Why, Jay.  Who gets to decide?  You and I, of course
(wink).

--- Jay Heuman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Indigo,
> 
> As we agree, this is preaching to the choir . . .
> <pun intended>
> 
> To play a counter-Devil's advocate:
> 
>     Who gets to decide which so-called "facts" are
>     included or omitted, distorted or embellished,
>     understated or overstated, created or denied?
> 
> Peter Novick's brilliant study of historical
> objectivity -- That Noble
> Dream: The 'Objectivity Question' in the American
> Historical Profession
> (Cambridge University Press, 1988) -- reveals that
> the basic so-called
> "facts" of history are subjectively determined. 
> That's how we end up with
> radically different histories from historians with
> radically different
> agendas.  If "facts" in the recent past can be
> manipulated, surely
> prehistorical "facts" regarding "Creation," recorded
> in the mythopoetic tome
> called "the Bible," can be (and are) manipulated in
> the service of various
> agendas.
> 
> So, how could they use "facts" to convince?  Faith
> is faith because, well,
> it's not based on logical proof or material
> evidence.  It is illogical;
> hence, an entire branch of psychology is devoted to
> reconciling how religion
> functions with its inherent understanding that
> religious faith does not mean
> (by default) that someone is psychologically unwell.
> 
> Best,
> Jay
> 
>

Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]

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