Religion
Related: About this forumEaster Is Not Named After Ishtar, And Other Truths I Have To Tell You
If there is one thing that drives me absolutely bananas, its people spreading misinformation via social media under the guise of educating. Ive seen this happen in several ways through infographics that twist data in ways that support a conclusion that is ultimately false, or else through meaningful quotes falsely attributed to various celebrities, or by cobbling together a few actual facts with statements that are patently untrue to create something that seems plausible on the surface but is, in fact, full of crap.
Richard Dawkins peddling false information.
It's scandalous, I tell you.
I suspect he looked up all in information on the Internet.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)The author likes mental masturbation and to fling ad homs. Was there actually a significant point to be made that justified such a long-winded post over an insignificant meme, or was this just the author saying "Look at me! Look at me! I'm smarter than Richard Dawkins!"
If pressed, would the author admit the only important point, that the resurrection story is mythological bullshit that never happened?
Oops...not supposed to say that on easter, am I? It's "sacred". To everyone who really, truly believes that people can die and come back to life, I suppose. To everyone who thinks that Adam and Eve existed, and ate some fruit that condemned all of mankind to hell unless Jesus saved them.
But nonsense is nonsense, no matter what day of the year it is. The detrimental effects of religion are in effect every day of the year (check the news from North Carolina), so why should it get a break from critical examination?
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)to support his agenda.
Dawkins sacrificed fact on the alter of h is on agenda.
Using lies to bolster argument about fact is is detrimental to fact.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)If you actually read your own link, you'd see that the author has a hard time actually pinning down anything important that the Facebook post he tries to critique was fundamentally wrong about. He is honest enough to admit that the main point, that Easter(among many other Xstian festivals) has roots in earlier pagan celebrations, is unquestionably true. He just makes a lot of minor quibbles about the etymology of the word and exactly what goddess was most closely associated with it, and if you read the comments, even those quibbles are by no means indisputable.
And how would you evaluate your source saying the following:
be polite and respectful when you enter into a debate, even when the person youre debating with loses their cool. You want to prove that youre better, more enlightened than Christians? Great, do it by remaining rational and level-headed in the face of someone whos willing to stoop to personal attacks. To behave otherwise is to be just as bad as the people youre debating.
given his personal attacks on Dawkins, whom he dishonestly refers to as a "noted misogynist and eugenics enthusiast"? I'd call him a raving hypocrite. How about you?
Cartoonist
(7,316 posts)Many good points are made that show that history is never clear cut. Especially when much of it is passed down orally.
While the graphic may not be literally correct, there can be no argument that it is true in its claim that Easter is not an original concept of Christianity.
edhopper
(33,575 posts)a Saxon Goddess. Or maybe Astarte, a Phonetician Goddess, who is mythically related to....wait for it....
Ishtar.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)because DAWKINS!!!SS!!
as far as i can tell, Dawkins did not say this, it was put up on the Dawkins Foundation Facebook page.
And so was this.
[IMG][/IMG]
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)that he would say this:
If there is one thing that drives me absolutely bananas, its people spreading misinformation via social media under the guise of educating.
While in the same post introducing Dawkins as a "noted misogynist and eugenics enthusiast". Aside from the snarky ad hom (which the author apparently thought would help him score much needed points with his target audience), the latter, in particular, is a blatant lie, as the author would know if he bothered to read his own link.
Igel
(35,300 posts)That's about it.
Easter is from the Germanic word for "sunrise". That a lot of the religious background is similar to what's seen in other pagan religions stands to reason. The nearness in pronunciation is an accident.
It pays to note that there are also some rather big differences between the pagan rites taken over as Easter and the pagan rights with Astarte or Ishtar. Just as there are some rather big differences between "Easter" (and how it was pronounced 1500 years ago) and "Ishtar." We see similarities when we want to show similarity; we see differences when we want to show difference.
A lot of the information found on the Internet goes back before the Internet. A lot of people forget this. In this case, I'm going to guess a significant source of a lot of this drivel is Hislop's _The Two Babylons_, who cites some even older sources. Hislop's work dates back to the 1850s. That would be the 1800s.
And, yes, Hislop often either gets his sources wrong, his sources were wrong, or Hislop has no idea how to handle the then relatively new discipline of historical linguistics. Much like many pop culture folk have no idea nowadays how to handle modern conceptions of quantum mechanics or genetics, but given a preset goal always find a way of making the newish fields say exactly what they want them to say.
it's both Germanic "East' and Goddess Eastre.
But it would be foolish not to see it as the Christian version of the Spring Festival, rather than see it as real first century dates.
Leontius
(2,270 posts)edhopper
(33,575 posts)is because of earlier Spring Festivals?
Including Passover, which itself is just the Jewish co-opting of Pagan Spring celebration.
Cartoonist
(7,316 posts)edhopper
(33,575 posts)Assyrian apologists.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)if he'd been peddling it.
But this was posted years ago. What evidence do you have that it's still being "pedaled"?
Leontius
(2,270 posts)and this crap is still being brought up today. Is that evidence enough for you? Maybe all those hidden posts you have in the last week or so have you confused.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)That refers to a Dawkins Facebook post that isn't even up any more.
Feel free to explain how that amounts to Dawkins "still pedaling" this.
Leontius
(2,270 posts)Put your blinders back in the barn.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)in providing evidence to back up your claim, Leo. Did you think no one would notice?
And "fixated"? I'm not the one posting two year old hit pieces on Dawkins. If you have a problem with fixation, talk to the OP or the hypocrite he linked to. Or any of the other posters here who seem obsessed with making him look bad, as if that will magically make atheism be wrong.
mr blur
(7,753 posts)and people are still bringing up this crap about a magic Jewish criminal rising from the dead and floating up into the sky to be in Paradise with his dad (who is also himself) and all the credulous fools who believe this drivel.
Maybe your recent vacation from DU has you confused, or the fact that the buddies in your little cabal have themselves been on vacations and unable to back up your bullshit for a while.
Still,
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)appeared as a homeless man and was very cruelly executed by the Roman conquerers
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)okasha
(11,573 posts)In most Indo-European languages, the word for Easter is some variation of Pesach,, Passover, which preserves the historical linkage between the two celebrations.
The difficulty in connecting Ishtar to Easter lies in the fact that "Ishtar" comes from a Western Semitic language long extinct by the time the Germanic tribes were Christianized. There is no plausible route of linquistic transfer.
mr blur
(7,753 posts)although it comes as no surprise to see you indulging it it:
Response to mr blur (Reply #22)
Post removed
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)but amateur linguistics, that anyone could get off of Wikipedia, okasha? Seriously?
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)a substitution of a shitty personal attack for actual discussion.