BEST Newspaper editorial EVER!

[swake]

Zoo wants a pagan pay increase

http://www.tulsabeacon.com/Story.php?id=126

The Tulsa Zoo wants to raise the price of admission. That's a great idea.
The increase would be $2 ($6-$8) for adults and seniors ($4-$6) and $1 for children ($3-$4).
It seems the zoo is running a $62,000 deficit and raising admission costs would raise about $390,000 more a year. The city subsidizes the zoo with $1,075,000 a year.
The plan would give the zoo plenty of money to purchase and display pagan religious idols and secular humanist propaganda and shield the public against any Christian or conservative influence.
That would ensure the New Age influence over a publicly funded zoo that should be displaying animals, not trying to convince school children that the Bible is not true and that Jesus Christ is a myth.

[sgrizzle]

300 Million gods? That would seem tiring...

Of course the only exhibits at the Zoo regarding religion are mentions of religions that worship animals, it's a friggin Zoo. All it has is animals and animal-related stuff.

I'm sure if it was a home appliance museum, the Protestants would have exhibits all over the crock-pot pavilion.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

300 Million gods? That would seem tiring...

Of course the only exhibits at the Zoo regarding religion are mentions of religions that worship animals, it's a friggin Zoo. All it has is animals and animal-related stuff.

I'm sure if it was a home appliance museum, the Protestants would have exhibits all over the crock-pot pavilion.

I bet you're just one of those damn rock worshippers

[rwarn17588]

Holy crap. That's just crazy as hell. [}:)]

[RecycleMichael]

Is there a like a specialty store to purchase pagan religious idols or do I have to shop for them at Wal-mart?

[cannon_fodder]

Sorry if I missed your sarcasm... but if you are serious and to those who are:

If that is the best editorial ever, you read very little.  It is barely even comprehensible.  It mashes cliches and uses buzz words out of context.  They didn't even put spaces between paragraphs - which for some reason are usually only on sentence.  Aside from that, premising the article on a $1 admission increase is a shallow method of bringing up this lame issue again.

Explain to me how the Zoo is busy converting all our precious Christian butterflied into horrible pagans?  

The elephant god is outside the elephant exhibit with a sign that says something on the order of "Elephants are highly valued by many cultures.  Some even worship variations of the elephant as a god."  

The Rain Forest is set in a Mayan temple complex.  Which, as you might know... is in the Rain Forest.  Thus, seeing monkeys and parrots flying around some zigzag pattern makes more sense than flying around a giant crucifix.

Neither of those things promotes any religion. It does not talk about their theology nor beliefs.  The rain forest uses the Mayan things as props at best - I did not even notice any religious symbols in it (are carved heads religious?).  Certainly I have no understanding of what beliefs it is trying to instill.  The Vishnu statue is as an example of how important elephants are to some cultures - again no mention of their pantheon of gods nor their belief structure.  A creationism exhibit serves no purpose BUT to illustrate a religious belief structure - one that actually goes against the mandate of an accredited zoo to educate.  

Not to mock the bible, but in what context would a similar Christian symbol fit into the zoo?  Maybe a note next to the snake exhibit explaining that they are evil?  Or a blurb for the bats explaining that they are birds and not really mammals.  Or explain why the rabbit in the zoo is not an ungulate (hence not chewing its cud).  Hey, next to the fossils we could explain that they were put there by god to test our faith.  Near the chimps we could proclaim that scientists have found hundreds of examples of hominids showing an evolution of man that were put there to tease our sense of reason. Near the fish tanks we could proclaim "whales are fish too!"  On the earthquake platform we could get rid of the stuff about tectonic plates and just say god smites people with Earthquakes when he is mad.  Instead of giving examples of genetic diversity and differences in evolution caused by population divides (ie. squirrels on opposite sides of the canyons) we could just simplify it by saying "god made 2 squirrels!"   The big round Earth as you enter the zoo should be made flat so as to have four corners.   Somewhere we should also explain that the blue sky is another ocean that god put above us.  We need to get some of those 4 legged insects, melting snails,  and 4 footed fowl the bible talks about to display.  Also need to get those really small mustard seeds so we can show they are the smallest of all seeds.  And to REALLY get people talking lets get some unicorns, satyrs , flying serpents and fire serpents for display.

