The long and short of it: Yes.
My say: I say this because, obviously, I am an atheist, and I genuinely believe that there is no God. I was raised not to believe in God by my secular Buddhist parents, and I don't think I'm traumatised or whatever because I wasn't raised by the Bible or anything. It's okay growing up without God. Really.
But then again, I do believe that religion is a very personal choice and we all have the right to religious freedom, even small children. So I would definitely explain to my children the concept of God, and how some people believe in God or a group of Gods, and how and why. I would explain to them that it's fine to believe in whatever you want, as long as you understand it thoroughly and truly believe it with all your heart. I would tell them about cults and tell them that religion can be dangerous, and religion should never make you do anything you know isn't right, or stop you from doing whatever you want to do. I would tell them that I don't believe in God, and I would explain why, and, whatever they choose, I'm not going to change and we're just going to have to agree to disagree. But most importantly, I would tell them that no matter what they chose, they'd still be my children and I'd love them still. When I am a parent, my job would be to teach my children to think, not what to think. What I would hate is to be a mother to some blind cult follower who doesn't think before he jumps.
I think believing in God has the potential to make you a better person, but it can also have an equal and opposite effect. I have heard of too much blood spilt, too many lives lost and too many souls ruined by God, and I fear the whole concept. I don't think I'd be a better person if I were God-fearing; I don't think I'm a bad person because I am atheist. And that's that.
Worm #16: Is it wrong to tell a fat person to lose weight?
The long and short of it:Yes.
The only exception to this is if it is someone near and dear to you who is morbidly obese and in danger of dropping dead at any minute. Other than that, it is not acceptable to harass random strangers you don't know and would never talk to about their weight.
There are many reasons for weight gain: thyroid problems, genetics, having children, depression etc, and it's insensitive to just assume they're just gluttons.
You have to think about why you want to have a go at someone because of their weight. Do you genuinely care about them and their health? Why? Do you just think it's disgraceful someone could show their face to the world weighing 100kg? Is it really going to affect your quality of life is someone walking down the street is a bit todgy? What if they're going through a hard time and you're adding unecessary guilt to necessary ice cream binges?
If it doesn't bother you, leave it alone.
Special Worm #1: Does pop culture and new media demean the traditional practices of journalism?
The long and short of it: No.
To be honest, I'd never really trusted the whole world of journalism - it's always been about backstabbing, scrabbling for bits of information and invading privacy. I'm no expert, but I just feel as though pop culture and journalism have forever been intertwined, and it's hard to tell one from the other. What is traditional? When journalism was climbing over walls and lurking in private residences instead of phone hacking?
Thanks to Adelaide Dupont for posting some worms for me to respond to (I totally don't understand the first one! Will comment on it once I do some research). I would love to hear from anyone; please post a comment below. Can of Worms is going strong - although, to be honest, I don't really watch it ;) - I just get the questions online! The joys of the Net!)
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