Why "History for Atheists"? - An Introduction
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- Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2024
- Atheist activism has a serious history problem. Tim O'Neill, author of the History for Atheists blog, explains why he began tackling the errors about the history of religion made by many of his fellow atheists and why he created this video channel to supplement the blog.
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I am not an Atheist but am 100% in favour for any effort that fights for historical accuracy and looking forward to your content.
Same with me.
Just discovered your blog, and thought, this would make a GREAT RUclips channel. Next time I'll read along the main navigation slightly further 🙂
Subscribed.
I know you're not a huge fan of Christians boosting your stuff but I'm a Christian (not a fundie) and respect the hell out of your honesty and your research. I'm so glad you're making videos now.
Great channel. I am a Catholic but the fight against forgeries is always welcome. The higher the level of debate the better, and the level of debate will never increase as long as there are forgeries used to convince people and even less so as long as these fakes are accepted in the common environment.
Great idea man. Just as you I dont believe in a god but find these hardcore atheists annoying that dont see the subtleties in history. Im often debating these extremists. But I think its a phase that most have to go through when they finally become atheists and try to bash everything they left. They have to find a new balance and thats hard and takes time. But with channels like yours we can maybe speed up the process. Tom Holland's books influenced me a lot btw. I hope your channel will grow.
I picked up Dominion yesterday after listening to your episode with Tom Holland. Your page has changed my perspective; I didn't realize how much i was being precisely that which I accused theists of being. Because the New Atheists presented their science so confidentially and with such precision, I trusted their history, unaware of how erroneous it is. As an Atheist, I pride myself on my ability to change my views when presented with the facts, no matter how solidified they are. Thank you for what you are doing!
Here from the MythVision channel to show support for your channel. Subscribed. 👍🏼
Glad to hear it. Because a lot of others are here from the MythVision channel to scream Jesus Mythicism at me. Which is pretty amusing.
All the best with this project.
I am a now retired Baptist pastor who sees how much nonsense is peddled as history on both sides of the religion-atheism fence, and have appreciated your blog for some time, if only because it is so much easier to post a link than to have to repeat the same information over and over.
No, Victoria, Easter wasn't invented by pagans in the 7th century: read Tim O'Neill (link below.)
Only atheist peddle nonsense. After all its why his blog exists.
@@auburn_and_cordsdude7415 I see you don't understand the Christian doctrine of the Fall. You might find it interesting to reflect on.
I just stumbled upon your posts on Quora and I was incredibly impressed by your extensive knowledge and the way you presented it in an accessible and easy to understand way. I also appreciated the relatively short answers to some common questions about Jesus and Christianity. I have binged on your posts all day, glad to find this RUclips channel too, thank you for doing this!
Keep up the great work Tim. I’ve been following your blog since you appeared on the non sequitur show. And I have learned A LOT.
I’d say the biggest thing I’ve earned from reading your blog (plus the posts on Quora) is intellectual humility. History wasn’t an easy subject that you could completely understand by a few quick google searches; the enormous amount of scholarship, research, and thought within the field humbled me.
Anyways I appreciate your work. Thanks.
Speaking as a theist, every time I read something like, “Constantine decided which books should be included in the Bible at the Council of Nicaea,” or “Mithras had twelve disciples, and was born of a virgin,” I just groan inside, and think, “ho hum - not again!”
Browsing RUclips for many years, I’ve never subscribed to anyone without watching their videos for a while. However, this is the only video I’ve watched by you (yet), and you’ve got my subscription. This seems promising, I’ll check out your other videos now!
Welcome Tim, love your blog for course-correcting my complacency and mindless parroting of unfounded nonsense. You deserve a big audience, looking forward to your content.
So happy that you are working to make us better.
Delighted to see this! Not an atheist, but very interested in history in an amateur way. If I never again see something about the Library of Alexandria or Hypatia online, I can die happy. Even the ordinary misconceptions and pop history that spring up like weeds - at least understand what you are claiming, when you are claiming "this happened".
