Interesting Links for 6-10-2011

[andrewducker]

• Schools illegally excluding children to protect their positions in league tables
  (tags: schools uk)


• Children to be shown airbrushed Britney Spears pictures - Yahoo! Lifestyle UK
  (tags: beauty children education BritneySpears)


• China Mieville's rejected comics pitch.
  (tags: comics ChinaMieville)


• British passport forms to get same-sex parents option
  (tags: lgbt uk passport identity parents)


• Supernatural explanations just don't occur to kids - they need to be taught them
  (tags: supernatural rationality logic explanations children)


• Blackfriars station to be world’s largest solar bridge
  (tags: solar power electricity uk rail london)

Comments

[henriksdal.livejournal.com]

That supernatural explanations don't occur to kids - very interesting, I've always wondered if, as an atheist, I feel a complete lack of desire to ridicule and belittle theists because I was brought up decidedly atheist, while the loud militant atheists are the ones rebelling against some concept of the supernatural they were brought up with?

[andrewducker]

I'm largely rebelling against people saying "You can't let gay people marry because the Sky-Cow wouldn't like it." or "Using condoms is bad, because it makes Thor cry." or "You don't need chemotherapy, the universe will cure your cancer if you think happy thoughts."

I'm also an argumentative bastard. If people want to believe insane things in the comfort of their own home then that's fine by me, but if they start trying to persuade other people to believe them then I get annoyed.

[henriksdal.livejournal.com]

oh that too - but can't we all just get on without having to force our world-views on people? I think I just get annoyed that the world seems to be dividing itself up on atheist vs theist lines, with no middle ground.

hm, perhaps I just don't like arguing about religion :>

[andrewducker]

I'm happy to let other people have their worldview as long as they're not using it to control people (like by preventing gay marriage) or teaching them harmful things (like not needing medicine because homeopathy will fix them).