Kids and Religion

I just came across an article that asked the following question:

Should Parents Introduce Kids to Religion No Matter What? (Should parents introduce their kids to religion if the parents themselves are not believers?)

My first response to that is a question. What do you mean by "introduce"? If introduce means take the kids to church, or give them a bunch of religious material, my answer is obviously no. If you don't believe yourself, why would you attempt to inculcate religious beliefs into your children? On the other hand, if introduce means to make your children aware of what religion is, and of major types of belief and disbelief, then in my opinion the answer is yes.

Religion is too important to ignore. Even if you are an atheist, it is impossible to shield your children from exposure to religion. Although I'm an atheist, I'm as against indoctrinating children as atheists as I'm am against trying to make them religious. My personal approach was to talk to my son about various religious beliefs, while explaining that ideas differ greatly, and that there are people such as myself who don't even believe in God at all. On the occasions that we've talked about it, I've stressed that he needs to evaluate religious claims for himself, consider the evidence for them, and reject simple assertions of truth. My hope is that he will think for himself -- and it seems that he does -- and make up his own mind about religion and all related issues in a way that will leave him satisfied.

HOT5 Daily 4/6/2011

1. "How Can Anyone Take This Seriously?" A good pox on both their houses article, but still, the GOP is the lesser evil.

Representative Sample: The U.S. is running deficits somewhere between one and one and a half trillion dollars, and in Washington the Republicans and Democrats are still squabbling over petty change.

2. "Man Beats Suspect: Faces Jail" Our legal system in action.

Representative Sample: were that the real story, Officer Hebert would be getting commendations and parades from the city for arresting this fellow, Hardy, who is now charged in a number of different child molestations

3. "Why Do Atheists Have to Advertise?" Makes some good points about the various atheist advertising campaigns.

Representative Sample: The first thing you have to remember is this: Not all atheist ads campaigns are created equal. Different atheist organizations create different ad campaigns, with different goals, and different strategies for achieving those goals. So when you ask, "Why do atheists have to advertise?", the first question you have to answer is, "Which atheists?"

4. "Why the World Needs Nuclear Power" It should be obvious that we need nuclear power.

Representative Sample: James Hansen, the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute, explains how future fourth generation nuclear power plants will be cleaner and safer because they will be able to burn highly radioactive spent fuel rods. Harnessing this technology will be pivotal for America’s future

5. "The Best Book in the Bible" Analysis based on the Skeptics Annotated Bible.

Representative Sample: One way to try to determine it, though, would be to identify all the passages in the Bible that contain ideas that you consider good, and then compare the number of good passages found in each book of the Bible.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Should Get No Trial At All

It's been pretty funny watching the whining and sniveling of terrorist rights supporters upset that President Obama is going to use a military tribunal to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Most of those criticizing the decision do so with various false assertions based on false assumptions. Let's take the New York Times editorial today as an example.

How fitting it would have been to put the plot’s architect on trial a few blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, to force him to submit to the justice of a dozen chosen New Yorkers, to demonstrate to the world that we will not allow fear of terrorism to alter our rule of law.

It would demonstrate to the world that we are stupid enough to provide a huge forum for an orgy of anti-Americanism under the guise of the so-called "rule of law." I've found as a general rule, whenever anyone makes serious use of the phrase "rule of law," the odds are that it will be preceded or followed by utter nonsense.

But, apparently, there are many who continue to cower, who view terrorists as much more fearsome than homegrown American mass murderers and the American civilian jury system as too “soft” to impose needed justice.

This assertion, and just about the entire op-ed is a typical strawman. The primary reason people oppose civilian trials for foreign terrorists is that foreign terrorists are not entitled to the protections of U.S. civil law. In my opinion, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed does not require a trial of any kind. KSM is a leader of an enemy terrorist organization with which we are still at war. He was captured back in 2003. The last I checked it is now 2011. He hasn't had a trial, and he still doesn't need one. We can hold him forever if we so choose. Al Qaeda as an organization, and its members are completely outside the law [unless they happen to be U.S. citizens, in which case they should be treated as such]. They follow no rules, haven't signed any international agreements, and there are no clear guidelines for how to deal with captured members. Rather than tying our own hands, and providing our enemies with unearned and undeserved rights, we should retain as wide a latitude as possible in dealing with foreign terrorists.

Even going through the motions of a military trial for KSM is a gigantic waste of time. There's no question about his identity, his leadership role in Al Qaeda, and his involvement in 9/11. Even former administration spokesman Robert Gibbs talked about KSM's conviction and execution as a foregone conclusion. The U.S. isn't going to release him under any circumstances, regardless of what happens at a trial, civilian or military. He is essentially under a suspended death sentence already -- as he should be. Ideally he should already be dead. After we extracted all useful information, he should have faced summary execution. But since we didn't do that, and he's now been sitting in prison for eight years, it might be more appropriate to just let him rot.

As I've argued many times on this blog, the blind legalism of terrorist rights supporters, and their attempt to debase the rights of U.S. citizens by awarding them to foreign enemies, is far more dangerous to the U.S. than any treatment we might meet out to someone like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Rather than extending this post further, I'll just link to my two part post "No Rights for Hostile Aliens."

HOT5 Daily 4/5/2011

1. "A Decade of Wishful Thinking" Wishful thinking is common in foreign policy. Here's one of many examples.

Representative Sample: Bashar's "reformer" label still sticks -- on March 27, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the latest to apply it to him. Faced with a nationwide uprising against his regime in recent weeks, Bashar has once again promised reforms, but his government continues to harshly crack down on any hint of protest; demonstrations in the city of Douma on April 1 were met with deadly force, resulting in 8 casualties. It may be time for all those Western officials who defended Bashar over the years to reconsider just how much of a "reformer" their man in Damascus truly is.

