Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Do you watch the Duggars?

It's hard to not be at least a little bit familiar with The Duggar family. They're that family who has lots and lots of kids. They're up to 17 now but have another one on the way. They also now have a show on The Learning Channel. We stumbled upon it recently and The Son was fascinated by them so we've been watching it a little bit here and there. What I saw recently, was really surprising. I know there are plenty of people who believe the same things that the Duggars believe regarding evolution and creationism but it was just so shocking to see and to think that Michelle Duggar is homeschooling her children.

I don't really care if their political views are completely opposite mine and that they think having scads of children is "God's Will," that's fine, to each their own in that regard but what freaked me out last night was watching them take their 17.5 children to "The Creation Museum" and teach them that the earth is only 6,000 years old and that humans did not descend from apes and that people lived with dinosaurs and that dinosaurs and birds are not related and, and, and...well, I could go on and on.

Never mind the fact that this museum disagrees with 99.85% of the scientists surveyed who are in relevant fields (I want to know who the other .15 % are) As far as I know, evolution is a proven fact. It's not just a theory. It was kind of disturbing that the Duggars were so excited that "this musuem proves that there is a Creator!" I don't understand why evolution has to preclude a God. believe in a higher power (call it whatever you want) but I also believe in evolution, I thought most educated people did.

It WAS pretty interesting to see the people who were visiting the museum who didn't belive in it. They were all actually finding it pretty comical which I am sure is how The Husband and I would view it. I'd never take The Son there, he's too smart and he'd "learn" way too much and be very confused. Not that I'd give them any of my money anyway...

Anywho...it was an eye-opening episode of television for me last night. I'm a little scared for the future of those children, at least the educational future of those children. If you have a chance to catch it or already caught it, let me know what you think. Obviously, I thought it was kind of crazy and bizarre.

Lastly, this doesn't really go with this post (well, it kind of does if you really think about it ;) ) but make sure you go out and vote today...we're going soon! Can't wait! I'm really HOPING that tomorrow will be a wonderful celebratory day!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh boy! I watch them like watching a train wreck. There are two parts to it with me. 1) I'm WAY jealous of them getting to life the at home many kids lifestyle and 2) I think she needs to be more thankful for her amazing luck in her family and her situation and significantly less 'self rightous' about it.

I more recently start to worry - they are honestly teaching these kids that they know more than EVERYONE ELSE in the world. Not JUST that they know more than the kids do and the parents can't have any faults... that isn't all that uncommon... but that EVERYTHING else they hear in the world is nothing compared the the massive intellect and diety-like understanding of their parents.

What happens when one of them is gay? Or one wants to divorce? Or one wants to vote democrate? I'm dreading the 'duggar rehab center' days for that reality show.

Marie said...

The Duggars freak me out. Sorry, they do. lol I watched their first few episodes in kind of a fascinated horror. I haven't watched them since they had "only" 14 kids.

I *think* that Bill Maher went to the Creation Musuem in his movie "Religulous"... have you seen that movie?

Michelle said...

I've watched that show a few times. I always think about how sheltered these kids are from the real world, which would probably eat them up alive if they ever had to be subjected to it. Oh wait, they'd probably deal with it by having a billion babies and praying about everything. *rolling eyes*

And I didn't even know there was a creationism museum. OMG, how pathetic is that? I am a firm believer in science, and I need hard evidence that things happened, which science can provide. The Bible can't. It's a BOOK. OMG, I could go on and on, but I am getting worked up now. LOL!

Amanda said...

I have watched this show. I actually wrote a post in my blog about them the other day. I just watched an episode where the oldest son was asking his girlfriend to marry him.

Michelle said...

I try not to be overly judgmental of people who are doing their own thing and not causing anyone else any harm, but that family freaks me out.

What really freaks me out is that the mom is the same age as me. Let's just say we live worlds apart from each other!!!!

La Pixie said...

neither Creation nor Evolution can be proven (neither one is seen happening today). since youve gotta take them both on faith, I really think no matter which one you believe, you need to teach kids about the other one.

K said...

I think the duggars are freaks. They disagree with everything I believe in and I can't wait until one of them, probably Jinger, goes into Porn or marries an african-american or does something that would make Michelle's already hideous midwest wedding hair stand on end.

Ok, i'm breathing calmly now. :)

Anonymous said...

La pixie: Evolution is not "proven" because you cannot design an experiment to "evolve" a species but they are getting really close in this using bacteria and computers in a "virtual" experiment. It uses statistical analysis to predict which gene would persist in a population due to natural selection. A slower form of this (which still cannot be proven due to cause and effect like real scientific investigation) we have been experiencing is antibiotic resistance in bacteria. See more info here:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n3/antibiotic-resistance-of-bacteria

We also cannot "prove" quantum mechanics and a few other rules because taking measurements disturbs the natural process.

Anonymous said...

Evolution is indeed a proven fact. It is also a SCIENTIFIC theory, which means it is backed up with mountains of evidence. There is no "faith" involved with accepting evolutions any more than there is with accepting gravity. Faith is for fairytale books and invisible sky daddys, not science. Science deals with cold hard reality and facts, and evolution has both of those on its side.

Anonymous said...

Finally!! Yes, evolution is a fact. Homeschools that teach creationism should have special education diplomas issued to their graduates. They should be classified as science illiterate and required to take remedial courses in science before being allowed college entrance. This would not pose a problem to the Duggars because they apparently do not plan to send any of their 19 children to college. I think that extremist families like the Duggars are led by the grandiose and supported by an enabler. Despite their excessive field trips, Jim Bob perverts what could be educational into evidence of his supreme glory in his family. The Duggars play their own game, abuse the Bible to advance their personal agenda, set themselves above and apart from common humanity, and then turn right around and exploit that very world to save the life of their premature daughter. We all support the Duggars. They use our dentists, our obstetricians, our anesthesiologists, our nurses, our hospitals,our engineers,our helicopters, our televisions and computers, our theatre arts, our bobcats and tractors, our electricity, our plumbing, our diswashers, washing machines, clothes driers, and any other benefit of a technologically advanced society that would not even exist if it had caved into Jim Bob's Bible brand of science. Without the rest of us, the Duggar's could not survive. They are the poster family for exploitation. And what do they give back? Well, so far we've got a used car salesman. Why are we not surprized....