The Hobby Horses of Belief (and assorted hazards)

10 year olds have as much reason to believe in santa as a grown man does to believe in "god".

Did you still believe in Santa at 10 or 11? 😳 We indulged it in our kids for as long as they were prepared to go along with it, but that wasn't into double digits.

Some people object to it and that's fine, but imho it's not a bad idea to let kids know that just because someone is in a position of authority over you doesn't mean they're not bullshîtting you.

The religion of peace has offered its benevolence to the good people of Magdeburg, two dead so far.

So it's islamist activist, kill Western infidels.

Anti-islamist activst, kill Western infidels?

Hmmm

See, kids, this is what happens when your beliefs aren't evidence-based.

I am indeed having a go at you, but not for drawing conclusions "based on the information available that the time". The precise opposite, in fact; asserting a conclusion for which the information available at the time provided exactly zero evidence.

Rather than getting all defensive about it, and postulating "evidence" that still doesn't exist to try to convince yourself that you might yet snatch truth from the jaws of falsehood, maybe think about how your failure to adhere to your own principles led you into this situation, and about what it was that led to this failure.

You knew absolutely nothing about this guy, and you knew you knew absolutely nothing about him, and yet you assumed he was a Muslim motivated by Islamism. Would it have killed you to wait for some evidence, one way or the other? Why didn't you? And, given that you chose not to wait for evidence, what did you base your assumption on? Stereotyping? Prejudice? Something else?

'Murica.

BTW I hope everyone is enjoying the "traditional seasonal celebration".

Wait. Arthur Schlesinger was a wealthy American Catholic?

This is Senior, who was Protestant and a Harvard prof, not the one famous for working for JFK then RFK. Protestants the lot of 'em.

Some interesting quotes from Junior:

“America gets the President it deserves”

and

“Anti-intellectualism has long been the anti-Semitism of the businessman," by which he meant that those at the top of the heap use intellectuals as a scapegoat to distract people from the societal inequities that actually affect their lives: those of wealth and power. Intellectuals are posited as both sinister and powerful, conspiratorially undermining the values of ordinary people."

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1184434.Arthur_M_Schlesinger_Jr_

Sunday Worst

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/defence-forces-member-who-raped-partners-long-term-friend-jailed-for-five-years/a864022730.html

The court heard O'Connor maintains his innocence and does not accept the verdict of the jury. Testimonials were handed into court, including a letter from a priest who said that this “was totally out of character from the Alan he knew”.

He'd never tried to rape that priest

Kind of reminiscent of the argumentative couple John and Mary from Fr Ted. Priests live in a sort of dream world where their every (material) need is met without having to lift a finger, everyone who interacts with them is putting on a front. They have no idea of the everyday lives of ordinary people but somehow are still regarded as having opinions worthy of being aired in court.

The churches and the sporting bodies have a common interest in learning how to manage the fallout from sex abuse cases. Just sayin'.