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Valedictorian Rips Up Speech And Recites Lord's Prayer

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justoh said:
Not inversely proportional to intelligence, but to knowledge, which are distinct. Of course it's a controversial entailment, but why wouldn't ignorance and knowledge (not intelligence) be inversely proportional? I know this might sound a little fantastical or hyperbolic, but surely the problem isn't some random kid praying to a captive audience, but rather that religion is still being taken seriously at all?

These people who get equal protection clause hardons miss the irony that it matters less that they say what they believe than that they truly believe it in the first place. Which is what lead me to that first point. You can't sue them into rational thinking. It has to be taught. In schools, for example...
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Knowledge, intelligence, whatever criteria you want to use; it is shortsighted on your part to assume that someone must be ignorant because they have a religious faith.
 
Rob M. said:
Its not just short-sighted, it's clear ignorance and mind-shrinkingly asinine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...science#2001.E2.80.93today_.2821st_century.29
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all it takes is a good dose of brainwashing and a healthy case of head in the sand for "scientists" to maintain belief in imaginary notions with no evidence.

but that's what belief/faith is all about... wedge the critical mind deep in the sand and accept anything that supports a make-believe worldview.
 
colonelciller said:
all it takes is a good dose of brainwashing and a healthy case of head in the sand for "scientists" to maintain belief in imaginary notions with no evidence.

but that's what belief/faith is all about... wedge the critical mind deep in the sand and accept anything that supports a make-believe worldview.
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It must be quite disturbing for you that so many people (including our President) have beliefs that are completely foreign to you. One would think that any critical mind worth its salt would investigate such things before making ignorant rash judgments regarding deeply personal and subjective issues such as spirituality.
 
Historically, religions have developed to explain things that we didn't understand. So in its essence, its an attempt to apply a supernatural cause for something that your mind can't comprehend. But through science and investigative analysis, those seemingly unexplainable events have rather rational and usually simple explanations. However, it doesn't hurt to ponder whether a god started the universe. For some theoretical physicists, that is often the source of their avid curiosity which fuels their drive to understand how everything the universe works. I believe our main purpose as humans is to constantly pursue knowledge and try to understand the universe and world we live in. Clearly that's the only direction that will prove whether a God exists or not.
 
Doc Savage Fan said:
It must be quite disturbing for you that so many people (including our President) have beliefs that are completely foreign to you. One would think that any critical mind worth its salt would investigate such things before making ignorant rash judgments regarding deeply personal and subjective issues such as spirituality.
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Well, I remain hopeful that he's only faking it, since I voted for him in 2008. I shudder to think that he might actually be sincere. Then again, I wouldn't be too surprised either. One more disappointment to add to his list.
 
Damn, i just wasted all that time and could have just quoted Doc Savage Fan's signature.

"A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms—it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man."
- Albert Einstein
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justoh said:
Well, I remain hopeful that he's only faking it, since I voted for him in 2008. I shudder to think that he might actually be sincere. Then again, I wouldn't be too surprised either. One more disappointment to add to his list.
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That's the problem right there since you voted for him.
 
justoh said:
Well, I remain hopeful that he's only faking it, since I voted for him in 2008. I shudder to think that he might actually be sincere. Then again, I wouldn't be too surprised either. One more disappointment to add to his list.
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...and I remain hopeful that you're only faking it.
 
Doc Savage Fan said:
It must be quite disturbing for you that so many people (including our President) have beliefs that are completely foreign to you. One would think that any critical mind worth its salt would investigate such things before making ignorant rash judgments regarding deeply personal and subjective issues such as spirituality.
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Boy, I bet it makes his brain hurts to even acknowledge that some of the best contributors to society... and dare I say "science" hold religious beliefs.
 
Rob M. said:
Boy, I bet it makes his brain hurts to even acknowledge that some of the best contributors to society... and dare I say "science" hold religious beliefs.
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I don't dispute that. It doesn't make their contributions any less impressive or worthwhile, though it also doesn't excuse them ignoring a pretty serious metaphysical question that should have been sorted out in high school.
 
justoh said:
I don't dispute that. It doesn't make their contributions any less impressive or worthwhile, though it also doesn't excuse them ignoring a pretty serious metaphysical question that should have been sorted out in high school.
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Of course it's a serious question, but no matter how much you attempt to denigrate people's beliefs, it won't change the fact that some of the most respected minds in the world still believe.

The fact that smart, intelligent people sorted out Wizards, Unicorns, Santa Clause, etc before high school means that they feel God has some legitimacy -- no matter what comparisons you want to draw, and no matter if you think God has no legitimacy, as far as we're concerned, that's simply your opinion.

