Wade wrote:I don't think many of you realize that by your disgust and condescending comments over this topic could very well push many people seeking God away.
I grew up in a world where it was believed books, secular science, medicine and news on TV could be trusted. As an atheist I too thought flat earthers were ridiculous, likewise any alternative medicine and anything to do with creation.
Thank God that all came crashing down in my experience of finding out I could not trust in these things.
Some of us even have to open our mind to the thought that what the world is teaching might not be all true to come to terms with believing in God.
So please be nice and don't ridicule with disdain people asking questions and looking for truth.
I'm not advocating a flat earth theory but rather talking about the facts about the subject will do much more than the ridicule and attacking of character, please.
Wade I appreciate what you are saying and I especially appreciate it coming from from one who has had to give up many things and ideas that he had taken for granted in his former life in order to believe truth.
However there is another very serious side to this. There are in fact people that literally classify all Christians with those that have put their minds into neutral and will believe any wives fable that comes along providing it is not mainstream. I do not think it brings glory to God when Christians become associated with obvious foolish and scientifically proven garbage beliefs and ideologies. Certainly we do believe things that the world considers to be foolish but we are wise to pick our battles carefully and not get sucked into the pseudo science that is out there.
edited to add that I posted this before I noticed Ken's and Joshua's responses and was not simply trying to pile it on. I apologize if it felt like that.
I'm not sure you understood what I was saying?
It's relatively easy to get sucked in to ridicule and possessing a similar spirit to those with something to prove. That is completely different than sharing facts that oppose another persons view without having to tell them they are wrong.
I think our temperament about this is will either close off conversation or open up more.
I had an atheist last week that I having been speaking with about creation/evolution for years tell me the universe was created. Finally after the second time, I asked if he was feeling okay? He stopped what he was doing and stared me in the face and said, "That's right I said the universe was created, God created it." I let him share his arguments for evolution for so long and now I finally got to probe him to try and convince me that God created the universe.
Let's see people with something to prove as opportunity to reach them and have compassion for them.
You make a good point Wade and I do agree with it. In fact I have made the point various times that when we are debating such things as evolution we do God a disfavour when we ridicule those that differ with us.
I will admit I had not taken the same logic to those that believe in things like the flat earth and possibly it is that since I do not actually know anybody that seriously believes in a flat earth I have a hard time believing that anybody could really take what seems like a ridiculous and far fetched and impossible idea, at all seriously. For that reason I have always treated the idea with ridicule. Perhaps if I could put a face to the idea I would have to treat it differently. You have definitely given me something to think about.
On the same point though, I do wonder at what time it becomes dangerous to give ridiculous ideas any kind of respect at all. Is it possible to still love and respect the person while totally rejecting the idea? I think one can but perhaps that means making sure you are laughing at the idea and not at the person.
Our homeschool group just had a new family move in who supports the flat earth theory. They would like to take all of the teens of the group and lead activities with them. I am quite hesitant.
violet wrote:Our homeschool group just had a new family move in who supports the flat earth theory. They would like to take all of the teens of the group and lead activities with them. I am quite hesitant.
Yeah...I would not let them speak to my kids. That's crazy talk...
violet wrote:Our homeschool group just had a new family move in who supports the flat earth theory. They would like to take all of the teens of the group and lead activities with them. I am quite hesitant.
Yeah...I would not let them speak to my kids. That's crazy talk...
I don't know. The question "how do we know what we know?" is an important one. Having the "controversy" motivates looking at the reasons. If this was a huge conspiracy lasting hundreds of years, what are the implications? What possible alternatives to a globe would explain a celestial south pole? These kinds of questions deepen understanding.
I enjoy talking with my flat-earth believing friend. He's weird in a number of ways (and so am I) but has a beautiful heart. Sometimes I can get him thinking, and understanding why the flat earth arguments fail get me thinking.
violet wrote:Our homeschool group just had a new family move in who supports the flat earth theory. They would like to take all of the teens of the group and lead activities with them. I am quite hesitant.
Yeah...I would not let them speak to my kids. That's crazy talk...
I don't know. The question "how do we know what we know?" is an important one. Having the "controversy" motivates looking at the reasons. If this was a huge conspiracy lasting hundreds of years, what are the implications? What possible alternatives to a globe would explain a celestial south pole? These kinds of questions deepen understanding.
I enjoy talking with my flat-earth believing friend. He's weird in a number of ways (and so am I) but has a beautiful heart. Sometimes I can get him thinking, and understanding why the flat earth arguments fail get me thinking.
True...but you are an adult. Why needlessly confuse kids?
I do not think that my older children would struggle with the flat earth theory based on what we have covered in school and our belief system. I am hesitant due to the fact that there are other more concerning theories of the family's belief system that I would prefer not to "debate" so to speak. But, that is not what this current thread is about. So, I wonder if the flat earth theory leads to more theories that are not in our belief system...or perhaps it is just this particular family. I do not know.
violet wrote:Our homeschool group just had a new family move in who supports the flat earth theory. They would like to take all of the teens of the group and lead activities with them. I am quite hesitant.
We homeschool and I'm sure my wife and I would not allow our children to go.
...Still, most adherents demonstrate plenty of anti-scientific tendencies. It's hard to find a flat Earther who doesn't believe most other conspiracies under the sun; a flat-Earth conference is invariably also a gathering of anti-vaxxers, 9/11 truthers and Illuminati subscribers, to name a few.....
...But "once you get into flat earth, the other (conspiracy theories) get knocked down into another tier," says Mark Sargent, a filmmaker and stalwart of the movement who was featured in the 2018 Netflix documentary "Behind the Curve."
"Everybody here, they've got their top 20 conspiracies -- and you could walk around door to door and those top 20 would differ from person to person. But everybody's number one is always flat Earth," he tells CNN...