Better yet, the entire zoo could be in a boat that is 450' x 75' with ~ 3 stories.  Then we could cram all the zoos animals into the 101,250 square feet and see if they can live for a couple months.  For those wondering, that's 2.4 acres of living space for 1500 different animals  (about the same space the elephants have for themselves currently).  We can truck the food and water in instead of trying to fit it aboard just so the exercise isn't silly.

Maybe ban women on their period from the zoo since they are unclean?  Require slaves to obey their masters.  Should we allow mixed cloth to be worn?  Closed on the Sabbath. What Bible teachings are appropriate to represent as science and which are just going too far?

Or we could do a similar venue for a Christian scene, have a picture of Jewish fisherman at the in front of the large aquarium with a sign that says "people have fished using nets for thousands of years." Would that satisfy you?

I doubt it.  Because you are clearly not interested in the Zoo as an educational place.  It is merely another venue to teach your religion and beliefs.  The notion of creationism is a faith based belief that has no place in secular education - you only believe it because it is your religious conviction.  "Biblical Science" is an oxymoron.  It is a religious text meant to convey a moral and ethical code, it was never meant to be a scientific book to be taken literally on all counts.

To treat the bible as a scientific code as well as a religious code belittles its value.  It is so clearly wrong on many notes(*see small text below)  that an attempt to defend it as wholly accurate is doomed to failure. An attempt at doing so weakens the teaching of Jesus - which you likely agree are far more important than the scientific notions.


* Even contradicting itself on many accounts including one of the pivotal moments: Matt.27:46,50: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?" that is to say, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" ...Jesus, when he cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost."

Luke23:46: "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, "Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:" and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."

John19:30: "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished:" and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.")

If the bible can not get the last words of the Son of God correct, perhaps there are other subtle flaws.


Speaking of the bible... it's own teachings are against you.  First, and foremost:

quote:I am the lord thy God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, you shall have no other GODS before me.

No problem.  The god of Israel is your first god.  You may take Vishnu and whatever gods you find in the rain forest as your second and third gods.

But more earnestly, these graven images are not there to be worshiped.  They are representations in association with the animals for which they are displayed.  Even if you want to pretend these are religious icons trying to convince people of the righteousness of Hinduism, the Bible says nothing about quashing all other religions nor forbidding others from displaying their own graven images.  It does, however, have plenty to say about jealousy and complaining that others are given more than you.

In this instance, the items in question are doing you no harm.  Just like the laborer who complained at his coworkers full rate, you have been treated fairly EVEN IF other's have gotten a better deal than you.

I do not fault you for having faith, I envy you.  Blind faith would make everything so much easier.  But when your faith interferes with science education and my religious rights - then I have a problem with it.  If there was a legitimate argument that the Zoo was being used to teach Hinduism, I would have a problem with that too.  But comparing a statue of an elephant god with the teaching of creationism is ridiculous.

[TeeDub]

I think you all are missing the finer points here.

Why do you need to raise admission by $390,000 a year to cover a $62,000 shortfall?


Maybe that is a question that belongs in the politics section?

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by TeeDub


I think you all are missing the finer points here.

Why do you need to raise admission by $390,000 a year to cover a $62,000 shortfall?


Maybe that is a question that belongs in the politics section?

I'm sure someone will blame arena overruns.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

quote:Originally posted by TeeDub


I think you all are missing the finer points here.

Why do you need to raise admission by $390,000 a year to cover a $62,000 shortfall?


Maybe that is a question that belongs in the politics section?

I'm sure someone will blame arena overruns.

No, it's the new city hall.

And Cannon buddy, it's the best ever because it's so completely nuts. You completely missed the sarcasm.

