Posted on 08/22/2008 6:29:13 PM PDT by Ron Jeremy
Dinosaurs helped build the pyramids, school director says
Raphael Vassallo
Far from becoming extinct 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs actually co-existed with early humans, and even helped in the construction of the pyramids. This is the word of Vince Fenech, Evangelist pastor and director of a fully licensed, State-approved Creationist institution which admits children aged between four and 18. “Of course the ‘dinoceros’ existed (as Fenech pronounces the word). It is mentioned in the Book of Job. They were used to help build the pyramids,” he says, adding that this latter observation is only “his personal belief”, and that it does not form part of the school’s curriculum.
But the curriculum of the Accelerated Christian Academy in Mosta is not exactly free of such fanciful reinventions of history. Fenech reiterates the basic Evangelist tenet that the entire universe was created in 4004 BC… and this time, he also supplies “proof”. “When man landed on the moon (in 1969), they expected the landing module to sink in a deep layer of dust. But the layer was only a few inches deep. This proves that the universe is still young!”
Does it? I would have thought it merely illustrates that unlike the Earth, the moon has little or nothing in the way of atmosphere… and dust is usually generated as a result of particles which combine as they are buffeted around by the movement of atmospheric molecules. Also, the moon’s gravity is two thirds less than it is on Earth… which in turn means that dust is practically weightless, and therefore doesn’t settle. But of course there is little point in saying so, because as far as Fenech in concerned, it is the word of God alone that counts. Fenech confirmed this during an impromptu interview at the MaltaToday office in San Gwann, where he irrupted last Thursday on a Divine Mission to correct my misconceptions about his Mosta academy.
“Your write-up last Sunday was full of mistakes,” he pointed out. Foremost among the mistakes is the incorrect identification of Fenech as “headmaster” instead of director… an error which I acknowledge, and for which I apologise.
“You also wrote last Sunday that God created Adam and Eve,” Fenech continues. “This is not true. The first woman did not have a name; she was made from Adam’s rib and was known only as ‘woman’. She got the name ‘Eve’ only after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. You can quote me on that…”
Fenech suddenly seems very keen on being quoted. “We don’t just teach our students about evolution,” he continues enthusiastically. “We also teach them, for example, that abortion is murder… and you can quote me on that, too!”
This was evidently intended as an automatic trump card, in a country where any public assertion of pro-life values automatically entitles one to instant respectability. Intrigued, I ask Fenech for more details about the school’s approach to controversial social issues. To teach that “abortion is murder” – regardless of one’s opinion in the matter – presupposes at least a basic knowledge of the human reproductive system. In other words, sex. Considering that the ACA accepts students as young as four: how old are students when they are taught about sex, abortion and murder?
Strangely, however, Vincent Fenech appears incapable of giving a straight answer. Instead, after humming and hawing and generally avoiding the issue, he suddenly denies having made the claim in the first place. “We do not teach that abortion is murder,” he insists, contradicting himself totally in less than five minutes. “What we teach is ‘Thou shalt not kill’.”
Pressed further, Fenech eventually admits that the classes at the ACA at not composed according to the traditional model. Instead, it seems that children of varying ages are mixed together in one class… although the school’s director will not be drawn into explaining precisely how.
“But you, what do you believe in?” he suddenly asks. “What do you think will happen to you after you die?” I don’t know, I answer. I imagine my body will decompose, rot and eventually disappear… Assuming an air of lofty superiority, Fenech places his hand on heart as he simpers: “I, on the other hand, know exactly what will happen to me. I will go to Heaven. It is written in the Scriptures: only those who are reborn in Christ will see the Kingdom of God…”
That may well be the case, but it is not written in the National Curriculum. So for the second time in two weeks, I sent questions to Education Director Cecilia M. Borg on the subject of the Accelerated Christian Academy in Mosta, and all the unscientific nonsense evidently taught therein.
