Another example of why religion is bad: Medical students skip evolution classes
invite response
2011 Nov 27, 11:55am 36,196 views 124 comments
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Dan8267
2011 Dec 13, 5:42am
No read his headline, his point is that religion is bad and medicine good. Whatever. Read headline. The evolution point he makes below that is mostly understandable, but still a bit small minded.
Thinking saying and doing need to line up.
I think it's pretty well supported that religion is bad if it causes unqualified and untrained people to become doctors. Yes, that's really bad. That's life and death bad. Can't get more black and white than that. Just take a look at all the examples of why it's bad listed in this thread.
f my religion refused to acknowledge the existence of atoms because it contradicted my holy book, would I be excused from taking an organic chemistry class and still be allowed to practice medicine? What if my religion forbids the study of anatomy?
Can you honestly make the point that medical students should be able to cherry pick which requirements apply to them because of religious reasons? That would not only be absurd, it would be dangerous.
KILLERJANE
2011 Dec 13, 5:45am
I think it's pretty well supported that religion is bad if it causes unqualified and untrained people to become doctors. Yes, that's really bad. That's life and death bad. Can't get more black and white than that. Just take a look at all the examples of why it's bad listed in this thread.
Staff infection and medical malpractice and chemo also kill masses.
KILLERJANE
2011 Dec 13, 5:47am
Can you honestly make the point that medical students should be able to cherry pick which requirements apply to them because of religious reasons? That would not only be absurd, it would be dangerous.
No i don't make that point, but i am not going for your short sided black and white approach either.
Dan8267
2011 Dec 13, 7:48am
Staff infection and medical malpractice and chemo also kill masses.
And that's relevant how?
Dan8267
2011 Dec 13, 7:50am
No i don't make that point, but i am not going for your short sided black and white approach either.
Some things are black and white, like slavery is bad. Just because one side is indefensible, doesn't make the other side "short-sighted". The Earth is round and anyone who says different is simply wrong, not insightful. It's ok to call bullshit, bullshit, especially when lives are on the line.
KILLERJANE
2011 Dec 13, 12:27pm
Of couse, I say black and white and you respond slavery. Take your doctors advice on the labotamy, i am sure it couldn't hurt. Pun intended.
Bap33
2011 Dec 13, 1:01pm
the Earth is not round. It is an orb-like shape that is much larger around the equator than the circum. is at 90* to the equator.
A circle is round.
Just messing with you Dan. lol
Dan8267
2011 Dec 14, 5:16am
the Earth is not round. It is an orb-like shape that is much larger around the equator than the circum. is at 90* to the equator.
This is actually a common misconception. Nothing is perfectly round, as the fact that everything is made of atoms prevents that. However, you can measure how close to "round" an object is.
Earth's Diameter at the Equator: 7,926.28 miles (12,756.1 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Poles: 7,899.80 miles (12,713.5 km)
The difference between the major and minor axis of the Earth is a mere 0.334%. To put that in perspective, the Earth is about as smooth as an official billiards ball. The World Pool-Billiard Association states "All balls must be composed of cast phenolic resin plastic and measure 2 ¼ (+.005) inches [5.715 cm (+ .127 mm)] in diameter". So a billiards ball may deviate up to 0.222%. The Earth is pretty close to that level of smoothness.
Bap33
2011 Dec 14, 9:42am
wouldn't it be the same to say, "Bap is right. And in a related story, billiards balls are not very true either."? lol
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Muslim students, including trainee doctors on one of Britain's leading medical courses, are walking out of lectures on evolution claiming it conflicts with creationist ideas established in the Koran.
Professors at University College London have expressed concern over the increasing number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory, which form an important part of the syllabus, citing their religion.
Similar to the beliefs expressed by fundamentalist Christians, Muslim opponents to Darwinism maintain that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species in a single act.
Full Article
Surprise, surprise. This time the religion is Islam. Whoopie doo.
Yes, evolution does contradict the Koran, the Bible, and every "holy" book ever written. Whenever science contradicts your religion, your religion is wrong. Deal with it.
Now, this isn't just an academic issue. These are people training to be doctors. These are people who want to be able to perform surgery on you, prescribe medicine, diagnose disease, and research new treatments. This is big shit here.
It is commonly said that you can't understand anything in biology without evolution. It is absolutely critical that doctors not only understand the basics of evolutions, but all the nitty, gritty details.
Take for example, AIDS. Yep, that disease. It's called by a virus named HIV. The thing is, when you give medicine to people who have AIDS, at first it impedes the replication of HIV and then it doesn't. You have to take the person off of medication and then put them back on later.
This makes absolutely no fucking sense whatsoever unless you realize that HIV is composed of many strains with different genetic code that compete against each other. By changing the host's chemistry, you allow drug-resistant strains to prosper why killing off the non-drug-resistant strains. But to prevent the resistant strains from killing the patient, you must then take him off the medicine so that the non-resistant strains can crush the resistant ones. It's literally managing the evolution of a virus within a human being.
Also, recently it has been discovered that some women are immune to AIDS. The way some diseases become non-threatening, is that they kill off all non-resistant hosts allowing the resistant ones to pass along their genes including the disease fighting one. This is literally evolution happening right now in our species. Given enough time, our species would adapt to AIDS and it would become a non-life-threatening disease. Understanding how this works in minute detail is essential to finding a cure without waiting for billions of deaths over centuries.
So when this ass-wipes refuse to listen to lectures on evolution because of their "faith", I say their faith makes it impossible for them to be qualified as doctors. Sorry, but you can't piss all over science and expect to still reap its rewards. The technologies and high paying jobs come with the price of accepting and embracing the knowledge upon which they were built.
Evolution is both a theory and a fact. And it is the very basis of all our understanding of biology, ecosystems, and medical science including genetics. Evolution has practical implications, life-and-death implications. Multibillion dollar per year industries are built on exploiting evolution to create biological batteries or mass produce silk for soft body armor.
Perhaps most important, the lack of willingness to accept evolution because of religious dogma demonstrates a lack of rationality that cannot be tolerate in important professions like doctors or policy makers. To completely disregard reality because of some arbitrary myth is to show the lack of critical thinking ability. Anyone who does that should not be allowed in the medical profession or in public office.