This one takes the cake for pseudoscientific claptrap. Ready? Here we go. Conservapedia’s “African Americans” article (because “Calling them Negroes is just uncouth.” – emphasis mine) ends thusly:

Intelligence
A gap in IQ scores of 12 to 18 points (compared with whites and Asians) has been variously attributed to innate ability (see Eugenics) or to the cultural and educational legacy of slavery. For a scientific treatment, see The Bell Curve.

Yes, they’re referring to Herrnstein and Murray’s The Bell Curve.

(by way of The State Of… and OK You Turkeynecks)

“Negroes”, though, pops up in the creationist silliness:

• Apobaramin: An apobaramin is a group of holobaramins. Humans and Dogs are an apobaramin since both members are holobaramins. A group containing Negroes and wolves is not an apobaramin since both members are monobaramins.

Yes, they really are equating race with subspecies. Contrast this to the Wikipedia “Race” article:

Many physical anthropologists have concluded that H. sapiens was polytypic in the past (H. sapiens neandertalensis, now extinct, having been a subspecies of H. sapiens). All human beings now alive, however, are regarded as belonging to the same subspecies: Homo sapiens sapiens – in effect, H. sapiens is now monotypic.

and to the Wikipedia “Subspecies” article:

In zoology, the scientific name of a subspecies is the binomen followed immediately by a subspecific name, e.g. Homo sapiens sapiens. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th edition, 2000) does not attempt to codify any “infrasubspecific entities” (e.g. human races or pet breeds).

(by way of Jack and Jill Politics and Too Sense, who have more on Conservapedia’s race follies)

Conservapedia’s “Slavery” article also takes excruciating pains to establish the Biblical permissibility of owning other humans.

“Slavery” is also referenced, permitted and regulated in the Bible. The Hebrew word ebed is translated as “slave” or “servant”, but the concept is not the same as the modern understanding of “slave”. It included “persons in subordinate positions” Therefore “all the subjects of Israel and Judah are called slaves of their kings“. [emphases in the original]

Additionally, the Bible teaches that all property belongs to God, with mankind responsible for looking after it for God.

Some biblical passages mentioning slavery are:

[lists ten passages]

The Old Testament alone, prior to New Testament considerations, broadly prohibits the permanent enslavement of the native inhabitants of Israel but permits the enslavement of immigrants and the occupants of other countries. Depending on the precise circumstances, ethnicity, nationality and any enslaved relatives of a slave, some must be freed after a specified time, while others remain slaves for life. Though physical violence to slaves is permitted, murder is not.

What this says about ideologically-driven education and the prospects for American conservatism, you tell me.

What does it say about one when one would worship a thing that hates?

God Hates the World from Westboro Baptist Church

Thanks, James, for rotting my brain. By way of Pharyngula.

This is downright bizarre. Compare the current stub version of the “Smallpox” article on Conservapedia:

Smallpox is an acute, highly infectious, often fatal disease caused by a poxvirus and characterized by high fever and aches with subsequent widespread eruption of pimples that blister, produce pus, and form pockmarks. It is also called variola.

… to the longer, non-stub version that administrator Andrew Schlafly and others continue to revert away, threatening account blocks, because “Andy asked for this page not to be changed”.

Notice that the article’s talk page gives no explanation for the reverts. The admonition to one user not to copy pages from other wikis seems flimsy.

My guess is that there’s an anti-vaccination bias here that has nothing to do with Christianity and everything to do with Schlafly family / Eagle Forum objectives. Phyllis Schlafly is deadset against mandatory vaccinations. Her son Andrew, founder of Conservapedia, represents a conservative advocacy group that opposes vaccination. Her son Roger opposes mandatory vaccinations as well.

The success of smallpox vaccination is a counterargument that vaccination opponents must go out of their way to address. Note the mentions in the pieces from Phyllis, and Roger, and note the attempted debunking of the smallpox vaccine’s effectiveness in this interview with a vaccination opponent.

Keeping the “Smallpox” article a stub looks like a deliberate attempt to keep conservative readers in the dark, at least until a Schlafly-approved version can be written with the appropriate revisionist history of vaccination.

I wonder why the Scientology article has been permanently deleted on Conservapedia. The redirects to a “deleted page” template seem designed to obscure older versions of the article and the deleted article’s talk page. Hmm.

Christian proselytizing is a weekly feature of the UC Irvine campus. Here, several Muslim students debate the reliability and transmission of religious texts with a determined, middle-aged evangelical. The student in the white T-shirt, and the student behind him in the red T-shirt, were bystanders, I think. Thursday afternoon.

