Surfing highlights: Monday, 26 Nov 2007

Not the same street by Virginia Heffernan. Why Sesame Street is inappropriate for children now: Cookie Monster is pre-diabetic, Oscar is depressed and Alistair Cookie smokes then eats his pipe. Maybe in 25 years Barney would finally be labeled unsuitable too.

Conservapedia. Basically wiki with a Conservative Christian perspective. Started initially as a homeschooling project, this site is unashamedly pro-American, which is unashamedly off-putting. Read the wiki page on Conservapedia and the Conservapedia page on wiki here. Also, how Conservapedia's article on how it differs from wiki here.

NAMBLA stands for North America Man/Boy Love Association and supports the legalisation of sexual relations between adult males and under-aged boys (or in other words, for the abolishment of age of consent). Click here for the wiki page, cos I didn't visit their actual site. I wonder why a female counterpart to this organisation hasn't been formed. Not that I want one to.

FIRST-PERSON: A shocking confession from Willow Creek Community Church leaders by Bob Burney. So seeker-services, with their "de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based 'programs' and slick marketing" are now acknowledged as being ineffective in producing mature believers.

5 Kinds of Christians. This examines the range of "beliefs, commitment levels and public practice" in American Christians and subsequently divides them into five distinct groups. What is interesting is the bit about how the church is to respond effectively to address the ramifications of these findings.

Picture: Judy Ross textile.