Today I got a very supportive E-mail from a reader who came across my "Mallard Fillmore" reviews. S/he was upset with the level of ignorance in a recent cartoon which (as I understood her) made it appear that public school teachers tell children that humans came from apes.
This is fairly indicative of Mr. Tinsley's (Mallard's author, for those of you fortunate enough to have never been exposed to his trash) level of understanding and that of his target audience. Mr. Tinsley may or may not understand the process of evolution, but in NO WAY does it teach that humans were once monkeys or chimpanzees. Evolution is the scientific understanding of how humans and modern apes most likely had a common ancestor VERY VERY long ago. That doesn't mean that if you buy a monkey and keep it long enough, it will become a human. It means that, based on scientific evidence, there is a strong likely-hood that some creatures existed MILLIONS and MILLIONS of years ago that gradually evolved into what we are now.
This is taken by some in the extremely-religious community as a threat and an affront to their beliefs. On the contrary, intelligent individuals who believe in a divine creation have no problem reconciling these two thoughts. It's usually the people who spend more time thumping their bibles than reading them that are caught in a mental conflict. Others actually believe in a God so powerful, divine, and creative that He could create "evolution" even if some of his other creations were too stupid to grasp his handiwork.
Sadly, the person who submitted the feedback to me forgot to add their return address, so I cannot contact them directly. Suffice it then for me to apologize for stopping my daily reviews of the "Mallard Fillmore" strip (to which I gave the moniker "The Dirty Duck"). I really couldn't stomach it anymore. I did it for some time, but day after day to have to face the lies, deceit and vile comments was more than I would inflict on anyone, even myself. There is too much beauty and wonder in this world that is much more deserving of our attention than that trash. Perhaps I will occasionally review one or two of his nasty, lie-ridden cartoons, but not daily I think!
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