Articles written by Richard Collins

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About me - Richard Collins

I worked as a professional technical writer in Silicon Valley for over 30 years. Which is equivalent to saying I was a masochist for 30 years. Except I never had the pleasure of being chained, masked, hung from the ceiling by my nipples, spat on and scourged.

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Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Protecting the children from religion: 1 of 22

Part I Children can and must be saved from religious fear mongering, wish mongering, and psychological manipulation. As Richard Dawkins relates in his seminal book, "The God Delusion", evolutionary forces predispose small children to uncritically accept what they are taught by adults. He and Daniel Dennett, among a growing c...
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Teaching children about atheism: 1 of 19

Atheist parents should approach the subject of teaching children about atheism in the same way they teach their children about other issues such as correct social behavior, sexual responsibility (at an age appropriate level), minding their personal habits of cleanliness, and dress. In all these aspects of a child's life, par...
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Atheism vs. religion: 6 of 37

Abrahamic religion refers to the three prevalent monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that claim prophet Abraham as a part of their sacred history. There are approximately 3.8 billion people in the world that belong to an Abrahamic religion. (Source is the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia.) Throughout history...
Religion & Spirituality > Speculations & Criticisms Should there be no religion: 10 of 45

I will not be meeting you in heaven grandmother. Can you imagine a young American raised as a devout Christian making that statement to their grandmother? Assume this young person has matured, cannot conquer their religious doubts and has thrown off the shackles. They are now apostate. Assume further that they have a strong ...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Testimonies: The decision to homeschool: 11 of 43

Parents may need to think more carefully about homeschooling their children in light of recent California developments. In California, if you lack a valid credential you must hire someone who is credentialed, which could get expensive even if there were enough credentialed people to go around. The legal situation in Californ...
Religion & Spirituality > Christianity (Other) Protecting children from controversial books and movies: 3 of 10

Protecting children from controversial books and movies is doomed to fail. That's because protesting a movie only results in free publicity and heightened curiosity, which are counter productive. Book and movie banners never seem to learn. I went to view "The Golden Compass" here in Mexico, and while my experience may not ap...
Religion & Spirituality > Religious Concepts (Other) Teaching and preaching: 3 of 8

Childhood religious indoctrination must end During the bitter Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s, Iranian boys as young as 10 or 12 were brainwashed with promises of paradise by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. They were bullied to the point they preferred to run into Iraqi machine gun fire over the fate that would have befallen them if...
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Let children choose their religion: 5 of 10

Forcing children into a religion is an archaic practice and must end. A child knows nothing of racism or religion or fear of the other. Their minds are a clean slate and the only way they become racists or learn to accept religious dogma and superstition as reality, is if they are indoctrinated when they are too young to hav...
Religion & Spirituality > Speculations & Criticisms Pushing your religion on others: 32 of 51

We would be horrified if our laws permitted one adult to force their religion on another adult without their consent. Why are we not horrified that our laws say parents can force their religion on their hapless children? The Supreme Court gave parents the right to teach children the tenets and the practices of their faith ba...
Religion & Spirituality > Bible Study Will people eventually write their own version of the Bible, in the manner of, say, Wikipedia?: 12 of 18

The Cell Phone Bible Project Some of our religious friends and family members are having a serious problem coping with the modern world. Those most seriously affected are acting out in highly reprehensible ways. The reason is, they are stuck in the Bronze Age using version 1.0 religious documentation. We can easily fix this ...