My 5-year-old son and I enjoy watching the cartoon Adventure Time — it’s one of the few shows we both love. The other day, we saw an episode in which an angry ghost began sucking the life-force from the hero, Finn. (Spoiler alert: Finn ended up being OK!) But my son, Felix, didn’t know what to make of the scene.

“What’s that stuff coming from Finn’s mouth?” he asked.

“It’s his soul,” I explained. “The ghost is sucking his soul out of him.”

“What’s a soul?”

“I guess it’s like your energy, or another way of saying your mind.”

For many American kids, the word “soul” is a familiar one. I remember encountering it around my son’s age, in kindergarten at the Catholic school I attended. But my wife and I are raising Felix without religion, so he has not yet encountered the majority of basic religious concepts. I doubt he’d be able to define God, for example, and he certainly doesn’t know anything about worship services or ceremonies. Since writing about this subject last, Felix has come to understand that churches are not castles, but he has no idea (nor has he ever asked) what people do inside of them.

Because of this, and because of his own innate tendencies, he’s a pre-K realist. Tell him that something happens because of magic, and he’ll respond with “magic isn’t real,” or “you must be kidding.” He still believes in Santa Claus, but has created a number of rules in order to explain how Santa operates in the real world. For example, Santa’s sleigh must travel super fast, since it’s impossible for him to stop time. And he must have a huge keyring with a key to everyone’s house on it, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to get inside. Also, the only real Santa is the one at Macy’s in Manhattan. The ones you see in malls are just guys dressing up for fun.

Felix’s logic on the subject of Santa is shaky, to be sure, but it is grounded in observation. Since not everyone has a chimney, and no one actually goes down chimneys, then Santa must use the door, right? He came up with this on his own. The kid’s natural bent toward reason is a strength: he excels at science and has little trouble mastering logical routines; and a weakness: he struggles to understand emotions and feelings, partly, it seems, because they are abstract, and he has only a short attention span for purely aesthetic experiences like viewing art or dance.

Apparently, Felix is not alone in this. A recent article on Slate reported that most kids raised without religion are better at distinguishing fact from fiction. In two separate studies, scientists read stories that veered from the realistic to the magical to the biblically miraculous (magical but with references to God). Slate contributor Marc Joseph Stern writes:

Every child believed that the protagonist of the realistic stories was a real person. But when asked about the stories featuring biblically-inspired or non-biblical but magical events, the children disagreed. Children raised with religion thought the protagonists of the miraculous stories were real people, and they seemed to interpret the narratives — both biblical and magical — as true accounts.

Secular children, on the other hand, were quick to perceive that these stories were fictitious, construing them as fairy tales rather than real-life narratives. … [They] generally understood that any story featuring magic could not take place in the world they inhabit.

Because so many fundamental religious stories involve magical elements to them — a man returning from the dead after three days, for example, or a prophet receiving messages from a talking, burning bush — children raised to take religion as truth have trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction. In religion classes and at home, these children may be discouraged from asking logic-based questions, since those questions equate disbelief, which many religions view as sinful.

I certainly encountered this as a Catholic school student. Religion was never one of my strong subjects, because it required regurgitating dogma instead of creative or critical thinking, which was an innate strength. Nor was reading, even though I read avidly and above my grade level. My English teachers were more interested in my memorizing their take on a story or novel, and not in my articulating what I actually thought of the work myself. My mom still has old projects I worked on in grade school, in which I say that I want to grow up to be a priest, or something along those lines. I never remember seriously thinking that, it’s just what I had to say in order to pass the class. Religious communities value conformity, and so I conformed.

When I went to a public high school, my academic performance turned around because suddenly the active thinking skills that my Catholic school teachers wanted me to suppress were deemed assets. Over the course of those four years, my view of myself transformed. I went from a student who struggled to succeed and fit in and never seemed able to find the “right” answer, to an independent thinker confident I had interesting ideas to contribute to the classroom.

Religious belief points to a way of viewing the world, and as the Slate article points out, in general religious parents value self-control, order, and adherence to rules. Kids who don’t easily fit that bill are going to struggle, and the ones that do may find that their ability to judge reality suffers outside of the religious community.