So this question about God isn't as simple as the question is about Santa Clause, for instance. If it were, then we wouldn't have anyone older than 5 believing in God.
 
justoh said:
I don't dispute that. It doesn't make their contributions any less impressive or worthwhile, though it also doesn't excuse them ignoring a pretty serious metaphysical question that should have been sorted out in high school.
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I couldn't figure out how you could be such a tool... Then I saw this:

yzy2u6y4.jpg


So who's troll account are you? :sly:
 
Rob M. said:
Of course it's a serious question, but no matter how much you attempt to denigrate people's beliefs, it won't change the fact that some of the most respected minds in the world still believe.

The fact that smart, intelligent people sorted out Wizards, Unicorns, Santa Clause, etc before high school means that they feel God has some legitimacy -- no matter what comparisons you want to draw, and no matter if you think God has no legitimacy, as far as we're concerned, that's simply your opinion.

So this question about God isn't as simple as the question is about Santa Clause, for instance. If it were, then we wouldn't have anyone older than 5 believing in God.
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Nah, it's that simple. Anyway, all of this is OT. There isn't any reasonable legal challenge to be made against this speech, and it's ridiculous to make a big deal out of this. It was done without any apparent school involvement, and the guy deserved to say whatever he wanted to. There we go 🙂

also, i'm nobody's troll account. I'm just a new user who stumbled upon a vaguely interesting topic. The only thing I found offensive was that this kid hadn't been taught any critical thinking skills, and yet is awarded the highest honour. Since there is no legal argument to be made, this also seems like the only thing one can be legitimately offended by. I'm not angry. I'm just.... disappointed.
 
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justoh said:
Nah, it's that simple. Anyway, all of this is OT. There isn't any reasonable legal challenge to be made against this speech, and it's ridiculous to make a big deal out of this. It was done without any apparent school involvement, and the guy deserved to say whatever he wanted to. There we go 🙂
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If it's that simple, why hasn't it been resolved then?

What are you trying to say about those scientists?
 
justoh said:
Nah, it's that simple. Anyway, all of this is OT. There isn't any reasonable legal challenge to be made against this speech, and it's ridiculous to make a big deal out of this. It was done without any apparent school involvement, and the guy deserved to say whatever he wanted to. There we go 🙂
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Absolutely and he stood up against the school. He exercised his free speech and didn't back down either.
 
justoh said:
I literally don't understand what you are saying here. Anyway, at least he got the girl in the end.
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I'll spell it out for you in simple words ok?

Junior graduated from a regular high school, not a parochial (read religious) school. As valedictorian. Which presumably means he earned high marks in multiple classes that required critical thinking skills: AP English, AP Government, Calculus, a foreign language, a form of science whether chemistry, biology, or physics.

You're assuming he lacks critical thinking skills because he believes in God. We have documented proof that he earned high marks (or the rest of his class, to a student earned low ones) in a curriculum that required critical thinking skills.

Who lacks critical thinking skills? I believe that would be you.
 
TerryMathews said:
I'll spell it out for you in simple words ok?

Junior graduated from a regular high school, not a parochial (read religious) school. As valedictorian. Which presumably means he earned high marks in multiple classes that required critical thinking skills: AP English, AP Government, Calculus, a foreign language, a form of science whether chemistry, biology, or physics.

You're assuming he lacks critical thinking skills because he believes in God. We have documented proof that he earned high marks (or the rest of his class, to a student earned low ones) in a curriculum that required critical thinking skills.

Who lacks critical thinking skills? I believe that would be you.
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For some reason he doesn't understand that many smart people believe in God. This is a smart kid and he could have made some typical speech but he took a courageous stand by standing up for his religion, and that is respectable.
 
TerryMathews said:
I'll spell it out for you in simple words ok?

Junior graduated from a regular high school, not a parochial (read religious) school. As valedictorian. Which presumably means he earned high marks in multiple classes that required critical thinking skills: AP English, AP Government, Calculus, a foreign language, a form of science whether chemistry, biology, or physics.

You're assuming he lacks critical thinking skills because he believes in God. We have documented proof that he earned high marks (or the rest of his class, to a student earned low ones) in a curriculum that required critical thinking skills.

Who lacks critical thinking skills? I believe that would be you.
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What are you basing this on? How do you know what level of critical thinking was required by a public school in one of the lower performing states in the us in academics?
 
TerryMathews said:
I'll spell it out for you in simple words ok?

Junior graduated from a regular high school, not a parochial (read religious) school. As valedictorian. Which presumably means he earned high marks in multiple classes that required critical thinking skills: AP English, AP Government, Calculus, a foreign language, a form of science whether chemistry, biology, or physics.

You're assuming he lacks critical thinking skills because he believes in God. We have documented proof that he earned high marks (or the rest of his class, to a student earned low ones) in a curriculum that required critical thinking skills.

Who lacks critical thinking skills? I believe that would be you.
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I thought that was_my_ point. It's not a parochial school, so there is really no excuse.
 
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