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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (588294)	10/1/2010 10:54:47 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578539

This suggests that critical thinking and knowledge tends to lead one away from religion. No it doesn't. Note I'm not arguing against the idea that critical thinking tends to lead you away from religion, I'm also not arguing for the idea. I'm arguing that what you quoted * doesn't support the idea. What that quote supports is that people who have changed, from religious belief to agnosticism, or atheism, from agnosticism or atheism to religious belief, or from one form of religious belief to another, will tend to do so after having thought about it a lot. Those who continue with what they where thought as a kid, on the average will not have thought about it quite as much (plenty have thought about it a lot, but the overall average would be less, maybe much less). You are relatively unlikely to make such a change without learning a lot about the new idea your starting to accept. Mixing in people who are merely apathetic about religion would muddy the results in my opinion. Mixing in people who are apathetic would balance the comparison better. Many people who self identify as members of some religious faith are relatively apathetic about it, they have some vague religious identity, but aren't strongly connected to the religion and its history, facts, dogma, and ideas. In this study such apathetic people are considered as members of the various religious groups that they identify as. Many irreligious people are also apathetic or vague about the issue, in fact its a strong majority of that group (12 percent with the entire irreligious group being 15 percent), but they are not counted along with the atheists. So the religious people get both the strongly committed and the apathetic lumped together, while the irreligious do not. ---- * - "Another way of putting it is that self-described atheists are the religious converts of the irreligious world. Like someone who leaps from Lutheranism to Catholicism, or Christianity to Islam, they’ve made an intellectual decision about their faith — or the lack thereof, that is. And so it isn’t surprising that they’d be more knowledgeable about the subject than the much larger populations of part-time churchgoers and “nothing in particular” nonpractitioners alike."

To: Alighieri who wrote (588294)	10/1/2010 12:19:29 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578539

Politics Tea Party Coloring Book Publisher Says He's Getting Death Threats Published September 30, 2010 \| FoxNews.com foxnews.com The author-publisher of "The Tea Party Coloring Book for Kids" says he has received death threats over its publication. Wayne Bell, publisher of Clayton, Mo.-based Really Big Coloring Books, said in an interview with CBS that his $3.59 coloring book is not political. But some critics think the book was designed for politically conservative adults, and not for children. "We're not really making a political statement," Bell told CBS, adding that his company also publishes coloring books on the Rockettes, Cirque du Soleil and President Obama. Bell told FoxNews.com on Thursday that his office began receiving "odd" phone calls and e-mails five days after the release of the coloring book on Sept. 5. Bell said he did not report those incidents to authorities. "We don't want to be overly dramatic about what's happening," Bell said. "We just kind of let it slide." Bell said he has received messages containing "horrible, nasty, vitriolic stuff," including a desire for someone to place him in a "chloroform headlock" since its publication. "It was like a crescendo," Bell said of the messages. "We've locked our front door and put a sign on the door that says, 'please knock.'" St. Louis County Police Department Officer Rick Eckhard confirmed to FoxNews.com that the department did not have an active investigation involving Bell pertaining to the alleged death threats. Citing a "need" for a Tea Party coloring book, Bell defended the item as appropriate for children ages 2 to 10. "Yes, it is appropriate," Bell told Fox News. "We test our products on children." But Michael Davis, a St. Louis-area Coffee Party organizer, told KSDK.com, "I think it's inappropriate. I really question whether it's even targeted at children. There's not a lot of coloring activities." Bell said the Tea Party book is his company's best-seller by far, with demand so high that new copies must be printed daily to keep up with demand. "We have sold many thousands," he told CBS. He told KSDK.com that a military branch of the federal government bought 3,000 copies for kids. The 32-page coloring book teaches children and parents about the origins of the Tea Party -- "A very pleasant song, coloring and activity book on Liberty, Faith, Freedom and so much more!" -- according to the company's website. "Get involved, participate, self reliance, freedom of choice, work, government-of-for-by the people, Leadership, Ingenuity, Jobs and responsibilty! [sic]" But critics point out that a passage of the coloring book reads: "When taxes are too high, the high tax takes away jobs and freedom." Another reads: "In 1773 we had a Tea Party and this led to freedom from high taxes. Today we are having another Tea Party and this will lead to freedom from high taxes again!"