I asked Dr Borg, whether the education division was aware of resolution no. 1580, passed by the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly on 4 October 2007, entitled “The dangers of creationism in education”. The resolution observes that “the war on the theory of evolution and on its proponents most often originates in forms of religious extremism which are closely allied to extreme right-wing political movements”, and urges EU member states to “to firmly oppose the teaching of creationism as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution and in general resist presentation of creationist ideas in any discipline other than religion?”
Dr Borg promptly sent the following reply: “From previous correspondence I am sure you could clearly deduce that the position of the Education Division is perfectly aligned to the Council of Europe Resolution 1580 since it was made amply clear that while every school is obliged by law to follow the National Minimum Curriculum in all curricular matters, religious, moral and ethical instruction is imparted in respect to the freedom of belief as guaranteed by the Constitution and in the light of ‘the right of every parent of a minor to give his decision with regard to any matter concerning the education which the minor is to receive,’ as entrenched in article 6. of the Education Act.”
No matter how many times you restate this, it doesn’t appear to be logical.
We draw them because we have seen the historical representations and because we have the fossil record. In the times when the original cave drawings and the like were done, there were no fossil records to speak of because they didn’t possess the technology to reconstruct the bones.
We are not at the beginning of this discovery but somewhere way down the road, so everything we do is from historical evidence and hearsay. Everything they did had to be from first-hand perspective if it was to be in any way accurate.
Nice try, though.
It takes no more background education than the ability to type a few key words into a search engine and learn about a subject like how concrete is made or is used. Why that is not done truly is interesting.
Looking before you send off comments like this
“....your arrogant insulting technique spittling condescension..” would also provide you with some background information on the subject under discussion.
No one insulted you, did they? Yet you feel free to say,
“You’re quite adept at it, that protecting of your inadequacies.”. Now why is that?
Could it be because what you’re claiming in the discussion is so easily demonstrated to be wrong? Could that be it?
Have a nice day.
I will and thank you for the answer to my questions.
I don't buy that in the slightest. How do we know what the dinosaurs looked like? We find the bones laying around. Do we put them together perfectly? No, but we still know there were big dinosaurs. Why couldn't a human who found big bones 3,000 years ago surmise that they came from big monsters?
Sorry to impose logic into the argument. You don’t have to “buy” it. The facts are what they are.
In not all, but many of the cases the bones are found they are fossilized somewhat intact. Humans may not be perfect, but the human mind can work a jigsaw puzzle. You’re suggesting that maybe these bones were scattered about and found laying loose maybe miles away and some conspiratorial archaeologists decided to glue them together to fool a bunch of mindless morons. No. They save that for the prehistoric men.
Now, the skin and scales and fatty tissue and the like... purely our imagination.
And could they (early man) have assumed these bones came from monsters? Sure! But the order the bones were put together would have been a totally different animal than we would have put together with present technology.
Leaves too much to the imagination to come to the conclusions you’ve reached.
You ask: But the question is, have there been any “feet” tracks from about the same time as the ancient civilizations?
The answer is YES. In Glen Rose, Texas it has been found, for one.
Among others, IIRC.
The human/dinosaur footprint association in Glen Rose, Texas is so phony that even creationists generally advise against using it. Source
OK then, doesn't that prove my case? People 3,000 years ago found these fossils, too.
I also studied this particular Martial Art for a few years (middle 80's) and had to drop out because I had problems with one of my ankles. Participated in a few tournaments, and won a few trophies, but that was a long time ago. I had the pleasure of meeting Bill "Superfoot" Wallace when he did an exhibition. Supposedly, Master Byrne studied under the same instructor that taught Chuck Norris.
Anyway, saw your moniker and thought I'd inquire. Nice talking to you.....
So here’s the picture...
Caveman is digging with a rock. Caveman finds something curious. After some closer analysis and some careful scientific pondering, Caveman says, “Hmm... this strange article appears to be some sort of fossilized bone fragment.”
He then proceeds to carefully brush away the surrounding dirt with the aforementioned rock, his nimble Caveman fingers and a sharpened stick.
After many weeks of painstaking labor, he assembles the bones with some primitive form of glue and then correctly depicts its engraved form on his cave wall.
That’s what I’ve said for the last couple of posts.
