Songs about Science XV: You can’t fool the children of evolution - February 27, 2009
A German group named after a famous heretic has decided to celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday by campaigning to have the Ascension Day public holiday renamed ‘Evolutionstag’ (Evolution Day).
Ascension Day is when many Christians celebrate supposed return of Jesus to heaven, it normally falls in May. As Spiegel notes in its coverage of the campaign, most holidays in Germany have Christian roots, although a third of the population is atheist.
The Giordano Bruno Foundation, which is behind Evolutionstag, says it is time for a secular holiday. (Bruno advocated heliocentrism and was burned as the stake in 1600, although many believe this was more to do with his unorthodox views of god than his astronomy musing.)
To spread their message they’ve made this song.
[Hat tip: Pharyngula]
Below the fold: Previously on Songs about Science
Songs about science
Songs of science part II
Songs about science part III: geology
Songs about science part IV: GeekPop08
Songs about science part V: singing scientists
Songs about science part VI: ‘Don’t go messing with our telescope’
Songs about science VII: ‘It’s a long way from Amphioxus’
Songs about pseudo-science
Songs about science part VIII: the astrobiology rap
Songs about science IX: Rollin’ to the Future
Songs about science X: drilling’s killer songs
Songs about science XI: Charlie Darwin
Songs about science XII: Shubin’s song
Songs about science XIII: ‘This stuff is far!’
Songs about Science XIV – Nano vs Fire
Comments
Here's another song about science that deserves an inclusion in your list:
Ring of Fire by Dr. Richard Alley
Posted by: Sabine Schu | February 28, 2009 10:19 AM
Planting your own holiday on top of a rival holiday is, of course, an old custom; Christmas was scheduled to overwrite the pagan Roman Saturnalia, not because there was any indication that Jesus was born in December.
The key word, though, it "rival." By putting their Evolutionstag on top of Ascension Day, the Giorndano Bruno Foundation are making another move in the religion-vs-science quarrel, rather than making any neutral move or one for conciliation. Their name would lead one to expect nothing else, though Bruno himself was far from secular in his outlook.
Posted by: Earl Wajenberg | March 3, 2009 02:37 PM