Flat earth takedown

pitabread said:

See coffee4u, it's hard to feel any sympathy for flat Earthers when they post stuff like the above.

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I know I copied those words. Edits don't show up if they are done quickly-until the board has caught up (I know as I frequently edit for my spelling mistakes lol)

I disagree with them but I don't really get why they are even worth debating.

coffee4u said:

I know I copied those words. Edits don't show up if they are done quickly-until the board has caught up (I know as I frequently edit for my spelling mistakes lol)

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Which isn't the case with the OP, since our discussion was 12 hours after the post in question.

Is it possible you reinterpreted what was written?

I disagree with them but I don't really get why they are even worth debating.

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Truthfully flat Earth isn't really worth the debate especially since it's so hard to tell who is or isn't a sincere flat Earther. Even some of the major FE proponents may have ulterior motives for what they do. Who can even tell?

HitchSlap said:

I live in the US, where 40% believe in a creation myth, and 10% believe FE...

Exposing bad ideas for what they are is the cure for ignorance.

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The creation truth.
Colossians 1:16
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.

So what if they believe the earth is flat, it could be shaped as a triangle, it doesn't matter.

There is also a large group that believe aliens seeded the world and will come and beam them away.

coffee4u said:

The creation truth.
Colossians 1:16
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.

So what if they believe the earth is flat, it could be shaped as a triangle, it doesn't matter.

There is also a large group that believe aliens seeded the world and will come and beam them away.

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If it doesn't matter, why are you trying to stop people discussing it? "It doesn't matter" is not a one way argument.

HitchSlap said:

Yeah, it matters. The US is a secular republic, with guaranteed rights and privileges. When you have a large contingent believing in myths and idiot science, wishing nothing more than to subvert democracy, and insert an evangelical theocracy, the very likes of which our Constitution prohibits, it becomes my problem.

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Individuals and groups intent upon subverting societal harmony ... are not particular to the religious. The atheistic governments of the USSR and China are the strongest proof of that ...

A_Thinker said:

Individuals and groups intent upon subverting societal harmony ... are not particular to the religious. The atheistic governments of the USSR and China are the strongest proof of that ...

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Indeed. Stalin outlawed the theory of evolution and the effect on Soviet agriculture was devastating.

Bungle_Bear said:

If it doesn't matter, why are you trying to stop people discussing it? "It doesn't matter" is not a one way argument.

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I didn't like the tone of the original post and thought about reporting it, it sounded inflammatory and that does bother me. I don't bother debating flat earther anymore, did a couple of times when I was new to the board. I feel everyone is entitled to their beliefs without being belittled.

HitchSlap said:

Yeah, it matters. The US is a secular republic, with guaranteed rights and privileges. When you have a large contingent believing in myths and idiot science, wishing nothing more than to subvert democracy, and insert an evangelical theocracy, the very likes of which our Constitution prohibits, it becomes my problem.

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Right because they are such a LARGE powerful group. The US has more cults than any other country, I don't see anyone taking on the Scientologists or alien cults on here. So it seems flat earth is a bit of a thorn. Makes me wonder why. Do you see them as a threat? Perhaps you secretly think they have a point?

If there was a contingent of Scientologists here trying to argue that Xenu was behind everything, you can bet I and many others would be arguing against them.

coffee4u said:

The US has more cults than any other country,

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Maybe, although I'd argue India has the US beaten in this regard.

coffee4u said:

I don't see anyone taking on the Scientologists or alien cults on here.

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That's probably because there's little to no correlation between believers in Scientology or alien cults and believers in Christianity. Whereas - to quote Hemant Mehta - the Venn Diagram between Creationists and Flat Earthers includes a lot of overlap.

coffee4u said:

So it seems flat earth is a bit of a thorn. Makes me wonder why. Do you see them as a threat? Perhaps you secretly think they have a point?

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Honestly, its because its such a ridiculous and inconsequential belief which is contravened by so much easily available evidence. Which means that the barriers to entry into the 'argument' are very low, which means that nearly everyone can do it with only a small amount of hard cognitive work.

In addition, the actions and attitudes of flat earth proponents, as well as the general poverty of their arguments, make such ridicule much more rewarding than when it is aimed at other targets. It's a similar story with creationists, although there are more weighty and long lasting consequences with this topic.

Yes, there are probably equally ridiculous beliefs that could be lampooned - stuff like ancient aliens, chemtrails, hollow earth, lizard people - but none of these offer the low buy-in price, nor the level of satisfaction of presenting countervailing evidence.

coffee4u said:

I don't see anyone taking on the Scientologists or alien cults on here.

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I don’t see any Scientologist or alien cults on here to take on.

coffee4u said:

Right because they are such a LARGE powerful group. The US has more cults than any other country, I don't see anyone taking on the Scientologists or alien cults on here. So it seems flat earth is a bit of a thorn. Makes me wonder why. Do you see them as a threat? Perhaps you secretly think they have a point?

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I did a search to see what you've been posting about, and you've been arguing against evolution. Makes me wonder why. Do you see evolution as a threat? Perhaps you secretly think evolution has a point?

Kylie said:

I did a search to see what you've been posting about, and you've been arguing against evolution. Makes me wonder why. Do you see evolution as a threat? Perhaps you secretly think evolution has a point?

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I believe evolution leads Christians away from God.

coffee4u said:

I believe evolution leads Christians away from God.

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And many people see Scientology as leading people away from reality and their money.

coffee4u said:

I believe evolution leads Christians away from God.

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Evolution has nothing to say about God. It may conflict with the beliefs of a minority of Christians, but if their faith is so easily shaken they're not really believing in Jesus as the son of God, are they, and they'd probably be led away by any number of things.

coffee4u said:

I believe evolution leads Christians away from God.

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So does a ball earth. In fact, evolution itself thrives only on a ball earth. The ball earth is the foundational lie that makes the lies of evolution, aliens, and trans-humanism possible.

It's both funny and pathetic that you all are arguing flat earth as if it's a cult. I keep saying you all need to take a look at the actual flat earth concept, because none of you understand it at all. Anyone who thinks the video in the OP 'takes down' flat earth is still not understanding what they are arguing against. 'Professor' Dave built a straw man, nothing more.

SeventyOne said:

I keep saying you all need to take a look at the actual flat earth concept, because none of you understand it at all.

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Funny enough I spent way too much time digging into FE material and came away from it with basically exactly the same view as my opinions of creationism.

Most telling is that like creationism FE doesn't have a singular model. There are umpteen FE ideas out there some of which blatantly contradict each other if not internally contradict themselves.

I mean, flat Earthers can't even agree on a basic map of the Earth.

I really don't see the point of FE beyond being just another fanciful conspiracy theory at best. It certainly has nothing to offer beyond that and like creationism, you have to disregard huge swaths of human knowledge to believe it.

pitabread said:

Funny enough I spent way too much time digging into FE material and came away from it with basically exactly the same view as my opinions of creationism.

Most telling is that like creationism FE doesn't have a singular model. There are umpteen FE ideas out there some of which blatantly contradict each other if not internally contradict themselves.

I mean, flat Earthers can't even agree on a basic map of the Earth.

I really don't see the point of FE beyond being just another fanciful conspiracy theory at best. It certainly has nothing to offer beyond that and like creationism, you have to disregard huge swaths of human knowledge to believe it.

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Funny thing about the various flat earth maps, they are still closer to reality than any globe. Sure, there are are contradicting ideas out there, but that's because we are not some blinded cult, as being discussed here. It's just a large and ever growing number of people from all over who finally realized we've been lied to for centuries, and we are all trying to figure our world out for real. Differing ideals are inevitable.