“For the unaffiliated, honesty tops the list, with about 58 percent of the nones saying that ‘being honest at all times’ was essential to being a moral person.”
While I do love eating babies, ’twas first and foremost a desire for honesty which led me astray.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/religiously-unaffiliated-morality_n_57164a51e4b0018f9cbb1c7a
I just read a great line from Carl Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World. Thank you, women, for reducing harm throughout all of history.
“Among the !Kung San hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari Desert, when two men, perhaps testosterone-inflamed, would begin to argue, the women would reach for their poison arrows and put the weapons out of harm’s way. Today our poison arrows can destroy the global civilization and just possibly annihilate our species. The price of moral ambiguity is now too high. For this reason–and not because of its approach to knowledge–the ethical responsibility of scientists must also be high, extraordinarily high, unprecedentedly high. I wish graduate science programs explicitly and systematically raised these questions with fledgling scientists and engineers. And sometimes I wonder whether in our society, too, the women–and the children–will eventually put the poison arrows out of harm’s way.”
I don’t think I’m brave for sharing this. I really don’t risk anything at all. But I found this inspirational, and hope others will too.
https://zelphontheshelf.com/i-wanna-see-you-be-brave/
I’m reading Carl Sagan’s “Demon-Haunted World” and just came across this marvelous analogy:
“A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage.”
Suppose (I’m following a group therapy approach by the psychologist Richard Franklin) I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you’d want to check it out, see for yourself. There have been innumerable stories of dragons over the centuries, but no real evidence. What an opportunity!
“Show me,” you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle–but no dragon.
“Where’s the dragon?” you ask.
“Oh, she’s right here,” I reply, waving vaguely. “I neglected to mention that she’s an invisible dragon.”
You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon’s footprints.
“Good idea,” I say, “but this dragon floats in the air.”
Then you’ll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.
“Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless.”
You’ll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.
“Good idea, but she’s an incorporeal dragon and the paint won’t stick.” And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won’t work.
Now, what’s the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there’s no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true. Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder.
This made me bawl. Literally cried tears of pain and sobbed in a way that has only happened a few times in my life.
Tip for Facebook mobile users: Use the option to open the article in your browser instead of within Facebook for better viewing.
https://snapshotsofchad.com/2016/01/29/dear-mormon-leaders/
NOTE: This post was blocked by Facebook because it goes against their “Community Standards”. This is a big part of why I repost my thoughts here in this blog, where they are under my control and are not subject to bullshit censorship by a cowardly enterprise.
“‘We mourn with their families and friends when they feel life no longer offers hope,’ senior church leaders said through a spokesman.”
“We mourn” — Pat yourselves on the back.
“They feel” — Blame the victims.
No apologies. No admission of wrongdoing. And speaking through the public relations department.
New offenses, piled on top of former offenses.
Very interesting observations. What do you think? Venting is welcome, but apparently not useful.
http://blog.uwgb.edu/alltherage/four-questions-on-the-catharsis-myth-with-dr-brad-bushman/
I would press the button. I wonder, does everyone make that claim? Because that button exists. It’s in the form of Google. It’s resting right in front of us and has been for years.
https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3446377&itype=CMSID&fullpage=1
I applaud people who take a stand like this while maintaining their beliefs. Not specifically for maintaining their beliefs, but for taking a stand.
“If nothing else, walk away from this blog piece with a greater compassion and empathy for this very difficult and impossible to understand trial.”
http://www.foedefamily.com/familyblog/?p=946
