Oct 4, 2017 09:18 PM
What I’ll Teach My Son After Las Vegas
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightath...las-vegas/
EXCERPT: [...] What I do struggle with is what I’m going to tell my son. This was brought to my attention earlier this week, when a friend asked me how it’s possible to raise a child in a world with evils like this. He’s not old enough to ask the question yet, but he will be. And when the time comes, it will help to have an answer prepared for him.
I don’t believe that childhood innocence should be preserved at all costs. As part of my universal utilitarian moral philosophy, I hold that our outlook has to be built on a clear-eyed recognition of the way the world really is, both the good and the bad. That applies to children as well as adults. It doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend that the world is something it’s not.
But at the same time, I don’t believe in traumatizing children or teaching them despair by dwelling on the worst of humanity. There’s a fine line to walk between sorrowful clarity and corrosive nihilism. We should teach our children about the evils of life, but in a way that’s tempered with the recognition that there’s always another side to the story....
MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightath...las-vegas/
This New Outlet For Godless Parents Almost Feels Like A Godsend
http://godlessmom.com/new-outlet-godless...e-godsend/
EXCERPT: [...] As you may have noticed, the majority of what I’ve been writing here lately has been centered around answering questions from other godless moms and dads. I tried to figure out, briefly, a way to turn this into a discussion where heathen parents can seek advice from more than just me. I just sort of let the thought settle in the back of my mind, though, and continued on with my regular thing. It was early last week and I still hadn’t really found an answer to that...
MORE: http://godlessmom.com/new-outlet-godless...e-godsend/
Tabloids of the Roman Empire
http://new.exchristian.net/2017/08/tablo...mpire.html
EXCERPT: [...] Picture yourself in ancient times waiting in line at your local agora, or open marketplace, dealing with the “tabloids” of those times. (Of course they weren't published; no printing press.) They were rumors and stories, scriptures, some becoming “tradition,” their main appeal to the same audiences as today. Their “reporters” were “tall story tellers,” some boldly passing themselves off then, like now, as prophets, seers, authorities of the gods. In other words, they are con men. Some things never change. As now, they claimed to know secrets, like “proof” of the intervention of the God / gods in human lives, and access to “spirit-alternative reality.” The “reporter-authors” sold illegitimate news....
MORE: http://new.exchristian.net/2017/08/tablo...mpire.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightath...las-vegas/
EXCERPT: [...] What I do struggle with is what I’m going to tell my son. This was brought to my attention earlier this week, when a friend asked me how it’s possible to raise a child in a world with evils like this. He’s not old enough to ask the question yet, but he will be. And when the time comes, it will help to have an answer prepared for him.
I don’t believe that childhood innocence should be preserved at all costs. As part of my universal utilitarian moral philosophy, I hold that our outlook has to be built on a clear-eyed recognition of the way the world really is, both the good and the bad. That applies to children as well as adults. It doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend that the world is something it’s not.
But at the same time, I don’t believe in traumatizing children or teaching them despair by dwelling on the worst of humanity. There’s a fine line to walk between sorrowful clarity and corrosive nihilism. We should teach our children about the evils of life, but in a way that’s tempered with the recognition that there’s always another side to the story....
MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightath...las-vegas/
This New Outlet For Godless Parents Almost Feels Like A Godsend
http://godlessmom.com/new-outlet-godless...e-godsend/
EXCERPT: [...] As you may have noticed, the majority of what I’ve been writing here lately has been centered around answering questions from other godless moms and dads. I tried to figure out, briefly, a way to turn this into a discussion where heathen parents can seek advice from more than just me. I just sort of let the thought settle in the back of my mind, though, and continued on with my regular thing. It was early last week and I still hadn’t really found an answer to that...
MORE: http://godlessmom.com/new-outlet-godless...e-godsend/
Tabloids of the Roman Empire
http://new.exchristian.net/2017/08/tablo...mpire.html
EXCERPT: [...] Picture yourself in ancient times waiting in line at your local agora, or open marketplace, dealing with the “tabloids” of those times. (Of course they weren't published; no printing press.) They were rumors and stories, scriptures, some becoming “tradition,” their main appeal to the same audiences as today. Their “reporters” were “tall story tellers,” some boldly passing themselves off then, like now, as prophets, seers, authorities of the gods. In other words, they are con men. Some things never change. As now, they claimed to know secrets, like “proof” of the intervention of the God / gods in human lives, and access to “spirit-alternative reality.” The “reporter-authors” sold illegitimate news....
MORE: http://new.exchristian.net/2017/08/tablo...mpire.html