I don’t believe that a person needs religion or faith in a higher power or being to be a moral person, or a positive member of our society. I see that at work in my son, who is very aware in fantasy stories like Adventure Time or Star Wars that, while magic may be silly, treating others with compassion and respect is important and valuable. You don’t need religion to raise a good kid. And for some kids, the ones who don’t easily fit in to the community, for whatever reason, you may only be doing them damage.

So, this is how a typical white parent raises his/her kid? smh

I culd stay to read dat long message..... As regads the topic, what if dat kid leaves ds life

smurfy: My 5-year-old son and I enjoy watching the cartoon Adventure Time — it’s one of the few shows we both love. The other day, we saw an episode in which an angry ghost began sucking the life-force from the hero, Finn. (Spoiler alert: Finn ended up being OK!) But my son, Felix, didn’t know what to make of the scene.

“What’s that stuff coming from Finn’s mouth?” he asked.

“It’s his soul,” I explained. “The ghost is sucking his soul out of him.”

“What’s a soul?”

“I guess it’s like your energy, or another way of saying your mind.”

It is not necessary to be religious to understand what the word soul means. As a matter of fact, the word soul can be defined in various ways. Defining the soul as energy would be a rather scientific approach.

For many American kids, the word “soul” is a familiar one. I remember encountering it around my son’s age, in kindergarten at the Catholic school I attended. But my wife and I are raising Felix without religion, so he has not yet encountered the majority of basic religious concepts. I doubt he’d be able to define God, for example, and he certainly doesn’t know anything about worship services or ceremonies. Since writing about this subject last, Felix has come to understand that churches are not castles, but he has no idea (nor has he ever asked) what people do inside of them.

You don't have to be religious to teach children what is part f general knowledge, namely religion. You don't have to go to church, you don't have to believe in God but you should be able to understand what the basis of the value system in the country where you live is.

Whether you are Catholic, Atheist, Muslim or Hindu, you should know that there are different world religions and what they are about. This is general knowledge.

Because of this, and because of his own innate tendencies, he’s a pre-K realist. Tell him that something happens because of magic, and he’ll respond with “magic isn’t real,” or “you must be kidding.” He still believes in Santa Claus, but has created a number of rules in order to explain how Santa operates in the real world. For example, Santa’s sleigh must travel super fast, since it’s impossible for him to stop time. And he must have a huge keyring with a key to everyone’s house on it, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to get inside. Also, the only real Santa is the one at Macy’s in Manhattan. The ones you see in malls are just guys dressing up for fun.

I guess, the 5-year-old was taught that magic is not real. I don't see how you cannot teach the child of religious parents that magic is not real.

Felix’s logic on the subject of Santa is shaky, to be sure, but it is grounded in observation. Since not everyone has a chimney, and no one actually goes down chimneys, then Santa must use the door, right? He came up with this on his own. The kid’s natural bent toward reason is a strength: he excels at science and has little trouble mastering logical routines; and a weakness: he struggles to understand emotions and feelings, partly, it seems, because they are abstract, and he has only a short attention span for purely aesthetic experiences like viewing art or dance.

Your son excels at science because his environment, in this case his parents, encourage it. Religious parents can do the same. Religion and science do not have to necessarily exclude one another.

Apparently, Felix is not alone in this. A recent article on Slate reported that most kids raised without religion are better at distinguishing fact from fiction. In two separate studies, scientists read stories that veered from the realistic to the magical to the biblically miraculous (magical but with references to God). Slate contributor Marc Joseph Stern writes:

Every child believed that the protagonist of the realistic stories was a real person. But when asked about the stories featuring biblically-inspired or non-biblical but magical events, the children disagreed. Children raised with religion thought the protagonists of the miraculous stories were real people, and they seemed to interpret the narratives — both biblical and magical — as true accounts.

Is it surprising that children raised with religion believe in biblical narratives?

And does religious education exclude natural sciences?

I would answer both questions with a big NO.

Secular children, on the other hand, were quick to perceive that these stories were fictitious, construing them as fairy tales rather than real-life narratives. … [They] generally understood that any story featuring magic could not take place in the world they inhabit.

