Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

In Britain, the highest number of MPs ever take a secular affirmation.

Why Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is a broken moral compass.

The school voucher system has increased educational inequality in Arizona.

At the RNC Prayer Breakfast, speakers said the quiet part out loud while on its final night they completely abandoned religious diversity. All of this leads us to the sad tale of the face eating leopard that ate faces.

J.D. Vance once wondered if Trump was ‘America’s Hitler,’ says former roommate. Is that because no American public figure has done more to normalize political violence? I think Vance grew that beard to hide his own little mustache. The future of America will be based on democracy, free speech, reason and secularism, not tyranny.

World of Woo: Magnesium Oil.

Environment: Is it OK to profit from climate change?

Will physics ever explain consciousness?

The Universe is not a closed system.

10 profound answers about the math behind AI.

Another look at conspiracy theories that they don’t want you to learn!

Long Reads:  Would religion survive alien contact?  A paper on the similarities of childhood values between atheists and non-atheists.  Why France is banning the Hijab for their Olympic athletes but Amnesty International is not happy about it.  Trekking across Switzerland without a phone.  Some humans still wonder if there is life after death. Guo Wengui: How a Chinese tycoon built a pro-Trump money machine.

Podcast: A discussion on non-religious Americans with the FFRF.

Sunday Book Club:  The History of Ideas: Equality, Justice and Revolution, by David Runciman.

Some photographs taken last week.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break Videos:  What creates Consciousness? Finding meaning in the Secular Age – Dissident Dialogues 2024.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Have a great week!

[StregaModerator]

Thanks, Reg!

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Thanks Strega, you are very welcome 🙂

[_Robert_Participant]

The human race has de-evolved so much since the COVID 19 plague that now I find myself uncaring about events. Just living day to day and avoiding “the news” and focus on family, health, art, music and happiness.

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@robert

The human race has de-evolved so much since the COVID 19 plague that now I find myself uncaring about events. Just living day to day and avoiding “the news” and focus on family, health, art, music and happiness.

I hear you! I feel the same way. The only thing I am focused on is getting my son raised. Keeping him alive with the dangerous world we now live in, and trying to plan my escape out of this country the first chance I get once he is done with high school. I have said for years I’m getting the hell out of this country and every day I mean it more and more. I think the future of America is very scary. I just hope we make it that long!

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

President Biden wrote on social media that he was ending his campaign for re-election after intense pressure from within his own party. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him atop the Democratic ticket.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

President Biden wrote on social media that he was ending his campaign for re-election after intense pressure from within his own party.

Woo hoo!  He’s a good guy, but he’s got to go.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

https://emilyslist.org/

[UnseenParticipant]

I think that ex-astronaut, hero, faithful and devoted husband, and responsible gun owner Mark Kelly would probably wipe the floor with Trump.

That said, I can see why Kamala is the necessary choice this time around. Imagine the reaction of the nonwhite community if she was shunted aside in favor of another white guy yet again.

I don’t have money to donate but I will find $25 to donate to her campaign.

In return, and in order to garner the nonwhite and youth vote further, she needs to start criticizing Israel’s handling of Gaza and promising to use America’s economic support (or withholding thereof) to support the Palestinians and stop the genocide.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

Why Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is a broken moral compass.

The author, Dan Ariely, makes a good case that morality should be taught in schools, because students need to engage with it and have a hand in creating it, in order to want to follow it, which is understandable.  What makes it legitimate is being an author of it.

As he says, simply putting up 10 guidelines, some of which are strange in today’s world, isn’t going to cut it.

Dan Ariely is a “name” in evolutionary ethics.

[_Robert_Participant]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

Why Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is a broken moral compass.

The author, Dan Ariely, makes a good case that morality should be taught in schools, because students need to engage with it and have a hand in creating it, in order to want to follow it, which is understandable. What makes it legitimate is being an author of it. As he says, simply putting up 10 guidelines, some of which are strange in today’s world, isn’t going to cut it. Dan Ariely is a “name” in evolutionary ethics.

——-

Useless.

I am the LORD your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.

Nothing to do with morality. There only because YHWH was a minor Canaanite god who got adopted by the Jews as their head guy once they split off.

——

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods

Thought crime made from normal thoughts.

You shall not kill.

Even if defending yourself? If you follow god’s example you can drown the entire planet if they are sinners.

—-

Honor your father and mother.

Even if your father is raping you?

[UnseenParticipant]

How about a course in moral philosophy instead?

(Oh, that’s right: We don’t trust anyone with studying philosophy before college: It’s dangerous.)

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

How about a course in moral philosophy instead?

I think that’s a good idea in principle.  In practice, contemporary moral philosophy is mostly, hopelessly, up its own arse.

As @davis once pointed out, they are using moral philosophy quite successfully in medical ethics.  This is because in each ethical system or scheme there are parts that work, and it’s possible to put them together to make a coherent whole that helps people live their lives.

Instead of a course on moral philosophy, I would recommend just reading “Principles of Biomedical Ethics” by Beauchamp and Childress (2001) which is going to tell anyone all they want to know as an excellent introduction to moral philosophy that actually works and can be understood because it is logical and practical.

[UnseenParticipant]

@ Simon

I’m not proposing a college-level course, but rather one that talks about the justification of one’s actions in terms of balancing benefits against consequences and the harm one does not just to society but to oneself through bad moral/ethical choices.

[Author]

Posts