Doug's Views – Page 68 – Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist

March 12, 2012April 18, 2020

Framing Humanism Is Okay But Not At The Expense Of Honesty

Humanism is a strange collection of individuals in a stew of rationality, all of us looking for the truth for our world view. We, as Humanists, know we must work with believers and other theists to find common ground with the goal of bettering the human condition. Andy Norman, writing for the Humanist Network News, an e-zine of the American Humanist Association, tries to offer tips for dialogue on Humanism to non-humanists but does so by giving up honesty in the process.

Norman, in his essay “Framing Humanism, or How to Win the Culture War”, starts out great by explaining how we as Humanists could do a better job of bringing in new people or at least getting our message out by the use of Framing (where we control the meaning of our message), but then my alarm bells start going off when I read this:

March 9, 2012April 18, 2020

Before You Fall In Love With The ‘KONY 2012’ Video…

There is a viral video called “KONY 2012” by the group Invisible Children highlighting Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda – this is the same group that Rush Limbaugh supported simply because of the group’s name. It seems the group behind the effort to bring Kony down has not been completely honest about their full agenda.

Here is a short video discussing the “KONY 2012” effort:

February 20, 2012April 18, 2020

Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity: Know your GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates

image of final four GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates

The other day I created the image seen on the right of these words. “Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity: Know your GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates” which gave nicknames for each of the final four Republican Presidential Candidates of 2012. Then I had an idea of creating a short slide show set to some funky music. Enjoy a unique look at the four men who want to be President of the United States.

Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity:
Know your GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates

February 12, 2012April 18, 2020

Eurythmics Mended My Broken Heart

A classic human milestone is one’s first broken heart. It can happen at any age but it does happen to all of us at some point. My first broken heart was during my college years when my first real love didn’t share the same feelings for me that I had for her. I hit a very rough patch that took several months to heal. It also probably cost me two friendships as they got tired of my blubbering depression and needing to talk about the event incessantly. Lucky for me I had the Eurythmics on my record player for much of that tough time and their songs helped mend my broken heart.

I had been a fan of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart since “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” but there were two albums specifically that got me through my melancholy: “Be Yourself Tonight” (1985) and “Revenge” (1986). I had picked them up at a local record store and already had dubbed them to a blank cassette so I could listen to the music while walking to class.

January 27, 2012April 18, 2020

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

One part of political debate I like is using images to make a point. Whether it is a chart or a quote image, these graphics hold on to the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. They are also easy to share in social media. However one still needs to be careful one isn’t sharing inaccurate information. Don’t post or share any graphic unless you can confirm the accuracy of the information.

Earlier this year this chart was making the rounds of the blogs I read: