How
do you determine facts?
New
grounds for skepticism about secondhand smoke claims
- 
In a political environment where such extravagant claims
are credulously accepted, it's useful to be reminded that the scientific
debate about the hazards of secondhand smoke is far from settled. A
study in the May 17 issue of the British Medical Journal shows once
again how tricky it is to measure the effects of environmental tobacco
smoke (ETS).
- This is not a dialogue about whether or not you believe the dangers
of secondhand smoke. In fact, it's not about smoking at all. This
dialogue is to be dedicated to the discussion of how you determine
facts.
- Do you tend to believe everything in the news media to be fact?
Do you think it's possible to get unbiassed facts from the media?
Why or why not?
- How do you determine what you are gathering from the news - whether
its a report or information from a study - is fact or embellished
fact?
- What is the process you go through to make up your mind about something?
Do you believe something because your friends believe it? Is it because
your teachers believe it? Do you ever put your teachers' statements
to the test (respectfully of course)? Or, do you believe something
because your parents believe it?
- Think about some issues you can discuss and take the opposite side
of it for a while. It's one thing to believe in or about something.
It's another when you know why you believe what you believe.
- Talk about why you believe what you believe with regard to your
relationship with God. Use the Bible Study Tool to the left for assistance
in your study.
Check out Raising
Kids Who Turn Out Right, Little
House on the Freeway and Home
Grown Heroes by Dr. Tim Kimmel (proceeds go toward DinnerDialogue
and Family Matters).
Feedback
- Let us know how DinnerDialogue.com
is working for you or how we can improve upon it.
SIDE ORDERS - other news
Study:
Kids in Religious Families Fare Better - FNIF
New research seems to back up the scriptural idea that faith is the glue that holds a family together. In a new study, the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that religion impacts families on a very practical level.
Murder
rates climb as television viewing increases - 
Moviemakers argue that what’s really responsible for
murderous kids is, as one Hollywood executive put it, "bad home life,
bad parenting, [and] having guns in the home."
LEFTOVERS
- previous dialogues
Wednesday - April 2, 2003
Strain of Iraq war showing on Bush, those who know him say
Monday - March 24, 2003
Christian 'prayer warriors' join battle in own way
Tuesday - March 11, 2003
Half of Young People Expect to Strike It Rich
Monday - March 10, 2003
Study: Children's viewing linked to TV violence
Thursday - February 27, 2003
Some 'act rich' with phony ATM receipts
Monday - February 24, 2003
GPS devices increasingly are used to spy on people
Friday - February 21, 2003
Reality or Something Like It
Wednesday - February 19, 2003
Poverty in America
Wednesday - February 12, 2003
When your teen falls in love (Part 2)
Click here for more
Leftovers
