Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Liberty University

I guess I never paid attention - but in doing some research into the Two Rivers Baptist Church 'scandal' I came across the factoid that the pastor's daughters go to Liberty U - founded by Jerry Falwell. I was reading about the college on Wikipedia (love the Wiki) and found this interesting tidbit about the behaivor code the students have to follow:

Behavior
The university has a code of student conduct, documented in "The Liberty Way", including possible reprimands (and with the accumulation of reprimands, fines) for attending dances, violating curfew, viewing R-rated movies (on or off campus), drinking (or even associating with those drinking alcohol), smoking, viewing sexually explicit material, entering the bedroom of a member of the opposite sex (on or off campus), and participating in unauthorized petitions.

As Falwell once stated, "When we ask a faculty member be dismissed when he's teaching something wrong, our president understands and it's good to do that — because your paycheck may not be coming along next week if you don't."

And this:
Biology and fossils
Liberty University supports young-earth creationist organizations including Answers in Genesis.[citation needed] In Biology classes students are taught both evolution and creation. An additional class called History of Life investigates issues of creation and evolution.
In December 1991 Creation reported, Arlton C. Murray "excavated a dinosaur for Liberty University’s museum," which proclaimed "this dinosaur was the first of its kind in any creationist museum."

On October 23, 2006, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins spoke at Randolph College, where he was told that Liberty has on display dinosaur fossils dated a few thousand years old to correspond to young Earth creationism. Dawkins criticized, "If it's really true, that the museum at Liberty University has dinosaur fossils which are labeled as being 3000 years old, then that is an educational disgrace. It is debauching the whole idea of a university. And I would strongly encourage any members of Liberty University that are here to leave and go to a proper university."

Currently, the school is looking for biology teachers with "a young-earth creationist philosophy."[Furthermore, the school asserts "there is now mounting evidence that man and dinosaurs did indeed live on earth at the same time" and claims "the chances are good" that there were dinosaurs on board.

It boggles my mind quite honestly.

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