Jim

@simonpaynton That’s precisely what they said multiple times quite directly. To read their paper and conclude otherwise, is to pull a Steven Pinker.

Simon Paynton wrote:According to James Q Wilson in “On Character”, nobody really knows why the crime rate goes up or down.

That’s only part of the truth.. Just like nobody knows why a book was the sold out success it was or why a revolution happened when it did.

But you can extrapolate probable factors that contributed to it. For example the…[Read more]

From what I read in the article, it seems that Pinker was fooled by his own mis-reading. First, the Freakonomics boys never claimed that allowing abortions equalled less crime, besides, abortion has always been going on anyways behind closed doors. The authors gave a probability average of how likely different factors could explain crime spikes or…[Read more]

They compared the rate of violence about 16-18 years after abortion was legalised in some states as well as in Romania after abortion was made obligatory and based on the notable change in Each state so many years later they concluded that parents having children when abortion wasn’t possible (likely because they weren’t ready) the level of crime…[Read more]

The benefits of having a baby when you are ready. This article, turned into a film, on Abortion and Crime has changed the opinion of several people I know. The only thing I disagree with, is the author’s claim that “these results shouldn’t affect your opinion on abortion” which I think is foolish. If these results discredit one of the reasons you…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:I and none of my girlfriends have ever experienced anything like this. Ever!

One of my friends says she has never been discriminated against nor faced disgusting behavior. She finds it astonishing that there is still systemic discrimination in hiring practices and promotions and has been extremely shocked by the scale…[Read more]

Bellen wrote:The problem is that there are also women who are against it.

Indeed. Ive personally dealt with friends who have been sexually assaulted (women and LGTB+) and have seen with my own eyes very rapey behaviour and personally intervened at work to stop sexual discrimination…several of my female friends who have never experienced assault…[Read more]

Bellen wrote:I think men need to stay in the fight and not just shrug it off

Yes. Yes. yyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeesssssssss YES! Not just shrug it off as a woman’s issue, but also not just shrug it off as if its not such a big deal…and even more so not just shrug the whole thing off as women exaggerating or making it all up.

A lot of it (and women do…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:virtually zero Christian terrorists

That is absolutely NOT true. Christian terrorists were rampant in Northern Ireland until recently and were responsible for extreme bloodshed in Bosnia and Serbia. They were also instrumental in prolonging the Lebanese war and in all three cases they are sporadically active (though in N.…[Read more]

Thomas Paine wrote:essentially all religion as a con job.

I personally think Harris become obsessive about Islam, and I can understand why. Islamic extremism hurts us in the West most, it’s currently more visible and more graphic and the call to “destroying the west” and “down with America” is part of an unambiguous campaign to disrupt our lives…[Read more]

New Atheists. What does that mean, exactly?

New Atheists are atheists, usually from Western countries who take a “no appologies” approach to critiquing religion, promoting secularism and among many agressively attacking religion. They are different than other atheists in that 1. A New Atheist is more than someone who lacks belief in God. The…[Read more]

I’ve read several comment sections on this question…and in fact…it is full of pro-birthers never giving a straight answer. I read a hundred responses and in every case they whine that it is a false analogy, a context that makes the comparison of egg and living being different, not equivalent and mostly…pfff…no answer becaue no matter how I…[Read more]

This is a brutal situation. The only thing I recommend is not immediately buying into the argument that:

“You must always be authentic with yourself, otherwise you do a diservice to yourself and others like you”. For example, if you are gay and can get away with being gay (though admiting unpleasant but not fatal or corporal familiar…[Read more]

Yes yes yes. Answers to moral questions on abortion clearly depend on the moral system and with most moral systems (though not all) that the cut off line in fetus gestation is a matter of opinion. However, there are two extreme end which I find tautologically correct. The removal of an egg which has divided several times is virtually no different…[Read more]