I think Lemmy has a problem with history in general, since most people on here have degrees/training in STEM. I see a lot of inaccurate “pop history” shared on here, and a lack of understanding of historiography/how historians analyze primary sources.

The rejection of Jesus’s historicity seems to be accepting C S Lewis’s argument - that if he existed, he was a “lunatic, liar, or lord,” instead of realizing that there was nothing unusual about a messianic Jewish troublemaker in Judea during the early Roman Empire.

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[–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Well, the followers of Joseph Smith spent a great deal of money back in the early ‘oughts against gay marriage. Perhaps looking into things like the Book of Abraham (a “translated” copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which wasn’t able translated until after the Rosetta Stone, and clearly does not say what Smith said it did), genetic testing of Native American tribes showing no Middle East inheritance, the various anachronisms (iirc, pre Columbian horses?) and the precedence of “KJV’ism’s” in the text might be important. We can debunk a lot of what Smith said, which might have significance for a religion that has a stranglehold over the politics of Utah.

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  • [+] 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)
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    You might not care about any particular religion, but there is a pretty good chance that any particular religion cares about you, and wants to enforce its ideas on yourself, and the world.

    Religion drives wars, it drives politics, it drives culture, it is a fundental component of human existence.

    Just because its own mythology or doctrines may be whatever level of contradictory or false... does not mean these things do not affect you, and the rest of the world.

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  • [+] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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    Sometimes people aren't always trying to convince people to leave cults, and are instead just trying to describe and discuss aspects of reality, like religions.

    People should care about reality, reality involves religious people driving how that reality progresses.

    If you disagree with that, you don't actually care about truth, you are an anti-intellectual.

    Ideas must be considered, explored, examanined, discussed, in order to determine their truth or falsity.

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