Atheist 'On Faith' Contributor Slams Religious Americans As Having 'Mind of a Preschooler'

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Permalink Reply by Aaron S. (USA) on March 31, 2011 at 1:02pm

Yeah, that seems like a major misstep on Jacoby's part... I mean, couldn't she at least have found a book not written by a 4-year-old? And we don't even know why people are reading it. It's not necessarily because they think it's prophecy. Maybe they just think it's entertaining or interesting.

Permalink Reply by D.O.S on April 17, 2011 at 6:55am

He didn't write it. He told his story to the adults and they wrote it. My four year old makes up all kinds of stuff. Sometimes they sound plausible sometimes its complete fantasy. He once told me all kinds of things about a new student at his pre-school all of which could easily have been true but as it turns it it was an imaginary friend. Point is the book was written by adults for their own purposes. The kid probably was just being a 4yr old.

Permalink Reply by Hugh Kramer on March 31, 2011 at 7:36pm

I don't think the American religious right has the mind of a 4-year old. After all, a 4-year old that can write a book has most of them beat 6 ways from Sunday.

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on March 31, 2011 at 8:29pm

Well, it wasn't exactly written by the 4-year old.  It was written by someone else about him.  I can't help but wonder how much they prompted him for the right responses.  His parents also probably had some input into the story.

Permalink Reply by The Big Blue Frog on April 1, 2011 at 11:42am

I'm reading the book right now, at the behest of a theist friend, and it's a lot of prompting and confirmation bias. It's also a lot of "wow, he couldn't have possibly known X" when anyone could understand how a child could pick up bits and pieces here and there about dead relatives and miscarried sisters. Plus, a lot of his "vision" isn't even Biblical. They kind of gloss over that. For instance, everybody in heaven has halos, but halos are an artistic tradition that Christianity borrowed from pagan art. They're not scriptural.

 

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on April 1, 2011 at 1:54pm

Yeah, it's the kind of garbage, such as references in the Bible to the world being round, back before ANYONE knew that the world was round.  Umm, no, dumbasses ...

 

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (Ancient Greek: Ἐρατοσθένης, IPA: [eratostʰénɛːs]; English: /ɛrəˈtɒsθəniːz/; c. 276 BC^[1] – c. 195 BC^[2]) was a Greek mathematician, elegiac poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist.

He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it.^[3] He invented a system of latitude and longitude.

He was the first person to calculate the circumference of the earth by using a measuring system using stades, or the length of stadiums during that time period (with remarkable accuracy). He was the first person known to have proven that the Earth was round, though prior astronomers, such as Aristarchus of Samos knew, or at least assumed, that the Earth was spherical.^{[citation needed]} He was the first to calculate the tilt of the Earth's axis (also with remarkable accuracy). He may also have accurately calculated the distance from the earth to the sun and invented the leap day.^[4] He also created a map of the world based on the available geographical knowledge of the era. In addition, Eratosthenes was the founder of scientific chronology; he endeavored to fix the dates of the chief literary and political events from the conquest of Troy.

 

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes

 

Christian anecdotal stories are always full of that sort of thing.  Yeah, okay, so the kid saw halos.  His parents had been bringing him to church from what age, and no one thinks he hasn't seen any religious art with angels wandering around all over the place with the things?

Permalink Reply by Apeman Jim on April 5, 2011 at 3:57pm

Why dont more people go to hell?  Seriously, if most people are wrong in their choice of religion, wouldnt that be a better way to 'testify' to the masses?

Why dont more people meet god?

Why dont people come back with some significant sign of some sort (technology, disease cure, significant universal truth, etc.) which lends credibility to their journey?

 

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on April 5, 2011 at 6:47pm

This reminds me of one issue.  Why do Hindus always return with visions of the Hindu heaven?  Why do Christians always return with visions of the Christian one?  Why do Jews return?

 

When a Hindu comes back with visions of the Christian heaven or hell, then we'll talk.

Permalink Reply by Apeman Jim on April 6, 2011 at 6:43am

actually... have you ever heard of a Jewish person claiming any kind of after-life experience while not clutching a crystal pendent?

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on April 6, 2011 at 4:55pm

Nope, that was my point.  They just go to sleep with their fathers.  It's not all that exciting.