOT something that should be forcefed one way or the other. BUT - in the case of evolution, where science has proved that things happened a certain way, why are we even arguing about it? If you do believe in God, then you probably agree that nobody knows what his real deal is except the man himself.

ANYWAYS ...

- @ WORK:

- Saw this amazing musical talent, Raul Midon, yesterday on Leno. Where did this guy come from? Suffice to say everyone on hand was blown away by his musical stylings. Basically, this guy is a prodigy. He played insane guitar while singing and using his voice to simulate all kinds of instrumental sounds. Watch out for this guy. On the same show I got up close and personal with Sharon Stone herself. Okay, well not that up close and personal, but still closer than most have gotten, so, yeah. But of course as usual Jay busted out his "awkward interview with attractive female actress" card which resulted in weird, pervy, embarrasingly broken interview #57892.

- Did a bunch of "partial tours" with new pages today where I get to play teacher and evaluate them on their performances doing their first tours. Oh, good times.

AND THEN:

- WILL THE CAR TROUBLES NEVER END? So I pull into work today, roll down my window to open the security gate at NBC, and bam - CRUNCH - window goes down for the count and won't come back up. So I have to leave my car parked in the lot with the driver's side window fully open. And I have to figure out a way to bring my car to get repaired in the midst of my crazy work schedule, which simply WILL NOT LET UP FOR A FREAKIN' SECOND. Ugh, just the thought of pulling into Community Chevrolet in Burbank makes me sick as things have never yet gone smoothly for me there.

AND MORE RANDOM STUFF:

- To defend my Sky High review - look, I'm not calling the movie a masterpiece or anything - I'm just saying it did what it set out to do to near perfection, and really hit a home run as an excellent if predictable example of the high school teen comedy genre. And that's the whole point of a genre movie - to stick to convention. So once again, SEE this highly underrated flick now.

- It's official - the Greek Wonder Chris Agra, aka my original BU roommate from the early days in West Campus, will be in LA next weekend, and hopefully in attendance for next friday's Avril Lavigne concert. Let the craziness ensue.

- Time for another edition of: Danny's Most Anticipated Movies For Which He Has Already Seen The Trailer:
1.) King Kong - Peter Jackson post LOTR is extremely likely to rule.
2.) Corpse Bride - Tim Burton's followup to Nightmare Before Christmas. Nuff said.
3.) V For Vendetta - What the ..?!!? Could Hollywood be making a GOOD Alan Moore adaptation? Looks friggin' sweet from the trailer - awesome casting of Hugo Weaving as V.
4.) Chronicles of Narnia - Hugely anticipated by me as I loved the books when I was younger. But can Disney get it right? Preview looks sweet though. Aslan!
5.) Domino - Kiera Knightly as a tripped-out assassin? Sign me up.
6.) Chumscrubber - Okay I haven't actually seen a trailer for this yet but it sounds muy cool and seems like it could be the next Donnie Darko-esque cult classic.

Alright - daz all I got. Now get yer' stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape!