The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Just read it; great book. It opens the discussion on an incredible number of contentious topics, then it (or he - the fourth wall is broken repeatedly) gives an answer/opinion without attempting to close the argument. It is such a perfect book to read as a junior in high school that they would never allow it. Favorite passage:

"True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude toward those who are at its mercy: animals."

thought

it's no wonder so many fundamentalist christian parents are screwed up. from sunday school on, they are taught to emulate the quote-unquote perfect authority/parental figure. unfortunately, when the lessons are taught by someone without the ability to extract the proper meaning from the darker material in the bible, they are alternately shown a beatific, unconditionally loving god and a petty, vengeful god as sermons alternate from the new to old testaments. the grand lesson many people are unconsciously left with is: as long as you toe the line and don't question anything, everything will be fine; but the minute you start acting up, it is perfectly acceptable to smite the living shit out of you.

It's remarkable how some people intentionally blind themselves.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/06/kenya.fossildebate.ap/index.html

About 2/3 of the way down, "Followers of creationism..."

This bishop has already made the mental leap that the time frame of the creation story is allegory, and yet cannot seem to make the next (smaller) one to realizing that the rest of it is as well. My favorite part is that he's taken it upon himself to deduce the allegory formula...