Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Religion
In reply to the discussion: Atheists Skeptical of Atwill’s Claim of a ‘Fabricated Jesus’ [View all]struggle4progress
(118,566 posts)16. How can smart atheists be bamboozled by Joseph Atwill? (PZ Myers)
... I think a few too many atheists are seeing Scholar Says Jesus Was Fake and are not thinking any more deeply than that. The whole idea is ridiculous.
The Roman idea of social engineering was to plant a legionary fortress, or retire a bunch of legionaries, into an area that they wanted to pacify. Incorporating regional gods into their pantheon by synonymizing them, sure; far-fetched long-term plans that would require centuries to mature into a tangible result, no.
Has there ever been a religion that was created by a government that actually caught on? Most religions die young; they have a very low success rate. Its not a smart investment its like buying a lottery ticket. If Romans had been in this game of inventing religions to win over the natives to Romanism, wed see more examples of failures than long term success.
What would you think of a conspiracy theorist who announced that Joseph Smith had been a secret government agent with the mission of persuading a large number of people to settle that barren Utah territory? Or that L. Ron Hubbard was J. Edgar Hoovers boy, part of a plan to provide an alternative to the Communist Party for impressionable youth? There are always people to whom a conspiracy theory is attractive, but more rational people would just laugh at the very idea ...
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/10/10/how-can-smart-atheists-be-bamboozled-by-joseph-atwill/
The Roman idea of social engineering was to plant a legionary fortress, or retire a bunch of legionaries, into an area that they wanted to pacify. Incorporating regional gods into their pantheon by synonymizing them, sure; far-fetched long-term plans that would require centuries to mature into a tangible result, no.
Has there ever been a religion that was created by a government that actually caught on? Most religions die young; they have a very low success rate. Its not a smart investment its like buying a lottery ticket. If Romans had been in this game of inventing religions to win over the natives to Romanism, wed see more examples of failures than long term success.
What would you think of a conspiracy theorist who announced that Joseph Smith had been a secret government agent with the mission of persuading a large number of people to settle that barren Utah territory? Or that L. Ron Hubbard was J. Edgar Hoovers boy, part of a plan to provide an alternative to the Communist Party for impressionable youth? There are always people to whom a conspiracy theory is attractive, but more rational people would just laugh at the very idea ...
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/10/10/how-can-smart-atheists-be-bamboozled-by-joseph-atwill/
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
53 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
![](du4img/smicon-reply-new.gif)
Atheists Skeptical of Atwill’s Claim of a ‘Fabricated Jesus’ [View all]
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
OP
It's a weak recommendation, but scholars nowadays do more and more consider Wars of the Jews to be
dimbear
Oct 2013
#7
The practices of various ancient historians, as indicated by the writings that survive,
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#9
... I mean this is just golden cow scat. Seriously ... Since this “documentary” first appeared,
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#4
The dynamics are fascinating here. Richard Carrier, whom I regard as somewhat
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#8
Notice that further down that stream folk suspect that those tweets don't actually originate from
dimbear
Oct 2013
#13
It's his account, according to a webpage at his Foundation for Reason and Science
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#15
If that is in fact your view then I would merely counsel that your appropriate response
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#11
That is a matter of opinion. I take some of it as Allegory and some as real. It is all a matter of
hrmjustin
Oct 2013
#12
Modern repigs would stoop to such, and worse, to scare/control/placate/lessen resistance.
xfundy
Oct 2013
#14
Has there ever been a religion that was created by a government that actually caught on?
dimbear
Oct 2013
#18
Emperor worship has been quite common, including pharoanic worship in ancient Egypt
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#19
Quelle horreur! I have provided links to the blog of Richard Carrier (who considers Jesus a myth),
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#32
The "Son of the Godhead" who has warned us about our reptilian overlords? That David Icke?
struggle4progress
Oct 2013
#38