Atheists & Agnostics

NeoGreen

(4,031 posts) Tue Jul 11, 2017, 08:07 AM Jul 2017

The Flat Earth Movement Is Expanding Around the Globe

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/07/10/the-flat-earth-movement-is-expanding-around-the-globe/

The Flat Earth Movement Is Expanding Around the Globe
July 10, 2017 by Hemant Mehta

We know they have the money to fund billboards. We know they have proponents in the NBA. But now the Flat Earth movement is gathering in person and more people are joining in.

Because who gives a damn about science, reason, and thousands of years of wisdom?

The Denver Post‘s Graham Ambrose reports on the growth of the fringe, evidence-free movement in Colorado:

“This is a new awakening,” [Colorado group founder John] Vnuk says with a spark in his earth-blue eyes. “Some will accept it, some won’t. But love it or hate it, you can’t ignore Flat Earth.”

The Fort Collins group — mostly white and mostly male, college-age to septuagenarian — touts itself as the first community of Flat Earthers in the United States. Sister groups have since spawned in Boston, New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Chicago.

…

“There’s so much evidence once you set aside your preprogrammed learning and begin to look at things objectively with a critical eye,” says Bob Knodel, a Denver resident and featured guest at a recent Tuesday meeting. “You learn soon that what we’re taught is mainly propaganda.”

This should be obvious, but it’s possible to be so open-minded that your brain falls out. Just because you question the beliefs of the majority doesn’t mean you’re automatically a critical thinker. You can’t just throw around the word “propaganda” to describe accepted knowledge unless you have evidence to back it up — and the Reality Deniers don’t have any.