[cannon_fodder]

Good deal Swake.  I was thinking so, but SOOOO many people actually think in such a manner it warranted a response just the same.

And the additional money is just because they are raising it by a round number.  Should they raise it 32 cents this year and next... or just go for the full on dollar?  Donations are the VAST majority of their budget, gate just covers the expense of having a gate really...

[RecycleMichael]

I want some better animals at the Tulsa Zoo.

How come we don't have any dragons or unicorns?

[TheArtist]

Animals come from different parts of the world. Those places have indigenous cultures. The landscape, plants, peoples and the peoples artistic and architectural histories "cue" you in on where you are, what local is being viewed or in this instance being created.

If you were building a Nile Alligator exhibit, you may think to put in a river environment with plants that are native to the nile. Perhaps you may want to style the building or have cultural and architectural cues that also help evoke the Nile. An easy way to do that would be to have Egyptian architecture. That architecture has lots of depictions on it, including the gods those people believed in. It would also be fascinating to have a Bastet "cat god" and some of the half human half animal depictions on the building. It shows how humans and animals were interconnected, how nature and the local animals found their way into the local peoples lives, art and stories.

Same thing with the Mayan jungle exhibit. I frankly dont know if those "heads" are the head of a god or a king or a warrior. They may have some information about it somewhere. But there again, it was part of the natural and human context, the civilization that intimately knew these animals, was part of the environment.

I have often wondered why those who wanted the 10 commandments, a cross, or whatever at the zoo, didnt understand the contextual part of the thing?  If they did then they could have gotten those things they wanted at the zoo, in the zoo.

For instance; wouldnt it have been wonderful if they had gotten together with the zoo to create an early colonial settlement, (like the, African village and its artifacts).  They could have made that as the petting zoo. Have cows, a pony, chickens, sheep, pigs, donkey, ox, etc. in pens and near log homes and such just as they would have been in the colonial period. Even perhaps a small plot of land growing corn and squash, a smokehouse, skins tanning etc. And of course, for context, a little wooden church with a cross on top and the ten commandments inside.

Helloooo it wouldnt have been rocket science to come up with an idea like that which would have enhanced the zoo and fit with other things that have been done there rather than just arbitrarily sticking in the ten commandments, a cross, the Koran or Torah, somewhere at the zoo with no context.

Perhaps an Israelite tent camp. The animals they would have had with them, depictions of the landscape, the plants and animals native to where they "wandered". And there in one of the tents the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments or the commandments woven into a tapestry, or leaning against the rocks. (course they would most likely be in a language we couldnt read lol but you could then have a plaque describing what the object says).

Those are just some ideas right off the top of my head. With a little thought you could have come up with a wonderful context and educational addition to the zoo. Something that shows a particular place, its people and the flora and fauna they lived with, and that lived with them.

It seemed that people just wanted to get emotional and argue, rather than think, be creative and come up with a thoughtful, beautiful and fitting solution that would have made our zoo a better place for everyone.      

[RecycleMichael]

The Tulsa Zoo is also known for having a wonderful breeding program with other zoos.

The Tulsa Beacon will probably want to promote an abstinence program next.

[Renaissance]

I want a liger.  Maybe the increase will pay for a liger.

[cannon_fodder]

Along those lines Artist, I have often thought a farm exhibit would be cool.

Just a few acres:

Some cows on loan from a farmer.
Chickens.
Maybe some horses.
A few rows of corn, wheat, cotton and some watermelons (principle crops).
Some pecan trees.

To many it would be lame... but for visitors from non-farming areas or areas with different crops it would be cool.  I'm from Iowa, we do not have watermelon fields nor cotton.  How many kids from Tulsa or visitors from Dallas/NYC or where ever have not really seen a cow up close or understand how a farm works?

It would be simple, relatively cheap, and VERY educational.  I have vague notions of farming having grown up in Iowa, but my son has few opportunities to experience such things.  The Albuquerque zoo has 20 acres set up as a 1700'th century farm.  Tulsa could do a land rush era farm.