These two posters were placed on opposite sides of a wide outdoor walkway on the UC Irvine campus.

I’ve posted photographs of the MSU’s “Israel: Apartheid Resurrected” wall on Flickr. The issue has been a hot topic on the local blogs I’ve linked under the “UC Irvine” category in the sidebar, as well as on some Jewish blogs, some Palestinian blogs, and some stridently conservative blogs off campus.

• May 18 Islamic head blasts U.S. ties to Israel (Michael Miller, Daily Pilot)

  “Imam Muhammad al-Asi, the leader of the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., launched the Muslim Student Union’s annual week of seminars, “Israel: Apartheid Resurrected,” with a speech by the campus administration building. Addressing a crowd of about 100 students and frequently shouting into the microphone, al-Asi condemned both Israel’s treatment of Palestine and the United States’ support for its top ally in the region.”

• May 18 FBI actions at UCI questioned (Marla Jo Fisher, Orange County Register)

  “The incident occurred Monday night in view of campus police and dozens of Muslim student spectators, who were helping to disassemble a large wooden representation of the wall that Israelis have built in occupied Palestine. “There was a confrontation, if you will,” said UCI Police Chief Paul Henisey, who is investigating the incident to determine if any crime was committed. The students “demanded to know why this person was following them, then the person left,” he said.”

• May 19 Report: FBI agent bumped Irvine Muslim with car (Associated Press)

  “The University of California, Irvine, is investigating whether an FBI agent bumped a Muslim student with his car near the site of an anti-Israel protest. Yasser Ahmed, 21, said he noticed he was being followed by a car with blackened windows as he drove a 24-foot moving van on campus Monday night to pick up an exhibit sponsored by the Muslim Student Union.”

• May 19 Tensions rise again at UC Irvine (H. G. Reza, Los Angeles Times)

  “UC Irvine’s chief of police said Friday that his officers were investigating a complaint that an FBI agent doing surveillance assaulted a Muslim student with his unmarked car near the site of an anti-Israel demonstration.”

• May 20 FBI: Agent was investigating vehicle when confronted by student (Associated Press)

  “An FBI agent confronted by a Muslim student at the University of California, Irvine, earlier this month was trying to get a closer look at a “suspicious” truck at the time, federal authorities said Sunday. The agent had followed the truck to the campus from a separate location as part of an investigation that was unrelated to the school or student activities, bureau spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.”

• May 21 FBI denies investigating UCI (Ron Campbell, Orange County Register)

  “The FBI said Sunday that the investigation that brought an agent onto the UCI campus Monday had nothing to do with the campus or with student activities. … FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the agent followed a “suspicious” truck onto campus. She said the truck “had the signage painted over and no visible license plates.”"

• May 30 Unfair treatment is alleged (Michael Miller, Daily Pilot)

  “Three members of UC Irvine’s College Republicans have filed a complaint with the campus administration, saying that officials unfairly moved their group two weeks ago to make room for a Muslim Student Union event.”

• May 31 Religious tolerance on display (Marla Jo Fisher, Orange County Register)

  ” About 300 faculty and students held hands in a giant circle at UCI’s Aldrich Park on Wednesday, demonstrating their commitment to religious tolerance. The lunchtime campus rally, organized by the president of the faculty Academic Senate, is an unusual measure taken in the wake of allegations that administrators have ignored anti-Semitism on campus.”

• May 31 UCI chief meets with Jewish groups (Jorge Barrientos, Orange County Register)

  “UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake told several hundred concerned Jewish community members Wednesday night to join in on discussions and work together against what he calls isolated incidents of anti-Jewish speech by outsiders on campus. Drake answered questions during a 90-minute town hall meeting at Shir Ha-Ma’alot in Irvine addressing concerns about what the Jewish community calls ongoing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity on UCI’s campus.”

• May 31 Political events converge at UCI (Michael Miller and Heidi Schultheis, Daily Pilot)

  “Three self-proclaimed former terrorists visited the Bren Events Center on Wednesday night to urge students to condemn Islamic fundamentalism, comparing America’s modern enemies to the Nazis and calling on Muslims to take a stand against human rights abuses in the Middle East. … The speakers at the Bren center repeatedly denounced Islam and terrorism — often combining the two — and said they favored any belief system that respected differences.”

• June 03 UC Irvine finds it’s embroiled in Mideast debate (Dan Laidman, Copley News Service)

  “For several years, the flash point of this conflict in Southern California has been UC Irvine, a dubious distinction that was again highlighted last week when the university’s chancellor met with representatives of the Orange County Jewish community at their request in the wake of escalating rhetoric from both sides.”