Mighty AC

I don't think that people are being targeted, just their ideas. The views a person professes, whether they be political or religious, can lead to a lack of respect for said poster, but I think a basic level of courtesy is usually maintained. Those that cross the line and engage in personal attacks are usually sent to the corner for a time out.

You're right, we can debate hundreds of little religious based topics but there is no way around the fact the core of religion is just unsubstantiated belief...or faith as they call it. Why do people try to logically defend their faith? I think most people grow up believing and are either taught that faith is a virtue or don't ever really examine the root of their belief. They act and think logically on every other topic so when told their religious beliefs are illogical and silly, they take offense. People like us, who debate political topics on internet forums, probably take more offense than others when our logic is questioned and have a heightened need to be right. In the end what can they do? I guess just accept their beliefs are illogical, attempt to debate them logically or claim they are being persecuted by anti-Christian bigots.

We don't expect our political views to be respected, why do we demand it for our supernatural beliefs? Our culture traditionally provided a protective cocoon for religion; but why? Take God, Allah, Odin, Santa, ghosts, karma, and unicorns. In your opinion does belief in all of these items deserve the same level of respect?

Exactly. Most people here are already atheist with respect to every other god but their own. Some of us just happen to believe in 1 fewer magic being than others. There is no point in discussing the lack of evidence for Thor, Zeus, Allah, Odin, Jupiter, etc. Christians can already see it. However, they are proud of their own belief without evidence and label it faith.

Too bad you didn't have a recording. I have witnessed a live cold reading that was also taped. I was blown away by the accuracy of the statements while witnessing it live. Then after listening to the audio tape, I was able to see how much the performer got wrong and how the information was actually being provided by subject. We tend to forget the false statements as the performer searches for information and pulls clues out of us and then latch on to hits. These performers are excellent at taking what we give them and making it seem like it was their hit. That's why I posted some some Derren Brown videos. He does a good job of showing how it's done. Almost everyone that buys into this stuff says the exact same thing you did. "I know 99% of these guys are scammers, but I saw someone that was actually bang on".

WHAT?! You believe a very small percentage of Christians believe in a creator god that allows the faithful into paradise and leaves the nonbelievers be tortured in hell? Really?

I don't see a difference between criticizing faith, political leanings, environmental views, taste in movies, music, sports, etc. All ideas should be discussed; the good ones are elevated the bad trounced and discarded.

They do, which suggests they are man made and not divine, but not nearly as quickly as if we did not pretend they were ordered by a god.

Rules and beliefs that could easily be altered or ignored IF people did not believe them to be divine.

I recommend watching some Derren Brown or James Randi videos on YouTube. Both men actually perform and explain the tricks used by 'psychics' and 'mediums'. Kind of like Penn & Teller do with magic. Here are a couple of shortened segments on cold reading by Brown and a Randi documentary covering several topics. Derren Brown investigates cold reading (7 min) Derren Brown interview with Dawkins (10 min) James Randi - Secrets of the Psychics Documentary

It's that religious belief I am referring to. I'm sure most believers are skeptical enough to question an email claiming they have won a foreign lottery and need to put up a $5,000 processing fee in order to receive their 2 million (say it like Dr. Evil) Euro prize. Some believers have even questioned some of the scriptures and decided that they are just allegorical or fictional. That's great...but why does the critical thinking stop there? They don't question their belief in a magical, undetectable, overlord, that exists outside of space time. An omnipotent being that somehow requires humans to do its bidding, and can't even manage to create any evidence its own existence. What's worse is they are taught that believing in this magic being without evidence is a positive thing to do. In fact, the magic man will reward you with an afterlife in paradise for believing in him without evidence. Oh yeah, and he'll punish you with an eternity of torture, if you do not believe in him without evidence.....but he loves you. On paper even the lottery scam seems more plausible. I guess that's why most believers have to be indoctrinated as children.

Well, there is no afterlife for what would be considered me. We're kind of like Lego structures. When the end has come for the robot, plane, house, space station, etc. the individual pieces are disassembled and returned to the bin. Later some of those same pieces will go on to form tiny fractions of other structures, but what was the robot is gone. Instead of being shaped in ABS moulds at factory in Denmark, our building blocks were fused in stars. In this case I find reality far more interesting and beautiful than the mythologies, though admittedly it may be a less effective anaesthetic for the grief of loss. Edit: Typo.

Is Arab oil the only other option?

Matt Damon fan or not, fracking chemicals are finding their way into drinking water and radioactive materials like Radium are also a concern. Destroying local groundwater sources to access gas pockets is probably not a worthwhile trade. Fracking Truck Sets Off Radiation Alarm At Landfill

So you feel the strong correlation between counties with high slave populations and Republican support is just a coincidence then?

I think it's cool that everything that is me was once part of a star before becoming part of this earth. The atoms get recycled completely every 8 to 10 years, yet I am still me. Then later after I am dead what was once part of me will make up tiny portions of countless other organisms before eventually becoming part of other stars and planets again. Wow...beautiful and awesome! Sure, the consciousness built of the neural connections I have made is temporary, but that's what makes it special. If it lived on forever, there would be no real urgency to live today. Then like Squid said the non-existence of my consciousness after my death will be just like the eternity prior to my birth.

