Bricklaying,Steel working etc are all "Well Understood". There are well understood, fixed, unwavering rules on how it is done. there is big branch of engineering, "trade craft", and its associated math(s) that describes this VERY precisely. Only new materials change those rules.
There is no such level of understanding for Computer software. We could debate if certain functional languages COULD reach this level of sophistication, but that debate simply does not apply to most programming work. Even now we don't even have reliable code checking tools that are 100% accurate.
Feel free to expound on the argument but at its base you simply cant compare the two disciplines.

Others have mentioned the need to cover your assets I suggest doing so then consider what useful options you have. Please don't use the below list until your exposure is minimized by documentation and strategic copies showing your knew and reported the problem. Cover your assets !

1) Your skill-set is very valuable, if you don't want or care for a messy fight engage a recruiter and start a job search. Use the exit interview to vent. Feel free to take your favorite coworkers with you -done carefully no one need know you pouched them. IF they like you possess ethics and morals your company may thank you for removing such troublemakers!
2) If you want to make this right, prepare your documentation. Call your internal ethics hotline. Pitch this as serious risk the company faces. Upfront cost vs a very embarrassing civil or criminal investigation. If the ethics line fails you consider locating a Board chairman - someone with enough stock in the game to have the power to protect you, then prepare a overview of your concerns and meet with them. Done with respect and discretion you may not only survive but flourish . But the key is to stay inside the corporate process.
2a) Take a subset of your concerns - the most likely items to be exploited and take those issues , prioritize their cost to implement vs amount of vulnerabilities it will close. The easiest to code that has the highest impact should be number 1, etc.
3) Accept the harsh lesson - security does not matter in most cases. never has, never will. Too much security increases costs, reduces flexibility, makes deadlines slip.

I've ignored nuclear options - ratting your company out never ever ends well. Witnesses, whistle blowers have little protections and the world is awash in talented Senior Architects working at tech support firms for us$30k per year.

Good luck!

Well, im not certain what to say to you all. You've all done allot of work. To me this seems like the wrong work, but you certainly did it well. I don't understand why you would take such effort to change what was not broken, and I just hope you've thought this through because you all are taking quite a risk.

I wish you all the best of luck. Ill be rooting for you. Perhaps a facelift will help the site stay relevant and thrive. I'll try to keep visiting if you roll this change out . Really Ill try. I promise to even try to use the new features. However you should know how many site redesigns I've seen over the years and that its changes like this that alienate me.

Seriously though, I hope you know what you're doing. I am trying not to be rude about this, nor do I want to say ill leave the site because ill try not to. Over the years, Slashdot has held allot of value for me, but the proposed change may lessen that value.

  I cant help but feel that the oatmeal comic at http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell
  should be considered a cautionary tale for your review.

p.s. poster really is dyslexic and I did not bother with a grammar or style checker. deal.

would you please stop it with the pragmatism? Star trek has never been about what is real :>