Tópico: "História para ateus" - ateu ataca pseudo-história dos neo-ateus

[Buckaroo Banzai]

https://historyforatheists.com/about-history-for-atheists/

What is “History for Atheists”?

This blog is for articles, book reviews and critiques relating to “New Atheist Bad History” – the misuse of history and the use of biased, erroneous or distorted pseudo history by anti-theistic atheists. The author is an atheist himself so no, this is not some theist apologetics blog. It is simply an attempt to call out and correct the misuse of history, because rationalists should not base their arguments on errors and distortions.  Among the myths and pseudo historical theories that this blog tackles are:

• That there was no historical Jesus at all and that Christianity arose out of a belief in a purely mythic/celestial being, not a historical Jewish preacher
• That Christianity caused the “Dark Ages” by systematically destroying almost all ancient Greco-Roman learning,
• That Christians burned down the Great Library of Alexandria and that Hypatia of Alexandria was murdered because of a Christian hatred of science
• That pagan Greco_Roman society was rational and scientific and fairly non-religious and was on the brink of a scientific and technological revolution
• That Constantine was a crypto-pagan who adopted Christianity as a cynical political ploy (and he personally created the Bible)
• That Christianity somehow held back technology and we’d all be living on Mars by now if it wasn’t for the “Dark Ages”
• That Medieval Europe was a theocracy ruled by the Church, which wielded supreme power and killed anyone who questioned any aspect of its teachings
• That scientists were oppressed during the Middle Ages and science stagnated completely until “the Renaissance”
• That “the Inquisition” was a kind of Europe-wide medieval Gestapo and that the medieval Church was an all-powerful totalitarian theocracy
• That Giordano Bruno was a wise and brave astronomer and cosmologist who was burned at the stake because the Church hated science
• That the Galileo Affair was a straightforward case of religion ignoring evidence and trying to suppress scientific advancement
• That Pope Pius XII was a friend and ally of the Nazis who turned a blind eye to the Holocaust and helped Nazis escape justice

 

The tone of this blog tends to range from amused exasperation to mild scorn, though it will aim to go into sufficient technical detail, scholarly analysis and primary evidence to explain why the bad history in question is flawed. Comments on posts are welcome, though the author gives back what he gets, so civil comments will get civil replies and uncivil ones will definitely not. Be warned.

Go to About the Author (and a FAQ).

Tim O’Neill – Blog Author

I am an atheist, sceptic and rationalist who is a subscribing member of the Atheist Foundation of Australia and a former state president of the Australian Skeptics. I have contributed to many atheism and scepticism fora over the years and have a posting record as a rationalist that goes back to at least 1992. I have a Bachelors Degree with Honours in English and History and a research Masters Degree from the University of Tasmania, with a specialisation in historicist analysis of medieval literature.

As a rationalist, I believe strongly that people should do all they can to put emotion, wishful thinking and ideology aside when examining any subject and that they should acquaint themselves as thoroughly as possible with the relevant scholarship and take account of any consensus of experts in any field before taking a position. Which is why I began this blog in October 2015. After over ten years of seeing supposed “rationalists”, most of them with no background in or even knowledge of history, using patent pseudo history as the basis for arguments against and attacks on religion, I felt someone needed to start correcting the popular misconceptions about history which are rife among many vocal atheist activists. I also felt there needed to be some push-back by a fellow unbeliever against several fringe theories and hopelessly outdated ideas which have no credibility among professional scholars and specialists, but which seem to be accepted almost without question by many or even most anti-theistic atheists. “History for Atheists” has grown out of these convictions. In the years since I began this blog I have won a number of fans and supporters, but also gained a few detractors and hecklers. That’s the nature of the rough and tumble of the internet. If this is your first visit here I would ask you to try to put assumptions, a priori positions, and emotional preferences to one side and look objectively at the evidence and arguments I present. If we preach objectivity and dispassionate, well-informed rational analysis to others, we need to be prepared to practice these things ourselves. And remember that it’s usually only by discovering we have been mistaken about something that we can learn something new.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

[...]

“Are you a historian?”

No. At least, not in anything but the broadest sense of the word. I do have training in the historical method, I have studied historiography and I have read widely in the work of leading professional historians on ancient and medieval history, the history of science and the history of Christianity and its theology. But I am generally not presenting original research of my own here or putting my own re-interpretive spin on any historical topic. Instead, I’m drawing on over 35 years of reading on a range of topics relevant to the history of western religion and seek to curate summaries of current expert scholarly positions on those subjects. It’s the qualifications and expertise of the historians and scholars I cite and whose work I draw on that are relevant here.


[...]

Tópico relacionado: refutando "Zeitgeist"

"Zeitgeist" é um "documentário" e "movimento" teórico conspiracionista do tecno-comunista Peter Joseph, misturando pseudo história e umas idéias emprestadas do "projeto Vênus," de comunismo high-tech

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Zeitgeist

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Venus_Project

[Fernando Silva]

Muitas das críticas à Idade Média e à Inquisição são verdadeiras, só que as barbaridades não aconteceram o tempo todo em todos os lugares. Por outro lado, é muito grave que tenham ocorrido até mesmo esses casos aqui e ali sem que a Igreja os tenha investigado e condenado. Algo como a pedofilia dos padres, que a Igreja e a sociedade (até mesmo a família das vítimas) procuram esconder para preservar o nome da instituição e não abalar a fé dos católicos.

[Fernando Silva]

A partir de 1703, a Inquisição portuguesa mandou investigadores ao Brasil. Há registros oficiais de quase 300 judeus presos apenas no Rio de Janeiro, sendo que muitos morreram na prisão ou em autos da fé em Portugal. A maioria era de fazendeiros e comerciantes ricos e o objetivo não declarado era confiscar seus bens, mais do que combater as heresias.

Fonte: "Rio - cristãos novos - heréticos e impuros" - Lina Gorenstein Ferreira da Silva
http://www0.rio.rj.gov.br/arquivo/pdf/biblioteca_carioca_pdf/hereticos_impuros.pdf