Response to the 10-11-10 class

In today's class, we discussed religion, stereotypes, tolerance, and beliefs. We also discussed gender in religion. There were actually religions long ago that were centered around women. We also looked at a Youtube video about the Westboro Baptist Church, after I had mentioned the Westboro Baptist Church.

We also stated that we can't live without a belief and that we are all capable of good AND evil.

We then watched the documentary "Expelled" starring Ben Stein. It's about some evolutionary professors losing their jobs simply because they mentioned "intelligent design" in their lectures. To me, that's kinda a kick in the teeth. If evolution is allowed in schools, then why not also "intelligent design"? Secular scientists, such as Richard Dawkins, state that "intelligent design" stem from ignorance.

I'm kinda in the middle when it comes to evolution vs. creationism or intelligent design. Why does it matter how we came here or how we came to be modern human beings? That was eons ago. This is now. Also, is there some secret to saving humanity by settling the God or evolution/intelligent design debate through "evidence"? Is that why they're trying to find answers? If so, then great. If not, let's just focus on the now and on the future. Or at least only keep our retrospect to at least 1000 years in the past instead of billions of years.

Response to today's class 10-4-10

Today in class, we had two animals come to class today. Beth Lykins brought a pet cat named Puff to class, and John Weiss brought a Ball Python named King to class. At first I didn't know whose snake it was, because it just randomly appeared. I got to hold the snake and pet the cat.

Also, we discuss our fear experiments, and some of the people who didn't give their presentations last week made up for it this week. A couple of the highlights were:

• Travis Hollins' experiment with blindfolded volunteers putting their hands in food
• Blair's "mystery object experiment" and him asking people if they would eat it. They were worried that it would be a disgusting object. It smelled like chocolate to me, and I was right. It was a brownie. I ate half of it.

The class then became a discussion of different people's belief systems and gave way to a preview of the next assignment for which we discuss our beliefs and create something based on those same beliefs, and the next class, in which the students will watch the documentary "Expelled" by Ben Stein. It might not be that bad. It might be inaccurate, but it might be harmless. Hopefully, no religious debates arise from the movie. At least I have the choice the leave early if need be.