Bill Nye Boo'd In Texas For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun

Bill Nye, the harmless children's edu-tainer known as "The Science Guy," managed to offend a select group of adults in Waco, Texas at a presentation, when he suggested that the moon does not emit light, but instead reflects the light of the sun.

As even most elementary-school graduates know, the moon reflects the light of the sun but produces no light of its own.

But don't tell that to the good people of Waco, who were "visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence," according to the Waco Tribune.

Nye was in town to participate in McLennan Community College's Distinguished Lecture Series. He gave two lectures on such unfunny and adult topics as global warming, Mars exploration, and energy consumption.

But nothing got people as riled as when he brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars."

The lesser light, he pointed out, is not a light at all, but only a reflector.

At this point, several people in the audience stormed out in fury. One woman yelled "We believe in God!" and left with three children, thus ensuring that people across America would read about the incident and conclude that Waco is as nutty as they'd always suspected.

This story originally appeared in the Waco Tribune, but the newspaper has mysteriously pulled its story from the online version, presumably to avoid further embarrassment.

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/04/06/040620...

73 members like this

Comment by JRinPV on November 8, 2013 at 12:39pm: But it's so easy to 'mock' fools :)

Comment by Winston Cracks on November 8, 2013 at 1:06pm: Yeah, I understand. Just have a little respect. He didn't have to bring that scripture out like that and use the wrong way just to get his comeuppance. Last time I looked, America still gave a lot of leeway to fools. Just look at Washington. And the Bible says that the man who mocks God is a fool. So, he proved himself a fool too.

Comment by Don on November 8, 2013 at 1:12pm: Please, what does the Bible "actually" say about about science and archeology and just how is it "being proven"?

Nye advises parents not to indoctrinate their innocent and impressionable children by presenting mythology as truth and by encouraging them to believe in supernatural entities. Such practices only promote science denialism, such as the stubborn and foolish rejection of the fundamental fact of evolution.

Comment by JRinPV on November 8, 2013 at 1:35pm: I have zero 'respect' for foolish people, why on earth would I ?

Comment by Kristi Fenstermacher on November 8, 2013 at 1:41pm: Winston - no. First of all - the buybull doesn't prove anything. Why should we have respect for people who are slowly losing touch with reality because they can't handle the truth? Because we've been programed to treat questioning religion like it's taboo, and these people have had their curiosity smothered by a security blanket they don't know is obscuring their view. Now that their failures to accept reality are seriously threatening actually reality - I appreciate his attempt to plant seeds of doubt and snatch that security blanket away and force people to grow up. Even if his action were inappropriate - her reaction to new information was inhumane. We got here by understanding reality better than everything else. If we lose our grip - we will be replaced.

Comment by Rod Granda on November 8, 2013 at 1:51pm: http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BE-rbM8CYAEwf3W.jpg:large

Spongebob was right...

Comment by kris feenstra on November 8, 2013 at 2:38pm: wwwBoth parties are incorrect with the context involved in the interpretation...that's all.

Well, I am not deeply invested in this matter, but I find the explanation offered rather lacking. To have the metaphor spread out across so many books is rather contrived. Later uses of words like 'sun' may very well be symbolic and some of that symbolism could even be with reference to Genesis for all I know, but that does nothing to preclude a literal interpretation of Genesis itself. Perhaps there is a longer argument demonstrating that the authors of Genesis had a habit of such deep yet unexplained metaphor and were not merely subject to superstition and the upper limits of available knowledge of their culture, but it seems with pretty much any written works of that length we can make such metaphors seem entirely reasonable whether they were actually intended by the authors or not.

The Lord of the Rings, for instance, is one of the greatest allegories for the general WWII period for those who wish to see it that way, and very cogent arguments can be presented to make the pieces fit. To the best of my knowledge, however, the author himself did not happen to share that view.

Comment by Calpurnpiso on November 8, 2013 at 3:49pm: Well he deserves to be Booed, for he, like other SANE aka Atheist Scientist, does NOT put the ChristPsychosis infected imbecile in their place pointing out, they, as ALL HUMANS, were created by the PENIS of their DADS ( Coitus) initiating a zygote that after 9 months emerged from the Cave of Creation of their moms with a BLANK BRAIN, iow with NO IFOFIB (Imaginary Friends or Foes Irrational beliefs) aka God et al..

Neurology proves, Religion, which is based on the ACCEPTANCE as TRUE FACT, IFOFIB is a form of one of the Schizophrenias. (There are many) where IFOFIB are also accepted as true.

If I had been Bill Nye I would have suggested these ChristPsychosis infected imbeciles in Texas to ingesting Mertazapine with Atropa Belladonna Tea and see how their perception of reality go. Also saying I would give $10,000 dollars ( A la Randy but not a million) to anyone that
after getting their frontal lobe executive operated on. will still believe in a Zombie Jesus that resurrected and saves with blood.
Atheist Scientists WAKE UP, get some balls, Churches are responsible for keeping Americans stuck in the Middle Ages fomenting:
Intellectual stagnation, racism, pedophilia, sadomasochism, Sexual dysfunction, deluded ignorance, Killing Animals for PLEASURE, Child Abuse, BLOOD genital mutilation…etc etc etc..

Wake UP, get your brilliant brain out of the ass. Really. Tell it like it is, like A do, CRUSH the Christ Psychosis infected imbeciles ( i,e Tea Party, SCALIA, all religious Universities, schools) in positions of power with FACTS.
This Brain disease WILL make our species extinct if AMERICAN sane aka Atheist SCIENTISTS do not address it.
http://youtu.be/l8--O9XrSWg

Comment by Pope Beanie on November 8, 2013 at 4:19pm: Damn. Somehow I screwed up my stage timing. Deleted & saved for another day.

Comment by Pope Beanie on November 8, 2013 at 4:37pm: Rod just gave me an idea:

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