It's Fiery Tuesday at the PaganNewsBeagle, and today we have stories that reflect on the recent elections; the gap between knowledge and opinion; recent court cases involving religious rights; and a new reaction to climate change news.
Overlooked in the recent Republican gains in last week's election is two opposing issues that won big: voters supported raises in the minimum wage and the legalization of marijuana.
What percentage of Americans are immigrants? The average guess is 32%, which is off by 250%. (The correct number is 13%.) This report points out that in many "hot button" issues, people worldwide are off on their statistics, often vastly overestimating the extent of perceived problems.
An atheist recently won a million-dollar-plus settlement after being sent to jail for not attending a faith-based drug treatment program. Do you think the court made the right decision?
A Sikh woman and former IRS employee was fired because she insisted on wearing her ceremonial religious knife to work. She just won her suit for wrongful termination. Do you think she had a reasonable case?
A new movement believes that climate change is real, unavoidable, and catastrophic and that our only true reaction is to mourn the end of life of the planet, a stance some call "planetary hospice." This editorial disputes this position, and castigates its supporters. What do you think of this approach?