Personally, I believe that it is a pity to grow up without fairy tales and the world of magic.

Because so many fundamental religious stories involve magical elements to them — a man returning from the dead after three days, for example, or a prophet receiving messages from a talking, burning bush — children raised to take religion as truth have trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction. In religion classes and at home, these children may be discouraged from asking logic-based questions, since those questions equate disbelief, which many religions view as sinful.

Like I said, I see no reason why religious and scientific education have to exclude each other. Only fanatic parents will consider it a sin to ask logic-based questions.

I certainly encountered this as a Catholic school student. Religion was never one of my strong subjects, because it required regurgitating dogma instead of creative or critical thinking, which was an innate strength. Nor was reading, even though I read avidly and above my grade level. My English teachers were more interested in my memorizing their take on a story or novel, and not in my articulating what I actually thought of the work myself. My mom still has old projects I worked on in grade school, in which I say that I want to grow up to be a priest, or something along those lines. I never remember seriously thinking that, it’s just what I had to say in order to pass the class. Religious communities value conformity, and so I conformed.

It's a pity your religious education stopped you from critical thinking. I enjoyed religious education that encouraged critical thinking.

When I went to a public high school, my academic performance turned around because suddenly the active thinking skills that my Catholic school teachers wanted me to suppress were deemed assets. Over the course of those four years, my view of myself transformed. I went from a student who struggled to succeed and fit in and never seemed able to find the “right” answer, to an independent thinker confident I had interesting ideas to contribute to the classroom.

This explains why you think that science and religion must exclude each other.

Religious belief points to a way of viewing the world, and as the Slate article points out, in general religious parents value self-control, order, and adherence to rules. Kids who don’t easily fit that bill are going to struggle, and the ones that do may find that their ability to judge reality suffers outside of the religious community.

@bold

This is not only something religious parents expect.

I don’t believe that a person needs religion or faith in a higher power or being to be a moral person, or a positive member of our society. I see that at work in my son, who is very aware in fantasy stories like Adventure Time or Star Wars that, while magic may be silly, treating others with compassion and respect is important and valuable. You don’t need religion to raise a good kid. And for some kids, the ones who don’t easily fit in to the community, for whatever reason, you may only be doing them damage.

I agree but it is important to understand that such values as compassion and respect, which are now generally agreed upon, were derived from religion.

So, this is how a typical white parent raises his/her kid? smh

Who told you this is a typical white parent?

Religion only "regurgitates Dogma.... How apt....
The greatest fail in religion is that it tries to force people to adopt a belief or system of belief without objections...
One is considered a sinner if you ask too many questions, the case of Galileo comes to mind....Morality tells us what is right or wrong... Its only human to be compassionate one doesn't need religion for that.. Infact religion has made people less compassionate and considerate of others... The Muslims dislike the christians, the christians think everybody else is going to hell, the buddhists loathes the taoists... There's is a certain amount of animosity among every religion in the world and even within their various denominations and divisions...

njokusboy: Religion only "regurgitates Dogma.... How apt....
The greatest fail in religion is that it tries to force people to adopt a belief or system of belief without objections...
One is considered a sinner if you ask too many questions, the case of Galileo comes to mind....Morality tells us what is right or wrong... Its only human to be compassionate one doesn't need religion for that.. Infact religion has made people less compassionate and considerate of others... The Muslims dislike the christians, the christians think everybody else is going to hell, the buddhists loathes the taoists... There's is a certain amount of animosity every religion in the world and even within their various denominations and divisions...

I take it you're in agreement with the way that man is raising his boy?
I have no problem with people attacking religion, as long as they agree they do wrong and can't help doing wrong.
Therein lies the need of a Saviour.

njokusboy: ....Morality tells us what is right or wrong...

And kindly expalin the source of this morality?

Thanks

TV

^{**my little boy sometines dines with me. If I dare raise that fork straight off, he'll stiffen a little, look at me and say "daddy pray". I'm still not sure if the look is scorn, rebuke or merely instruction, but daddy prays **}

smurfy:

I take it you're in agreement with the way that man is raising his boy?
I have no problem with people attacking religion, as long as they agree they do wrong and can't help doing wrong.
Therein lies the need of a Saviour.