A recent study by three University of Rochester political scientists found that: "Whites who currently live in Southern counties that had high shares of slaves population in 1860 are less likely to identify as Democrat, more likely to oppose to affirmative action policies, and more likely to express racial resentment toward blacks." The study shows this to be quantitatively true. It then offers the theory that beliefs shaped historically by slavery have since been passed down through generations. In short, it states that the sudden enfranchisement and emancipation of blacks seriously undermined southern white economic and political power. This led southern whites to enact racist policies and encourage violence towards blacks. This major event shaped the southern racist norms and cultural beliefs that have to some degree been inherited by subsequent generations. The authors hope this study will encourage more researchers to explore historical roots when examining current political topics. Think Progress Article: "Study Suggests Southern Slavery Turns White People Into Republicans 150 Years Later" The actual paper: "The Political Legacy of American Slavery"

Indeed. With one person teaching all grades students were likely able to proceed at their own pace to the point of mastery. Since the teacher also handled every subject he/she most likely used many cross curricular lessons where history content complemented English or math studies, etc. With large classes divided by age group and subject, we are now using tech to make some past educational features possible.

This video is definitely scripted and staged, but the point was to demonstrate one of the many methods of teaching to mastery. Team teaching generally involves group planning and shared projects but it rarely includes the extra step shown in the video. The 'Reteach/Enrichment' technique is an integral part of every unit or concept for the schools that use it and as might be expected the results are very positive. At the secondary level this process becomes more self directed and can be achieved by one teacher. Using a blended learning approach students take responsibility for their own learning and the teacher spends more time working with students and less delivering lectures.

As a kid on long family road trips with my dad I was fed a steady diet of blues and old country. I couldn't stand the stuff back then but like it now. I caught myself singing Kris Kristofferson and George Jones tunes in the shower the other day. Anyway, Old Crow Medicine Show was part of the Mumford & Son's 'Gentlemen Of The Road' tour this summer. I'm not in love with this group but something keeps me coming back for more. They remind me of a band that might have been on the show 'Hee Haw' back when I was a kid. Wagon Wheel This Train Is Bound For Glory - With Mumford & Sons

This is the direction that education is going and there are a variety of ways to achieve it. Odd that you would respond this way since, this would have been a major topic during your claimed recent stint at teachers college. Anyway, the video below shows one method of teaching concepts to the point mastery that most resembles the traditional classroom format. Basically teachers work as a team, teach a unit/concept, formatively assess their own class and then group the classes into reteach and enrichment groups. One teacher handles the reteach group and another teaches the enrichment class.

I see this as support for a more student centered approach. We have to allow students to proceed through concepts at their own pace, mastering each before proceeding on to the next. Moving through concepts as a whole class forces some students to move on before they are ready and holds others back. Unit B builds on unit A. How well will students who received a C or D on unit A fair on B?

My children have lost grandparents. Instead of telling them they will see grandma or grandpa again, we acknowledged the pain of missing someone we love and focused on the good memories. My kids love to reminisce and tell stories about their grandparents, especially the funny ones. You suggested that people need answers to big questions like "What preceded the big bang?". Sometimes, "we don't know yet", is the best and most honest response. People who contend that a god must have initiated the creation of the universe because "something cannot come from nothing", but then accept that this god is timeless and does not require a creator, are simply not concerned with the quality of the answer. Inserting a magical being does not answer questions, it creates more. Yet the religious are content with this ridiculous assertion.

The underlying belief in their god is simply asserted. Preachers do not debate and question the existence of their god or the validity of their scripture in church. Hence, parishioners simply suspend their critical thinking skills on that point. They are told they will be rewarded for this "faith". Do the ugly/brutal aspects of nature count as evidence against the existence of a creator then? You can't disprove my Gummy Bear overlord, but that doesn't mean it is real or should be believed. I share the same hope for my marriage, despite also having some disputing data points. However, this is a prediction of the way events will unfold, not a belief in the existence of something. We all evaluate information based on our existing body of knowledge. We can't be expected to investigate minor claims and stories that appear to be in line with information we already know to be true. However, we can be expected to investigate major belief systems that play a huge role in our lives. We can also be expected to alter our beliefs when better evidence is obtained. It is better to say "I don't know" to a question than to simply make up a false answer. The tone of your posts suggest that you have a belief in the Christian god. See...your claim that you are not a believer now counts as better evidence than my impression based on your writings.

Do you feel that it is better to lie to people as long as it makes them feel better? Why is it that religious people have these burning questions that require answers so they can sleep at night, but then don't care about the quality of answer? For example: What came before the big bang? - Our lord the invisible, unfalsifiable, gummy bear created it. What created our lord gummy then? - Nothing. It has always existed forever. Nothing had to create it. Really. Just have faith. Ok, that clears everything up.