2. "Sizing Up China's Military Capabilities" An interesting analysis.

Representative Sample: It is no secret that long-term U.S. Air Force and Navy planning is focused on China. This alone is straining U.S.-China relations, as well as triggering U.S. domestic criticism from those who regard war with China as inconceivable, and an internal squabble between China-focused planners and “boot-centric” Army and Marine Corps leaders.

3. "Has the Freedom From Religion Foundation weighed in on the Koran-burning/Afghan murders?" I checked its site and the answer appears to be no.

Representative Sample: where’s FFRF? Where’s Annie Gaylor, using this horrible event as proof that mindless devotion to “organized religion” turns people into unthinking, unfeeling animals whose only desire in life is to do the will of Odin as determined by whatever religious charlatan is interpreting the entrails this week?

4. "Do the Math" Regarding gun control supporters.

Representative Sample: they fail to do some basic math on their own assertions

5. "Latest Offense to Allah That Must Be Murdered Away: Singing In Praise of God" I wonder if Lindsey Graham and other useful idiots think we should restrict singing to avoid trigger the murderous rage of Islamic fanatics.

Representative Sample: Psychopaths don't need a reason to kill. They never have. They just need an opportunity.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

HOT5 Daily 4/3/2011

1. "SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!" An on-target rant.

Representative Sample: it was certainly pointless (except as a means of cynical self-promotion, of course) for Jones to attempt to prove something everybody already knows anyway. But he’s done something else he himself may not have intended: he’s shone a light on the weak spot in the Western defense against the barbarians currently howling at the gates of civilization

2. "THE LAST ROUNDUP" Excellent analysis.

Representative Sample: The timidity of the media and the placing of blame for the horrific violence and mayhem going on now in Afghanistan brings up yet again what I consider to be a key issue in the decline of our culture: Western institutions no longer seem to be able to defend and stand up for the very fundamental ideas on which they are based

3. "Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire... Muslim Troops Massacre 1,000 Catholic Civilians... France intervening in Conflict... French Troops secure Airport" Media strangely reluctant to mention much about religion.

Representative Sample: Muslim Troops, followers of former prime minister and radical Islamist Alassane Ouattara, massacred 1,000 Christians, mostly men in the town of Duekoue, who were fleeing the fighting. They were attempting to reach a nearby Catholic Church for refuge.

4. "Efficacy of prayer questioned" I'll bet the people getting massacred in the story above might have questioned its efficacy.

Representative Sample: Francis Galton, a freelance statistician based in London, England, has his doubts. He's published an analysis in which he points out that many other widely-held beliefs have fallen by the way-side:

5. "Cat Bowling" On a lighter note.

Representative Sample: It's a video.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

Lindsey Graham Thinks We Should Appease Barbarians

I expect this sort of thing from Democrats, ever eager to pander to Muslims. But here's Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

the first member of Congress to say the legislature needs to explore the possibility, however unlikely, of limiting some kinds of free speech - like Terry Jones' Quran burning - that help America's enemies.

"I wish we could find a way to hold people accountable. Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war,"

What a great idea. We should limit our free speech rights because of the actions of murderous, fanatical barbarians. We aren't bending over backward enough to avoid giving offense to Afghans, all while pouring money we don't have into a corrupt country that has done very little to deserve our assistance. Now we need to think about restricting a classic form of free speech by U.S. citizens: the harmless destruction of a symbol. We have to do that because savages poisoned by religion can't control themselves.

The people that should be held accountable are those who advocate and justify murdering innocent victims because someone burned a book and hurt their feelings.

Following Friday prayers, Muslim clerics instructed religious worshippers to avenge the slander of the Holy Quran by western infidels.

Back in 2009 I wrote the following:

Deploying assassins to kill terrorist enemies is something we should already be doing, and should have put into place right after 9/11. It is also worth considering directly targeting radical Islamic clerics who preach jihad against Americans and openly support terrorism. Such clerics believe they can inspire terrorism and send suicide bombers to their deaths with impunity, remaining secure themselves while others blow up civilians or install roadside bombs. It's time they started dying also.

If we want to hold someone accountable, that would be the way to go about it.

As for Lindsey Graham, he should be voted out of office. Unfortunately he'd probably be replaced by an even worse Democrat.

HOT5 Daily 4/1/2011

1. "NATO Reconsidered" A good analysis.

Representative Sample: The Alliance's eager quest for a convincing new role has led to mission creep on a grand scale. A new strategic concept formulated in 1991 tried to define a new threat environment that lacked any real dangers to its members. So security was redefined as not only a military issue, but one with political, economic, social, and environmental dimensions.

2. "Must-Read Study: Too Many Consumer Choices Bad For You" Too much freedom interferes with you doing what your betters think you should do.

Representative Sample: These researchers seem to have concluded that a free society makes it hard for these same researchers to force their beliefs on the rest of us dumb people.

3. "Whose Cyberspace Is It?" What exactly is the military's cyber command supposed to protect?

Representative Sample: Cyber Command was activated last year, but after testimony at a Senate hearing this week it appears the question of how wide-ranging the command's mission will be is not completely resolved.

4. "Sullivan Prepared for Impeachment of Dictatorial Obama" The hysterical Sullivan is usually good for a laugh. What's even funnier is that he has a large readership who actually takes him seriously.

Representative Sample: Sullivan is apoplectic with rage. Seriously, has Sullivan been paying the slightest attention to this administration?

5. "13 Shanzhai Sound-Alike Fakes" Chinese rip-off products.

Representative Sample: The Chinese deal in two kinds of knock-offs. The counterfeit, which looks like a real name brand product, but merely has a fraudulent label sewn on to appear genuine and then the Shanzhai, which almost look and sound close to a real name brand.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.