I really like your posts, even though they're challenging at times (because they often SEEM apologetic from a Christian point of view). But they're grounded in facts and that's what matters. I wonder though how many of your fans are Christians and how many are not? Seems to me like Christians would be more tempted to like you because you SEEM to 'help' them against atheists.
I can't help who follows my blog, my tweets or this channel. I have as much to say that makes Christians uncomfortable as anyone else, though not on my site or here, because my focus is on atheists who get history wrong. As I always say to those who make out that I'm somehow "giving comfort to the enemy", if atheists didn't bungle history I wouldn't have to point out their bungles. I'd be more than happy to declare all New Atheist bad history done and dusted and to close up shop. But I can't see that happening soon.
I do now refuse all invitations to appear on Christian venues and channels and concentrate on addressing my primary audience - atheists. I'd prefer it if Christians didn't boost my stuff at all, but - as I said - I can't control what others do.
@@historyforatheists9363 I get what you mean and it's a shame indeed that the New Atheists are peddling so much pseudo-science and are exhibiting such ignorance on historical data.
What worries me a little is that Christians interpret this as their side (and their own loosely-based-on-real-events folklore) being proven right or 'true', which of course is not the logical conclusion to draw from this ...
@@historyforatheists9363 Hi Tim. Apparently there is a rebuttal of your resurrection article on Quora.
Are you able to write a rebuttal to that rebuttal for us atheists?
@@Xeronimo74 You really need to avoid generalising so much about Christians
The point of Tim's blog & channel is to debunk historical misinformation peddled by atheists from a athiest pov, with a logical point of view. If any thing 'history for athiests' blog is the best alternative because its from a atheist, its unbiased, detailed, well written etc. Because its obvious atheists won't read anything written by a Christian or agnostic. (Its why christians link his blog, becuase its factual and unbiased, that's a GOOD thing)
It's as if you didn't watch the video as you are behaving almost in the exact way tim has described.
Enough with this "you seem apologtic towards christians" nonsense mentality. That isnt the point and Tim is rightfully against this type of behavior.
This is fantastic resource for atheist. This channel is underrated ass fuck.
I don't know if you find my comment agreeable to you, but I identify as a Christian humanist. I find your analysis and endeavor a noble one. I am lettered in both Classics and History and agreed with your observations. I find both modern-day Christians and Atheists attempt to reinvent history to suit their narratives. I look forward to watching your videos.
Historical accuracy is important no matter what side of theism you fall on. That being said, we do not need to look back in history to see the harm that religious beliefs are responsible for.
Tim O'Neill, Greetings from Mexico. I'm a Some College (around 6 years of uni but no concetration....) Generalist, no-degree, half Irish, half Puerto Rican, funny guy who just discovered you existed from your recent Paulogia effort. I too dislike all the misinformation scattered about. As a qualifying calling card--- you mentioned Gallileo. I think he got in trouble bacause in his dialogues he made an ass out of the current Pope. I look forward to more of your 'sarcastic' corrections. Jim Mexico Retired, I'm 71 Atheist since I read the bible at 12.
Came here from Paulogia. Subscribed!
Me too
Nice Editing Tim! !
So glad this and the pod are happening, been wanting the audience of your work to expand for ages
Loved your stuff, subscribed to the channel, and might bookmark the blog too. But please make more and more content on the RUclips channel.
Looking forward to more videos, Tim. Great to see your work on another platform.
as one who has been following your online presence for many years (before the blog, before the da vinci code), I want to congratulate you on the channel which I am just now looking at. nice presentation of what to many is very dry material, but is nonetheless a source of a lot of misunderstanding and tribal virtual warfare. best of luck!