Agreed.. People do wrong and can't help.. Its human nature to err... However, one does not need a saviour to admit his wrong...

TV01:
And kindly expalin the source of this morality?

Thanks

TV

^{**my little boy sometines dines with me. If I dare raise that fork straight off, he'll stiffen a little look at me and say "daddy pray". I'm still not sure if the look is scorn, rebuke or merely instruction, but daddy prays **}

Ones inner self, logic/reason, common sense... one doesn't need religion to tell him it is wrong to steal... Religion has however expanded morality....
There is also culture....

njokusboy:
Ones inner self, logic/reason, common sense... one doesn't need religion to tell him it is wrong to steal... Religion has however expanded morality....
There is also culture....

I said nothing about religion...just to be clear. How do we arrive at an objective moral position without God? Why is it wrong to steal?


TV

Truth is...no one needs religion

TV01:
I said nothing about religion...just to be clear. How do we arrive at an objective moral position without God? Why is it wrong to steal?


TV

It is wrong to steal because it is only common sense to earn yours and not take away that which another man strove to earn thereby depriving him of the fruits of his labour.... Even atheists agree... You don't need any God to teach you that...

mumumugu: Truth is...no one needs religion

Some / Many people do.

After reading the thread on " Bird turns into girl" and seeing the response that follows I am tilting a little towards the poster.
We raise superstitious, fearful and sometimes lazy people now. Every challenge has to be from an "enemy", a squid was caught in Ibadan and the whole city of Professors went into a frenzy lynching and burning the poor fisher mans house.

We live in a society where you question a "miracle" baby and the whole squad comes on you calling you all sorts, someone will claim she was pregnant for 2 years, Oya which Doctor? What hospital? "No I went to "church" and the Pastor delivered me, scans showed an empty stomach". Or you have triplets after years of waiting and you are somehow ashamed to acknowledge the Doctors and the role of science you lie through your teeth that it was the oil you drank.

You wont invest in science or research but we can buy jets for our pastors then Ebola comes and we are begging a "godless" society to come and save us with their magic serum, what of our miracle dishing pastors?

A Pastor slaps a child in full glare of a crowd and cameras but he is untouchable and when he does it its not a crime because we are told to "Touch not"

We are aslo very selective eg: Death the Gay people but ignoring the same chapter just below also saying death to adulterers.

I am religious but rational, but I am called an atheist because I question a lot. I wouldnt want my child to grow up believing a bird will turn into a girl and proceed to join in lynching.

Someone has fertility challenges and instead of using the reproductive years to find out what is medically wrong they will be moving from church to church until the reproductive age has passed or almost over before trying IVF which by then has less than 10percent of working and it doesnt help that other women who had IVF will stand in church and shamelessly lie that it was the church that gave them "miracle babies"

njokusboy:

It is wrong to steal because it is only common sense to earn yours and not take away that which another man strove to earn thereby depriving him of the fruits of his labour.... Even atheists agree... You don't need any God to teach you that...

You say it is wrong. Why is your judgement - which is only relative - any better than one who sees it as not morally wrong?


TV

TV01:
You say it is wrong. Why is your judgement - which is only relative - any better than one who sees it as not morally wrong?


TV

There is nothing relative about taking that which isn't yours.. It is simply wrong... It might be subjective (every morality or doctrine is, the subjectivity only justifies it and not make it right but that is btw)...
Anybody who thinks otherwise is a deviant....
I think its high time you stated ur opinion... No more questions...

aisha2: After reading the thread on " Bird turns into girl" and seeing the response that follows I am tilting a little towards the poster.
We raise superstitious, fearful and sometimes lazy people now. Every challenge has to be from an "enemy", a squid was caught in Ibadan and the whole city of Professors went into a frenzy lynching and burning the poor fisher mans house.

