From the "Hide the Evidence" Files…

[Paige Turner]

Religious fundamentalists are pressuring Kenya's government to have its national museum move its rather comprehensive display of hominid fossils to the back room.

http://www.livescience.com/othernews...rd_leakey.html

Evidently they don't mesh well with the pentecostal view of the origin of our species.

[Telperaca]

I'm from Kenya.
Born and raised there.

And I'm going there this Tuesday!! (Missing the lacst week of Uni)

[Paige Turner]

If you get the chance, stop in at the national museum and make a big fuss over the hominid fossils, okay?

[j. d. worthington]

Gee, why am I not surprised.....

Thanks for the link, Paige. *sigh*

So, let Kenya give the collection to someplace else that isn't so boneheaded. Should solve the problem. At least that way, the fundamentalists would be happy, and those interested would have a place to to go see the fossils.

The effect on the economy? Looks like, either way, they're pretty much toast on this one. And that's sort of the price you pay for allowing pressure to hide or "de-emphasize" the evidence.

Sorry... but when it comes to religion dictating what can and can't be shown in the way of scientific evidence, my sense of humor tends to evaporate.....

EDIT: And, just to avoid any misunderstanding, the above sentiment applies in general, not only to Kenya specifically.

[Pointfinder]

Disturbing, but not at all surprising.

[Winters_Sorrow]

This is just to combat the great scientific cover-up conspiracy.
Like when they unearthed Noah's Ark and said it was some mythical ship called the "Mary Rose" - shyeah right, whatever...

[Paige Turner]

I realize that this kind of thing has probably always gone on, but for some reason I find this case very disturbing. Concessions of common sense to appease fundamentalists really stick in my craw.

And how did there get to be six million pentecostals in Kenya in the first place? I thought the pentecostal church was invented in Texas.

[Joel007]

Why didn't they just say "no"? Are they afraid of a riot?

[Spartan27]

Originally Posted by Paige Turner

Religious fundamentalists are pressuring Kenya's government to have its national museum move its rather comprehensive display of hominid fossils to the back room.

LiveScience.com - Scientist Fights Church Effort to Hide Museum's Pre-Human Fossils

Evidently they don't mesh well with the pentecostal view of the origin of our species.

I don't understand what the fuss is all about? Why would this be an issue? Especially when you look at the rag newpaper thats coming from.

[littlemissattitude]

Originally Posted by Paige Turner

And how did there get to be six million pentecostals in Kenya in the first place? I thought the pentecostal church was invented in Texas.

In answer to the first question: missionary work and churching planting, and lots of it.

And on a more historical note: Not in Texas, actually. There were a couple of initial events, including in North Carolina and in Kansas, but the event that really introduced Pentecostalism to the US and the world was the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in April 1906 (perhaps the Great San Francisco Earthquake that occured in the same month and year, just up the coast was just a coincidence ). It also might interest you to know that, contrary to popular stereotypes, the missionary work mentioned above is not all one-way (US to the world). Brazilian Pentecostals (and there are a whole lot of them, so it doesn't surprise me that there are a lot of them in Kenya as well) send missionaries to the US, in just one example that I learned about when taking a world religions class at university.

As far as the topic at hand goes, I had probably best not comment for fear of violating the "no religious discussion" rule and would just get myself in trouble. Suffice it to say that I hope the fossils remain prominently displayed and in a way that illustrates the principles of evolution.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Spartan27

I don't understand what the fuss is all about? Why would this be an issue? Especially when you look at the rag newpaper thats coming from.

"Rag newspaper"? Que?

[Spartan27]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

"Rag newspaper"? Que?

As opposed to the New York Times, Washington Post etc, etc, etc. does that answer your question?

[Spartan27]

Originally Posted by littlemissattitude

In answer to the first question: missionary work and churching planting, and lots of it.

And on a more historical note: Not in Texas, actually. There were a couple of initial events, including in North Carolina and in Kansas, but the event that really introduced Pentecostalism to the US and the world was the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in April 1906 (perhaps the Great San Francisco Earthquake that occured in the same month and year, just up the coast was just a coincidence ). It also might interest you to know that, contrary to popular stereotypes, the missionary work mentioned above is not all one-way (US to the world). Brazilian Pentecostals (and there are a whole lot of them, so it doesn't surprise me that there are a lot of them in Kenya as well) send missionaries to the US, in just one example that I learned about when taking a world religions class at university.

As far as the topic at hand goes, I had probably best not comment for fear of violating the "no religious discussion" rule and would just get myself in trouble. Suffice it to say that I hope the fossils remain prominently displayed and in a way that illustrates the principles of evolution.

Very nice post.......

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Spartan27

I don't understand what the fuss is all about? Why would this be an issue? Especially when you look at the rag newpaper thats coming from.

Are you referring to The Daily Telegraph?

[RyFrye]

Originally Posted by Paige Turner

Evidently they don't mesh well with the pentecostal view of the origin of our species.

What is a "pentecostal view"?
Correct me if I am wrong, but it would probably be better stated as a "christian view" since pentecostals adhere to the christian faith. They are called pentecostals because they claim to have had similar experiences to the early church mentioned in the book of Acts.
I'm just shooting for accuracy here

*Just a side note: For whatever it is worth, would it hurt these people in Kenya to have both creation and evolution ideas present in the museum? Both views are theories that require a certain amount of faith anyway. I would argue that the masses (at least in the states) don't hold strictly to one or the other. Most have a faith that mixes the two more or less. Some don't even know their faith is mixed between creation ideas and evolution ideas...