It's Sunday

The snarling Tyrannosaurus rex in front of the McDonald’s at Tanque Verde and Grant isn’t going anywhere, according to Lizzeth Alvarez, area supervisor for Dias Management Inc., which owns the bustling franchise.

[...]

Concern for the life-size replica cropped up earlier this month when a post targeting the T. rex on Tanque Verde showed up on the Facebook page of a group called Christians Against Dinosaurs.

According to the page — as well as the group’s website and occasional YouTube videos — CAD is dedicated to the belief that dinosaurs never existed at all but are, in fact, a scam perpetrated by scientists, possibly as part of some liberal plot against religion.

  Tucson.com

I know. I'm sorry.

“Please help! This McDonald’s has this dinosaur and refuse to remove it! This is in Tucson, Arizona. Call the manager and demand the removal of this blasphemy!”

The post from a CAD page member named Josh Brown then gives the address and phone number for the offending burger joint.

[...]

It can be hard sometimes to separate the faithful from the frauds on social media sites, and this seems doubly true in the case of Christians Against Dinosaurs. Though there seems to be an underlying earnestness to CAD’s website, the majority of people posting on its Facebook page seem to be there to get into arguments, spectate or mock the whole thing.

Attempts to reach those in charge of Christians Against Dinosaurs were unsuccessful. According to several articles written about the group since it first gained fame about five years ago, the movement has no clear leadership or agenda beyond trying to contradict centuries of science, including literal tons of actual, physical specimens.

[...]

CAD poster Josh Brown insists he isn’t joking around. Reached through his Facebook page Tuesday night, he said he lives and works in Tucson, and he doesn’t see anything funny about “lying to our children.”

Gee, where have I heard that before? As tots, my siblings and I were told from the start that there is no Santa Claus. Yep. Fundamentalist parents.

“It seems to me that every dinosaur story and display or dinosaur themed event is furthering the myth that the Earth is much older than the Bible says it is,” Brown said via Facebook Messenger. “Yes, the dinosaur should go unless they’re willing to compromise with a plaque of some kind stating that it’s a fictional character.”

Lighten up, Josh. Just go with the other fundamentalists that say dinosaurs and man were on the earth at the same time - in the beginning - 6,000 years ago.

Some employees wondered if there would be a protest of some kind in front of the restaurant, but Alvarez said she wasn’t aware of anyone even calling in to complain about the dinosaur so far, though several people on Facebook claimed they did.

[...]

Most Facebook users responded to Brown’s call to (tiny?) arms with jokes or messages of support for the Tanque Verde T. rex.

Since he posted about the statue, Brown said he’s been harassed and threatened online. Someone even tried to hack into his personal Facebook account.

He said a lot of the comments directed his way have come from “people who wanted to save the dinosaur or to message me personally and spew insults and threats.”

Dinoporn.