High quality web work here
Hey Tim. With a name like O'Neill (I went on a cruise with Tim O'Neill in 1979) I'm assuming you were raised Catholic. I was too and ergo atheist. You intrigued me with the Pius XII comment. I had no interest whatsoever in history at school but over the last 25 years or so I have become an avid historian reading anything I can find. Basically from the Franco-Prussian war on because that caused WWI which caused WWII and so on. Find it very interesting. In that time however, I have never read anything other than Pius XII collaborated with both Mussolini and later Hitler. Have you done a blog on that?
Pius XII did not "collaborate" with either. He had an uneasy but politically neutral relationship with Mussolini which became more hostile as the war went on. And he despised the Nazis and worked with the Allies behind the scenes to overthrow Hitler. See historyforatheists.com/2019/05/the-great-myths-7-hitlers-pope/
Concordat has unfortunate overtones, it is indeed an agreement but not a total one. The RCC has to make agreements with every new nation that pops up. e.g. currently it has one with China about it's operations there. It doesn't mean the Chruch is somehow Pro-Communist. Basically wherever the church operates it has one of these contracts.
history is written by the winners and those and those that funded them.
Okay ... You had me at Hypatia.
You quoted critics who object to being criticized. 😄😄😄
Criticism is information for you, anyone, to think about.
If an insult means you've been told something that counters what is in your own mind, you might, MIGHT melt in the real world.
That last bit was a friendly mild slam. But no less good for people to consider.
What the hell are you talking about?
@@historyforatheists9363 Hi Tim. I have read numerous articles saying that the Gospels were not written by eyewitnesses according to the critical scholarship, which I also side with but there seem to be Christians who think they have good reasons to think they were according to some passages in Luke and John?
If you had to estimate, what percentage of scholarship thinks the Gospels were not written by eyewitnesses?
i to am a believer in christ as God but really eager to learn. i subed you.
Tim,
Please do create more videos. I myself am struggling with if I believe in God, and have read some stuff you would then debunk. Im getting confused about what to believe in the theism/atheism debate, but maybe I relied too much on these false stories from both sides I should add.
If you’re willing to share, what is it that convinced you to be an atheist? I know you mentioned belief that Jesus was likely an apocalyptic preacher.
It was the realisation that Jesus was most likely an apocalyptic preacher that convinced me to abandon any remaining teenaged Christian beliefs. Atheism came a little later, thanks to several years of studying philosophy at university. I may do a video on Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet in the future, but I have recently done an interview on the MythVision channel on that topic, which will be released soon. I'll add it to the "Tim O'Neill on Other Channels" playlist here when it is. In the meantime, here is my article on that topic:
historyforatheists.com/2018/12/jesus-apocalyptic-prophet/
@@historyforatheists9363 thank you, please do create the video as I’d be interested :)
Paulogia sent me
I apologize for my ignorance, I haven't read the whole Bible, I've mostly read the New Testament. Where exactly is written in the Bible that the Earth is flat? Thanks to anyone who will be willing to answer me.
It doesn't matter. The Bible does not "teach a flat Earth" as some of the woefully ignorant claim.
Here's the deal: "the Bible" is not a science textbook. It makes exactly zero scientific claims. All of its authors were pre-scientific people who simply accepted the same cosmology that everyone else around them did and/ or were making use of poetic metaphor.
I'm curious to know what you think about the claim that western civilization is based on Judeo-Christian values?
That’s a deeply simplistic claim. Of course Christianity is a major influence on the way we see the world today. But it’s far from the only one.
Tell me the truth is the most important thing
Great stuff! Lets be honest!
you're doing god's work
i have been accused of worship as a christain freind of mine will say "every one worships something" I tell him he is wrong of course but i do highly value the verifable truth. So go ahead and smash my false idea with solid historical fact. i will appreciate it.
To Help my Christian friends have a sense of proportion about things like worship, I use the Catholic analysis of Honor. We're enjoined to honor God (latria, the honor due to the head honcho), honor to angels and saints (Dulia honoring those who serve God faithfully) Then we are enjoined to honor all men (1 Peter 2-17) Our Parents, The King (govt in general) Romans 12:10 says to honor one another above self (but there's still honor there) In short there is a hierarchy of Honor. Worship would be connected exclusively to Latria (God), Since we're atheists there is no Latria (nor dulia). I prefer to think of my relations to the humans animals and the world in general as a mutual care and upkeep, and basic universal rights. Hope this helps Jim Mexico retired
That was an easy sub. Looking forward to more content!