We live in a society where you question a "miracle" baby and the whole squad comes on you calling you all sorts, someone will claim she was pregnant for 2 years, Oya which Doctor? What hospital? "No I went to "church" and the Pastor delivered me, scans showed an empty stomach". Or you have triplets after years of waiting and you are somehow ashamed to acknowledge the Doctors and the role of science you lie through your teeth that it was the oil you drank.

You wont invest in science or research but we can buy jets for our pastors then Ebola comes and we are begging a "godless" society to come and save us with their magic serum, what of our miracle dishing pastors?

A Pastor slaps a child in full glare of a crowd and cameras but he is untouchable and when he does it its not a crime because we are told to "Touch not"

We are aslo very selective eg: Death the Gay people but ignoring the same chapter just below also saying death to adulterers.

I am religious but rational, but I am called an atheist because I question a lot. I wouldnt want my child to grow up believing a bird will turn into a girl and proceed to join in lynching.

Someone has fertility challenges and instead of using the reproductive years to find out what is medically wrong they will be moving from church to church until the reproductive age has passed or almost over before trying IVF which by then has less than 10percent of working and it doesnt help that other women who had IVF will stand in church and shamelessly lie that it was the church that gave them "miracle babies"

I concur...

njokusboy:

There is nothing relative about taking that which isn't yours.. It is simply wrong... It might be subjective (every morality or doctrine is, the subjectivity only justifies it and not make it right but that is btw)...
Anybody who thinks otherwise is a deviant....
I think its high time you stated ur opinion... No more questions...

Without an objective moral standard - and one that transcends us - any morality is subjective. And like you noted, based on "agreement".
And your insist that something is "simply wrong", doesn't make it so - unless of course your protaganist agrees !


TV

aisha2: After reading the thread on " Bird turns into girl" and seeing the response that follows I am tilting a little towards the poster.
We raise superstitious, fearful and sometimes lazy people now. Every challenge has to be from an "enemy", a squid was caught in Ibadan and the whole city of Professors went into a frenzy lynching and burning the poor fisher mans house.

We live in a society where you question a "miracle" baby and the whole squad comes on you calling you all sorts, someone will claim she was pregnant for 2 years, Oya which Doctor? What hospital? "No I went to "church" and the Pastor delivered me, scans showed an empty stomach". Or you have triplets after years of waiting and you are somehow ashamed to acknowledge the Doctors and the role of science you lie through your teeth that it was the oil you drank.

You wont invest in science or research but we can buy jets for our pastors then Ebola comes and we are begging a "godless" society to come and save us with their magic serum, what of our miracle dishing pastors?

A Pastor slaps a child in full glare of a crowd and cameras but he is untouchable and when he does it its not a crime because we are told to "Touch not"

We are aslo very selective eg: Death the Gay people but ignoring the same chapter just below also saying death to adulterers.

I am religious but rational, but I am called an atheist because I question a lot. I wouldnt want my child to grow up believing a bird will turn into a girl and proceed to join in lynching.

Someone has fertility challenges and instead of using the reproductive years to find out what is medically wrong they will be moving from church to church until the reproductive age has passed or almost over before trying IVF which by then has less than 10percent of working and it doesnt help that other women who had IVF will stand in church and shamelessly lie that it was the church that gave them "miracle babies"

The problem in all of your accounts is not religion but lack of proper education.

The majority of people in developed countries such as in the USA, in Germany, in Switzerland or in the UK are religious.

aisha2: After reading the thread on " Bird turns into girl" and seeing the response that follows I am tilting a little towards the poster.
We raise superstitious, fearful and sometimes lazy people now. Every challenge has to be from an "enemy", a squid was caught in Ibadan and the whole city of Professors went into a frenzy lynching and burning the poor fisher mans house.

We live in a society where you question a "miracle" baby and the whole squad comes on you calling you all sorts, someone will claim she was pregnant for 2 years, Oya which Doctor? What hospital? "No I went to "church" and the Pastor delivered me, scans showed an empty stomach". Or you have triplets after years of waiting and you are somehow ashamed to acknowledge the Doctors and the role of science you lie through your teeth that it was the oil you drank.

You wont invest in science or research but we can buy jets for our pastors then Ebola comes and we are begging a "godless" society to come and save us with their magic serum, what of our miracle dishing pastors?

