I was reading the following story and trying to make sense of it, when my brain started to hurt. That’s when I realized that I was trying to use logic when dealing with Creationists. If you’re not aware, Creationists believe the Earth was created in 6 days (the seventh day was a day off for the big guy, natch), and that dinosaurs and man all romped around together, and the Earth is only a few thousand years old. Now, I’m not believer in Nessie, but I had to chuckle about this…
“We don’t know if Jesus ever rode them. But he probably did!”
A Christian education publisher has removed a passage that referred to Scotland’s famed Loch Ness Monster from a biology textbook. Tennessee-based publisher, Accelerated Christian Education, has already removed the statement from a textbook used in Europe and will soon be doing the same things for its American versions.
This is the deleted passage:
“Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
The chief communications officer for the Young Earth Creationist organization Answers in Genesis, Mark Looy, was a fan of the decision.
“There are just so many of these legends, like the dragon mentioned in Beowulf, the numerous accounts of St. George and the dragon, and so on, that they can’t be dismissed,” Looy said. “However, because the Loch Ness monster is a questionable example to use, and also because the claim has become such a distraction, we agree that it is wise to delete Nessie’s reference from a textbook that lists possible living monsters.”
Looy believes that while a creature like Nessie may have existed at one time, it is doubtful that any such animal is alive today, the Christian Post reported.
“After multiple uses of sonar and other instruments, the hard observational evidence is just not there for Nessie’s existence today. Any such creature in Loch Ness has likely died out,” Looy said.
Some are still upset because the new edition of the textbook argues that human beings and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time. That’s not one of Looy’s concerns.
“Job describes a real creature, called Leviathan, that appears to have been a sea monster,” Looy said. “In addition there are hundreds of dragon legends from around the world, including those of sea monsters and also creatures resembling dinosaurs, that can’t be ignored. There is ample circumstantial evidence for sea-dwelling monsters, as well as dinosaurs, living during the past 4,000 years that can be used instead in science textbooks.”
Again, I am not big on the Loch Ness monster (or any lake monsters for that matter). But I find it hilarious that these publishers feel that stories of the Loch Ness monster are less believable than “Beowulf.” A work of fiction. And it’s fine that he uses science to explain away the existence of Nessie. But doesn’t science also tell us that dinosaurs and human beings were separated by millions of years of evolution? Oh right, science is only valid when it agrees with one’s beliefs. I forgot.
