Justin L. Barrett appears to have written an interesting book about children being born with a predisposition to believe in a higher power. The author of the article has chosen to use this as an opportunity to criticize Dawkins for not using the scientific method to determine the root of belief in children. Barrett, on the other hand, sounds like a very reasonable guy (the kind of believer that I wouldn’t be hard-pressed to get along with).
The Wild Hunt posted about the laws in FL, AZ, and Texas that allow students to offer “inspirational” messages at public schools that can consist of prayer. Well, the post is about a little more than that. It’s well-written.
I’m not sure how I ended up with two Daily Beast links in one day, but this one is about the Duggars. I don’t know how anyone can think overpopulation is a lie, for starters. And then there’s the whole issue that I think it’s terribly irresponsible to be open to more pregnancies when women’s bodies didn’t evolve to have so many children (19 plus a 20th failed pregnancy) and you have 19 children to take care of. Obviously the Duggars are free to make these decisions, and that’s fine, but I don’t have to think they’re making the right ones. Especially not when they place themselves in the public sphere.
Fifty Shades of Grey seems to be a hot topic among writers. I read another article about it not too long ago. It’s a little surprising how much people are reading into it all. It doesn’t make me want to read it, though.
Okay, I kind of get it when people are upset that, say, 1 in every 100 grains of organic wild rice is actually a bug. But I don’t understand getting upset about eating a product derived from insects intentionally. Unless you’re hardcore vegan for non-health reasons, then I don’t understand why you’re getting something at Starbucks.*
I liked the Afternoon Inquisition over at Skepchick yesterday.
I still love The Oatmeal. I think this comic is even better than the last one.
*Though it does make sense that it would bother a vegan that there are insect-derived components in the food.
amandatheatheist 