A Pastor slaps a child in full glare of a crowd and cameras but he is untouchable and when he does it its not a crime because we are told to "Touch not"

We are aslo very selective eg: Death the Gay people but ignoring the same chapter just below also saying death to adulterers.

I am religious but rational, but I am called an atheist because I question a lot. I wouldnt want my child to grow up believing a bird will turn into a girl and proceed to join in lynching.

Someone has fertility challenges and instead of using the reproductive years to find out what is medically wrong they will be moving from church to church until the reproductive age has passed or almost over before trying IVF which by then has less than 10percent of working and it doesnt help that other women who had IVF will stand in church and shamelessly lie that it was the church that gave them "miracle babies"

+100

TV01:
Without an objective moral standard - and one that transcends us - any morality is subjective. And like you noted, based on "agreement".
And your insist that something is "simply wrong", doesn't make it so - unless of course your protaganist agrees !


TV

Lolzzz, I get your point, that is why I said such person is a deviant.... There is no objective moral standard in totality, but there is a moral standard and it does transcend us....Everybody agrees that it is wrong to steal, except the deviant ...Its a game of numbers...

carefreewannabe:

The problem in all of your accounts is not religion but lack of proper education.

The majority of people in developed countries such as in the USA, in Germany, in Switzerland or in the UK are religious.

After your comment this morning I knew you were coming round. But oh boy! I didn''t expect it by close of business same day !

Loffly post


TV

^{**some people just love to rant, and arrant nonsense at that**}

njokusboy: There is no objective moral standard in totality,

Then it is relative, a mere convention

njokusboy: but there is a moral standard and it does transcend us....

Then it is objective and nothing ot do with us.

Which is it?


TV

Carefreewannabe, I agree and disagree.
I doubt its illiteracy, just that we seem to practice a different version than the people who brought it originally intended.

They have soup kitchens, take charity serious, most of the volunteers who came to help were christian missionaries.

I disagree with illiteracy because the pastor who slapped the minor was not illierate neither was the crowd cheering him on.
Those who buy jets are not illiterates

Those who do IVF and lie are not illiterates.

Those on blogs cursing and cursing everyday that gays should be stoned to death yet justifying adultery are not illiterates either


Those clicking "amen" to "Type amen" posts are not also illiterates

TV01:
Then it is relative, a mere convention


Then it is objective and nothing ot do with us.

Which is it?


TV

The fact that a deviant and other deviants like him disagree with that which is generally accepted does not make it relative.. He/they are merely trying to excuse their wrong, why do they run and hi
de after doing wrong... There aint nothing relative about it (stealing)
It is objective and transcends any single individual... It is wrong in any human society....
Objectivity is antonymous to subjectivity not relativity...

TV01:
After your comment this morning I knew you were coming round. But oh boy! I didn''t expect it by close of business same day !
Loffly post
TV
^{a*some people just love to rant, and arrant nonsense at that**}

Please as much as we disagree with others daily here, calling another persons post a rant and "arrant nonsense" is not very nice. I would not respond in kind because I will just put it on you having a bad day, I doubt on a normal day you would respond with insults, on a good day You would normally respond on merits and demerits promoting a healthy debate.

Enjoy the rest of the lovely evening

aisha2:

Please as much as we disagree with others daily here, calling another persons post a rant and "arrant nonsense" is not very nice. I would not respond in kind because I will just put it on you having a bad day, I doubt on a normal day you would respond with insults, on a good day You would normally respond on merits and demerits promoting a healthy debate.

Enjoy the rest of the lovely evening

Lolzzz, you have obviously not been following carefrees argument recently... TV is just saying the truth, most of what she says are " rants and arrant nonsense"... No pun intended..
And if you have been following her argument you would excuse anyone that calls it rants especially if you consider the way she disses anyone who disagrees... She is usually the first to call people slow and unintelligent even though they are obviously smarter than she is... Dodging direct questions and looking for words to help spell correctly when she is caught in her web of lies and misinformation/confusion...

njokusboy:
Lolzzz, you have obviously not been following carefrees argument recently... TV is just saying the truth, most of what she says are " rants and arrant nonsense"... No pun intended..
And if you have been following her argument you would excuse anyone that calls it rants especially if you consider the way she disses anyone who disagrees... She is usually the first to call people slow and unintelligent even though they are obviously smarter than she is... Dodging direct questions and looking for words to help spell correctly when she is caught in her web of lies and misinformation/confusion...

