Justin: "For some reason, some folks still believe the Earth is flat. These folks would argue that it is until the cows come home."
I like that cow image. As a young man, I sometimes signed romantic letters, "Your till the deserts freeze and the camels come skating home, Don."
Justin: That doesn't make their viewpoint correct though.
Why not?
Justin: "It might just indicate them getting overly stuck in a distorted, limited belief system based more on the beliefs of others, rather than guidance or experience."
Precisely how I view the overview promulgated here by you and Albert!
Actually, there is a serious point to be discussed here. I currently promote and play games at our local Senior Center. A couple of weeks ago, Allen approached me to argue for a flat earth. He made these 3 points:
(1) The Bible assumes a flat earth.
I protested that the Bible is not a book on science, adding that some texts do imply a round earth: "It is He who sits above the circle of the Earth (Isaiah 40:22)." The Hebrew word for "circle" here also means "ball!"
(2) The whole NASA space program is controlled by evil Masons, who orchestrate this deception.
I pointed out that many of the most honest and dedicated members of my churches were Masons or their sister counterpart, Eastern Star members. I once found a book on the Masons next to a book on devil worship in the Occult section of a Christian book store. With mock horror, I expressed great concern about the dire significance of this to my Mason friends, thus whipping them into the hoped for frenzy--until they caught on to my act!
Right before the first Apollo moon landing, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong had a Holy Communion service in their space capsule. On a visit to Israel, Neil Armstrong saw the trail walked by the mob who brought Jesus to the high priest's palace and exclaimed, "This is the most meaningful experience of my life!" (Not the moon landing!!!)Astronauts Ed White and Edgar Mitchell were good friends. When White was killed in space, Mitchell honored his wish that a King James Bible be brought to the moon for a sacred reading. I pointed out to Allen that the Christian values of these eyewitnesses make it unlikely that they were lying about seeing a round earth from space. That point didn't make a dent on Allen!
(3) The Apollo moon landing was faked and all satellite photos of a round earth are CGI fakes.
Allen dismissed all my evidence to the contrary. His mentality is a cautionary tale for astral explorers on this site. To be meaningful, an overview needs to be testable and therefore must in principle be falsifiable. Ghetto groupthink based on doctrine of Focus levels may well seem experientially corroborated to those who drink the New Age Kool-Ade. But an openness to contrary experience-based perspectives is essential to any chance of developing real knowledge on such matters.
In my next, planned post on this thread, I will directly address the issue posed in the OP, which really belongs in the "Religions and Their Beliefs" section.
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Literal creation fundamentalism (Read 5335 times)
