Cool Stuff

Here’s what’s been exploding this week:

1. Dan Savage vs. the Christian High Schoolers

It doesn’t matter that the journalism conference at which Savage spoke was last freakin’ month, the video went viral last weekend.  In his typical not-one-to-mince-words fashion, he referred to parts of the Bible as “bullsh*t” and said that walking out during his talk was a “pansy-a**ed” way to react.  Was the well-known activist bullying the students?  You can decide for yourself by reading about it here or watching the video here.

2. Pastor Sean Harris, on How to Keep Your Kids From Turning Gay

In a stellar example of “how not to raise your kids,” Pastor Harris recommends beating the gay out of your son and making sure your daughter smells good.  Good job offending the universe, dude.  Thankfully, some wonderful bloggers have much kinder words for kids.  Alise Wright pens a beautiful Dear Child letter, and Melissa over at Pigtail Pals warns kids to be wary of what adults say to them.  It’s good to know that when someone makes a fool of himself, there will be people there to pick up the pieces.

3. Is Parenting Style a Threat to Feminism?

This fantastic article sums up the debate and offers some further wisdom about why people are reluctant to change their opinions.  Arguing over the “right” way to parent in conjunction with the “right” way to be a feminist seems counterproductive on both fronts.  We need more ways to elevate the conversation.

4. Spiritual Before and After Pictures

The always marvelous Kathy Escobar has been taking us through the process of spiritual rebuilding after deconstruction.  Her post from May 3 invites us to take a look at how far we’ve come and the ways in which we’ve changed.  Be sure to check out all the other posts in the original series on rebuilding, as well as the follow-up posts.

5. The Pineapple Debacle: The Sequel

Actually, less of a sequel than an it-never-really-ended.  Our kids are being used as lab rats, but somehow teachers have gotten the blame.  The pineapple, it appears, isn’t the only Epic Fail that was the NYSED ELA exam.  Hey, NYSED, think we can do better next year?

What’s caught your eye around the Web this week?