Follow me now...
LOL. OK..I get your point. but.. (and i do not claim to be an expert on fossils) wouldn’t there also have been lots of finds of really big bones laying around?
Cool story. The man who started ITF is named C.S. Kim. Legend has it that he was one of Chuck Norris’ instructors when he was in the US Air Force and stationed in S. Korea. I hope I got all that correct. It’s been a while.
Fossils are generally in rock formations, and have to be chipped free.
But there were large bones lying around for all of human history. These included the critters that went extinct at the end of the last ice age, such as mammoth and mastodon, saber-tooth tiger, cave bear, dire wolf and a bunch of others.
But dinosaur bones would not have been just lying about with the rest of the bones.
Are you implying that there were two bigfoots on the Ark?
...Bigfeet....Bigfootses....
I’m not an expert either, but I play one on TV.
I’m sure they would have found big bones. I’m just not sure they would have known what to do with them. Laying around? Not if you believe the dinosaurs were millions of years before men. The bones would have been roughly the same place they are to day, give or take a few layers of dirt. I don’t believe the Dinosaurs were that old though.
Start watching some of the documentaries on Dinosaurs and listen to the commentary closely... I have rarely seen one of them that didn’t make the point in some part of the film that the bones of many dinosaurs, sometimes many species were located in what seemed to be an old river or body of water in vastly different parts of the world. I do know that the bones are more likely to be fossilized and preserved in a body of water because of the temperatures and sediment, but the number of them bunched up in one area are strange... unless there was some sort of global flood... hmmm.
I’m a sceptic by nature, so by nature I don’t believe everything somebody says. The subject of this article, if he is as the writer portrays it seems a little nutty to me, but that doesn’t invalidate every point he makes.
It never ceases to amaze me when folks call Christians closed minded and they, themselves just swallow and spit back out every bit of teaching they got in public schools as the gospel truth. I think we all tend to be a bit closed minded when it comes to our own beliefs, but I pray I never become so closed minded I forget how to learn, or so open minded my brain falls out.
Thanks for your responses. You made me think... Gordon
No, you are inferring that all by yourself. I will, however, implicitly state that Noah only took 2 of the "dog kind" on the ark some 4,000 years ago, and from that pair we have the enormous variety we have today. Coyote, wolf, fox, terrier, danes, sheepdog, etc. All dog kind, and most can easily interbreed. Ask any 3 year old, and he will identify them as 'dog'. Thus, those bigfeetses you referred to may be merely a type of mountain ape, who knows? Who cares?
It is quite possible, IMHO, we will find a living dino one day. There are numerous examples of "living fossils" that have not noticibly changed from the fossils found in the rocks we dig up. There are several examples, such as Horseshoe Crabs, Okapi, Cockroaches, Nautilii, etc. Some of these exist in rock dated 400 million years old, yet they appear today, living, identical to there fossils. 400 million years, and no apparent mutation/evolution.
One fascinating example is the The Cœlacanth, which according to the fossil record, dates back some 410 million years to the Devonian period. This animal was used as a major evolutionary link between the fish and land dwellers, with speculation that it crawled on land and had primitive lungs. Some publications suggested it was the most significant proof of evolution. However, when one was first caught in 1938, speculation was obliterated by fact. It was also discovered that the fish was in evolutionary stasis, and had not changed from it's fossilized ancesors.
Of course, the fish is not millions of years old, nor is the earth. People believe whta they want to, accepting evidence that agrees with their beliefs, and dismissing evidence that does not. Humans cannot be truly impartial and objective, however, that must be our goal.
Does genetic variation occur? Yes, but within kinds. Does Natural Selection occur? Yes, but it reduces the diversity of the gene pool within that kind. Do animals evolve? You must come up with a viable, workable definition you are happy with. I have observed that teachers in school, the Science Channel, and devoted evolutions tend to use varying definition based on their intentions. Does Genetic Mutation occur? Yes, but it is almost always deleterious.
One must make up his or her own mind as to what theory best explains the evidence we have.
monty python did it first.
Too unbelievable to even comment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.