Lol, you dont seem to get it. Carefreewannabe responded to me, so the rants and arrant nonsense was actually meant for me. But as I said I dont take it to heart, seems like a one off.

aisha2:

Lol, you dont seem to get it. Carefreewannabe responded to me, so the rants and arrant nonsense was actually meant for me. But as I said I dont take it to heart, seems like a one off.

Dat the rants were meant for you does not mean someone else cannot point them out.... Abi no be so?

aisha2: After reading the thread on " Bird turns into girl" and seeing the response that follows I am tilting a little towards the poster.
We raise superstitious, fearful and sometimes lazy people now. Every challenge has to be from an "enemy", a squid was caught in Ibadan and the whole city of Professors went into a frenzy lynching and burning the poor fisher mans house.

We live in a society where you question a "miracle" baby and the whole squad comes on you calling you all sorts, someone will claim she was pregnant for 2 years, Oya which Doctor? What hospital? "No I went to "church" and the Pastor delivered me, scans showed an empty stomach". Or you have triplets after years of waiting and you are somehow ashamed to acknowledge the Doctors and the role of science you lie through your teeth that it was the oil you drank.

You wont invest in science or research but we can buy jets for our pastors then Ebola comes and we are begging a "godless" society to come and save us with their magic serum, what of our miracle dishing pastors?

A Pastor slaps a child in full glare of a crowd and cameras but he is untouchable and when he does it its not a crime because we are told to "Touch not"

We are aslo very selective eg: Death the Gay people but ignoring the same chapter just below also saying death to adulterers.

I am religious but rational, but I am called an atheist because I question a lot. I wouldnt want my child to grow up believing a bird will turn into a girl and proceed to join in lynching.

Someone has fertility challenges and instead of using the reproductive years to find out what is medically wrong they will be moving from church to church until the reproductive age has passed or almost over before trying IVF which by then has less than 10percent of working and it doesnt help that other women who had IVF will stand in church and shamelessly lie that it was the church that gave them "miracle babies"

Very True.. I love this

Logic and religion are on opposite ends in the spiritual spectrum.
Science on the other hand disproves both logic and religion.

Out of all three, only two can be taught and imparted onto a person...these are science and religion. For someone to be logical, he/she must have learnt and acquired at least a basic understanding of science and religion.
The kid in the article is said to be logical but at the same time has not been brought up with or taught religion...I disagree with this.

There can never be an absence of religion in anyone, because disbelieving or having no knowledge of a particular religion is in itself a religion...'A religion of disbelief and/or ignorance'.

As for morality, no one is born with the knowledge of morality (differentiating right from wrong and vice versa).
Even the atheists and agnostics live a moral life that is subject to the ethical and constitutional laws of the society they are in...which indirectly results from religion because most of our man-made ethics and constitutional laws are a direct or indirect consequence of religious laws.

aisha2: Carefreewannabe, I agree and disagree.
I doubt its illiteracy, just that we seem to practice a different version than the people who brought it originally intended.

They have soup kitchens, take charity serious, most of the volunteers who came to help were christian missionaries.

I disagree with illiteracy because the pastor who slapped the minor was not illierate neither was the crowd cheering him on.
Those who buy jets are not illiterates

Those who do IVF and lie are not illiterates.

Those on blogs cursing and cursing everyday that gays should be stoned to death yet justifying adultery are not illiterates either


Those clicking "amen" to "Type amen" posts are not also illiterates

Being able to read and write does not mean that you received proper education.

TV01:

After your comment this morning I knew you were coming round. But oh boy! I didn''t expect it by close of business same day !

Loffly post


TV

^{a*some people just love to rant, and arrant nonsense at that**}

Peace brother. In Jesus name. Amen.