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Revyloution's comments:
on Gadgets, Gizmos & Grey Matter
Papyrus was better than cuniform clay tablets.
A chalk boards is better than drawing in the dirt.
The Guttenberg press was better than armies of scribes.
New tools make teaching easier. New technologies help students learn easier.
That said, no technology can replace a great teacher.
posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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on Philosophy of Taxes & Spending
thx1138, take a look at http://www.thirdway.org/
They have quite a few revolutionary proposals, one I really like is the tax payers receipt. Imagine how public policy would be shaped if you got a receipt for your taxes, saying exactly how many dollars went to different programs.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Religious Clothing in the Classroom
I would also love to see a Pastafarian show up in full pirate regalia.
Praise his noodly apendage.
Ramen.
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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on Religious Clothing in the Classroom
Under the new law, would an atheist be allowed to wear a necktie saying 'God is Dead'?
I say keep the ban. Public school should be a secular institution where education trumps proselytizing.
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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on Vortex I
It sounds to me like Vortex was the beginning of the Great Sort in the US, where people quit being challenged by other viewpoints. Today, we live in walled off communities where we no longer seek out alternative opinions.
There is great value in having your beliefs challenged. Separating us into safe little communities is bad for us as a people.
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
Tom we obviously have very similar world views. I imagine that either of our versions of utopia would be nearly interchangeable. Critical thinking is as much a part of my world view as 'do unto others...'
I just have serious reservations giving the government the power limit someones access to children based on belief in a superstition. That would leave less than 5% of the US in charge of raising all of the children!
I think a far better solution would be to tax churches as businesses. No one should be considered a charity unless they give away more than 75% of their income to non-members.
Im a hard core economist. Everything comes down to incentives. Churches are popular scams because they are tax free, and nearly investigatable. If we taxed them, the crooks would look elsewhere for easy money.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
Democracy has the very best 'good vs bad compass' because what is considered 'good and bad' are just social distinctions. Morality isn't absolute, its a reflection of the cumulative morals of the individuals living in it.
That is the one thing that democracy excels at over other forms of government. The protection of individuals rights. Its not perfect, but it is better than the others. Don't forget Churchills words "Democracy is the worst type of government, accept for all the others"
And we can easily determine if prayer is effective. There have been numerous studies on it. Medicine is always more effective than prayer. There have never been any side effects from mixing prayer with medicine. It's not a leap of logic to equate supplying medicine with supplying food, water or shelter. Denying the later 3 is legal neglect of a minor, so should be denying medicine.
And people keep saying 'If I choose this, or if I choose that" Im all in favor of people choosing for themselves all they want. I don't see any reason suicide or euthanasia should be illegal. Laws should only be there to protect others. And I think there should be laws to protect children from physically harming their children through neglect of any type.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
That is the real hazard of a democracy, even a representative democracy like ours.
You can, and will get bad leaders. You can and will get bad policies.
Its another slippery slope to argue against churches voting in blocks, when I doubt you would argue against our local atheist group (which I'm a member) choosing to vote as a block . If people willingly choose to vote as a group, that is their choice.
I hold with Chris Hitchens opinion. The appropriate response to bad speech is more speech. Forcing silence on any group is detrimental to the core values of democracy.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
As beautiful as I find that, I have to disagree.
I would never trust any government enough to determine what is, and what isnt a religion. Ive been told often enough that my understanding and acceptance of biologic evolution is a religion to know how loose the definition of the word can be.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
slakr007, isn't state mandated secular education a targeted law intended to do exactly that?
The fundies who think global warming and evolution are farces have been fighting against having these things taught in public schools for decades. They've failed, and children are being taught these realities in spite of their parents ignorances.
There were targeted laws that banned witch burning, and Negro lynching. Those laws were also specifically targeted to limit the 'freedoms' of certain ideological majorities in those regions. And those laws worked to get us past that dark stain in our history.
Don't count on natural selection too much. It's no guarantee that the smartest will survive. It only guarantees that the individuals with the most offspring that survive to mate will be successful. Thats why the quiver full movement frightens me so much.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
Free speech should not be extended for the defense of causing harm to others.
As long as minors are considered under the guidance of their guardians, they should be accountable for harm that comes to their wards from neglect.
I don't think anyone is arguing about outlawing faith healing. They are saying that if pushed upon someone else, that it constitutes neglect. Prayer does nothing. If a child needs medicine, and fails to receive it in lieu of prayer, thats neglect.
It should be the same punishment for refusing to give food, water or shelter to a child. If someones religious faith told them food was evil, they have every right to not eat themselves, but an obligation to make sure their child is fed.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on What is Informed Consent?
I want to agree with you. Rather than try to cull the worst offenses of religion, we could hold them up as examples of why they are all false and try to wipe them all out.
There is one thing that gives me pause. As slow as the progress has been, it's still progress. In our very recent history, people assumed that demons were the cause of disease, and women were burnt at the stake as witches. It was through marginalizing the extremists and rewarding the milder forms of faith that has brought us to where we are today. (im speaking of the world, not just the US)
As much as I would like to get the world off the faith crutch, I think it will have to be done in steps. And those steps can only be through marginalizing the radicals and rewarding the moderates. Once their faith is moderated into meaninglessness, deconversion is simple and painless.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on Faith in the Recession
The guest from the CFI brought up an excellent point. I might have never had a belief in god, but I did grow up believing that the free market would always solve its own problems.
This recession did change that 'belief'. Ive now gone and read Keynes and studied other economic models. I now have less faith in open free markets. Economies should be managed, not let run wild
posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Faith in the Recession
Epicurus, kicking theologies butt since 300bce.
posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Faith in the Recession
I agree Fred Strong. Its interesting to hear how people justify a belief in a benevolent deity, while admitting that life on earth can be hard and brutish irregardless of your belief.
I would like to hear a show on why people are leaving faith so much today. I grew up secular, so the idea of having something you consider 'truth' and then loosing it is quite foreign to me.
posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Faith in the Recession
Don't get discouraged. Seek out a secular group to join. Were fun, charitable, and help each other. Its just like a church without the fear, dogma or guilt.
posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on Faith in the Recession
Economic disasters and natural disasters tell me the same thing:
There is no god. Were on our own. The only way we will make it out of any problem is to help each other.
Two hands working do more than a thousand hands praying.
posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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on What's the Most Popular Vote?
The comments that the electoral college can be either a benefit, or a detrament to voters in any state illustrates the problem. It is a system that gives unequal representation.
In our modern information age, the purpose of the college is no longer relavent.
posted 4 years ago
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on Taking Shots
portlandella, what you don't understand is that you failed to die from small pox, measles, polio et al because those around you WERE inoculated. Everyone else was protected from catching these diseases, so they protected you.
If enough people fail to vaccinate their children, we will see a return of these diseases.
posted 4 years, 4 months ago
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on Taking Shots
The list of people that work against vaccinations are an MTV Vjay, conspiracy theorists, and a small hand full of discredited doctors.
But why use an ad hominem. Instead lets look at the peer reviewed research the anti vax crowd have performed. - crickets -
posted 4 years, 4 months ago
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