Rick Perry: Economic Crisis Is God's Way Of Bringing Us Back To Biblical...

Hopefully this guy doesn't become president, Jesus (pun intended). He is like Super Bush! Didn't we get our share with a fundamentalist Christian over the last decade? We don't need this nut-job having the ability to launch nukes.

Atheists that mock God are "double-damned"

If this is true, then I should be worried. This video is a satire, and Edward Current is an atheist pretending to be a Christian (obviously). But, many Christians actually believe that those that commit blasphemy are pissing off God. Why does God have such a low self-esteem that he can't take criticism? If God is all-powerful, why would He have made atheists? Is God a sadomasochist? Probably. That or atheists are right, and there is no God (sorry Christians). 

Children's Book 'Maggie Goes on a Diet' is disgusting.

I recently watched a video (click me for link) that discribes a book written by Paul Kramer. Basically it's about this young girl (14 if I remember right) that is bullied at school because she is "fat". She is unpopular, and feels depressed--which causes her to eat more food. Maggie ends up becoming motivated to lose weight, and after she loses the weight she becomes popular...and everyone loves her.

Do I even need to explain why this book is just awful? Oh, and before I go any further, Paul Kramer is not exactly slim or even a "little over weight" (to put it nicely). All this book does is perpetuate children's obsession with looks and popularity--neither of which are conductive of good mental health. It's sad to think that many many children will be influenced by this piece of garbage. Paul Kramer should be ashamed of himself. All this book will do is make overweight children even more depressed about their situation. He claims that his book will empower overweight children because they will see that "they are no alone" (which is complete BS). A person's weight is a personal issue--it surely isn't a concern for others (except for maybe a doctor or parent). Weight should only be considered a health issue, it never should be considered a social issue. The bullying nature of this book and of literal bullies is a very harmful force. The logical method is to utilize productive encouragement, not attacking the self-esteem of a child.

Sadly to say, this world is not a good environment to be raising children. I'm hoping that people start to wake up, but as they say: it will get worse before it gets better. 

Mother uses hot sauce, cold showers to discipline 7-year-old

Using fear as a method of teaching is very counterproductive. During fight-or-flight mode there tends to be a numbing effect on learning. This mother is just taking out her anger on the child--she doesn't care about actually helping his behavioral issues (which probably aren't that abnormal). This kind of parenting teachings kids to behave well out of the fear of getting caught, not for the sake of being good (this can cause serious behavioral problems down the road).

Prisons are filled with people that are only worried about getting into trouble. It is important to teach children why they should behave well. This "parent" is using this child as a proverbial punching bag to vent her frustrations (frustrations caused by not knowing how to parent).

Mother uses hot sauce, cold showers to discipline 7-year-old

Using fear as a method of teaching is very counterproductive. During fight-or-flight mode there tends to be a numbing effect on learning. This mother is just taking out her anger on the child--she doesn't care about actually helping his behavioral issues (which probably aren't that abnormal).This kind of parenting teachings kids to behave well out of the fear of getting caught, not for the sake of being good (this can cause serious behavioral problems down the road).

NH Sponsor Of Minimum Wage Restriction Law: Young People Are ‘Not Worth The Minimum’

NH Sponsor Of Minimum Wage Restriction Law: Young People Are ‘Not Worth The Minimum’: pThis year, newly-elected Republicans in the New Hampshire legislature pushed a bill to restrict the state’s minimum wage law to the lowest federally mandated amount. The bill, backed by GOP leadership, was vetoed by Gov. John Lynch (D-NH), but still passed by an override vote in both chambers. New Hampshire will continue to have the [...]/p

Just amazing how insensitive and unintelligent (both go hand-in-hand) some people are. What a piss-poor economic philosophy: lower taxes for the rich, lower wages for the poor. How did this moron get elected into office? The minimum wage affects so many people (not just 'young people'). The reason our economy is in the state it is now is because our industry is competing with 3rd world nations. Companies can pay the workers virtually nothing there, and sell the products for much cheaper here. We need to stop trading with countries that don't have a minimum wage similar to ours. The system at the moment only works for the rich, it harms everyone else. It is because the rich have so much influence over policy that the poor are suffering. When it all boils down to it, the United States economy is dying because of its lack of industry. The United States cannot compete with 3rd world nations that have no minimum wage. We will continue on our down-spiral until this problem is remedied. A nation that doesn't produce things has a tough time making money. I know I'm rambling now, but we need our factories back. The best thing people can do is stop purchasing things that are MADE IN CHINA. Whenever you purchase something MADE IN CHINA, you are merely reinforcing the very thing that is harming our economy.

What is the meaning of life for an atheist?

The beautiful thing about atheism is that it provides freedom to think about questions like the meaning of life. Atheists are not told that they NEED to believe this or that. At the end of the day meaning is what we think it is. And interestingly, I find that many atheists have similar views to the ones expressed in this video.

While all of these atheist speakers are inspiration, Neil deGrasse Tyson's views resonate the strongest with me. I strongly believe that for a person to be aware of life they must think about life and its meaning. Our view of life depends upon the perspective, and the information we know/accept. Many people live day to day getting wrapped up in diversions like sports and/or reality TV shows in order to avoid the elephant in the room: the meaning/purpose of existence. As shown in the video above, the meaning of an atheist's life can be very rich (if cultivated). From what I've seen/experienced (used to be a catholic), the purpose of life for the religious is nothing more than a disposable tool for God--a pawn in "His plan".

Atheism broadens the mind, and the alternative has been shown to do the opposite. To each their own I suppose. But for the sake of accuracy, people should leave the whole "an atheist's life has no meaning" nonsense behind (maybe we should let them focus on learning about evolution first, eh..).