Lost knowledge due to religion

a reply to: pthena

Miracle by my definition would be not confirmable because of its one time non-repeatable nature.

A "miracle" could be confirmed. It would just require that the person who experienced the miracle to have previous records substantiating they had an illness that doesn't go away from one day to the next. Or someone who had a lost limb restored.

Magic would be repeatable so should be confirmable. For example a faith healer who every time he says "in the name of ... be healed". That would be a repeatable formulaic ritual which should be able to be confirmed if true.

Indeed. Most faith healers will tell you god heals when he wills it. Not at the behest of the healer. Convenient explnation, of course.

originally posted by: pthena
I think I would be correct in saying that you identify as atheist.

That is indeed correct.

In my mind that would help alleviate the problem of false dichotomy religion/science.

Perhaps, but I'm not sure. A lot of people have an us vs them mentality when it comes to this subject. So while the vocabulary would change, I'm not sure that it would do anything to alleviate anything.

Also, it is only the religious who treat science like it's a religion or belief system. It's merely a tool. My opinion is that they view a lot of science as an evil entity. Because through science, many of their core beliefs are attacked. Evolution is a prime example. The theory of biological evolution goes against everything they believe about animals being created individually, and man from dirt. There are plenty of other examples of things in holy texts that simply can't be true when taken literally. But as many of those things are foundations or cornerstones to very personally beliefs... well..

Thread title. Lost knowledge due to religious beliefs.

Perhaps it isn't happening where you live. But in some States in the US, there is a concerted effort to "rid the schools of atheist anti-God teachings" (evolution) and teach religious creationism (under the guise of intelligent design). Except facts are facts. And facts are, these people skew and misrepresent various sciences.

So while scenario like that isn't lost knowledge, it's false knowledge. It teaches kids to distrust, and not exercise critical thinking etc. Which will just pump out another generation of people who refuse to educate themselves because they've been brainwashed.

Check out Aron Ra, on YouTube, for more on that if you're interested. He has addressed this issue in lectures and to the Texas State School Board on multiple occasions.

I'm not saying religion has never done a thing to increase knowledge, mind you.

a reply to: WakeUpBeer
Thanks, I agree that this is the actual problem.

So while scenario like that isn't lost knowledge, it's false knowledge. It teaches kids to distrust, and not exercise critical thinking etc. Which will just pump out another generation of people who refuse to educate themselves because they've been brainwashed.

If a cult teaches that they provide all knowledge, then education outside the cult is automatically questionable and maybe even evil.

I will look up what you suggested. I spent the last 2 years in the proverbial cave. There are some current events I need to catch up on.

originally posted by: pthena
If a cult teaches that they provide all knowledge, then education outside the cult is automatically questionable and maybe even evil.

If you want to see it in action, start lurking here.