Can we get all of your stuff on RUclips? Because it's better than good.
I'm working on some video versions of my "Great Myths" series and will post them here once I have enough of them finished. They take some time to produce.
@@historyforatheists9363 Good to know, You should start with the Flat Earth thing. It is your oldest work.
@@basilofgoodwishes4138 I've completed that video. The next on will be on the Great Library and then I'll probably do one on Constantine and the Bible.
@@historyforatheists9363Can I have the link please?
Yuwan I haven’t posted it yet. I will be posting it with two others when they are complete as part of the channel’s formal launch. The video above is just a teaser.
I would rather be as coeect as possible with anyarguent based on as much fact as we can know. Thank you for what you do. I hope it helps me be more clear In any statements I may choose to make or challenge.
I have never heard that Christian’s burned Alexandria.
The myth is that they burned the Great Library of Alexandria, not the whole city. And mention the Great Library on any atheist forum and then watch what happens. It's a common idea among atheists.
I'm curious, do you find that religions, Christianity, have any big problems, other than believing stuff for bad reasons? Specifically problems that negatively impact society?
Yes. But since there are plenty of other channels, podcasts and blogs that concentrate on those things, they are not my focus.
Christianity has no "big problems" Christianity like religion and agnosticism isnt a "bad" thing.
"Believing stuff for bad reason?"
What is this nonsense? You are being vague and insulting here.
@@auburn_and_cordsdude7415 I'm sorry if that insults you, but what good reasons are there to believe a god exists? Good reasons means good evidence, good evidence is independently verifiable and points to a specific exclusive explanation. I'm not aware of anything like that.
@@jaanrett "what good reasons are there to believe a god exists?"
Hope, guidance, self purposes etc. are not just aspects of religion but are tied to gods. Its what religious people say and often talk about.
Belief in a god is a very human thing to do (even in discussing ideas about gods). There is nothing wrong with gods, religion, agnosticism and having beliefs. I myself got to this conclusion through studying religion
"Good reasons means good evidence good evidence is independently verifieable and points to a specific exclusive explanation"
No...since you are making up your own definition things with a already-made mind set, this isn't right way to approach things like this. Like what tim said in the video athiests are supposed to approach things like this with open mindedness, rationale, gathering mutiple pov from different sources.
Imo i dont think this channel & blog is perfect for you, since it focus on something different than what you familiar with. There are other sites and blogs for your interests. But i dont think this one is right for you.
@@auburn_and_cordsdude7415 I notice that your response doesn't contain "good evidence". We don't accept claims as being true based on wishful thinking. Hope, guidance, self purpose, etc, are not good reasons to believe something is true.
Wanting something to be true doesn't make it true. Working towards making something true might, but you can't make a god exist, no matter how much you want it. Rational beliefs are based on good evidence.
can athiest's be trusted to the whole truth?
Now that's excellent
I wish you didn't define atheism as broadly as "simply being without a belief in any God or gods and nothing more". It can contribute to the confusion of those who don't see the difference between belief and lack of belief.
I don’t care.
I know this might not be your part, but can the "but it's the old testament"(the idea that the New testament counts,not the Old one somehow) dismissed as pseudo-intellectual garbage at best and Antisemitic at worst?
I don't understand what you're asking.
@@historyforatheists9363 That the idea that the New testament devalues the Old Testament is nonsense.
But that's a Christian theological misconception, not an atheist historical one.
@Prasanth Thomas lel read revelation
@Prasanth Thomas yes, the premise of apocalyptic judaism is that god will destroy all the gentiles (and bad jews who disagree with the particular apocalyptic prophet) and create a new kingdom where the good jews live in prosperity forever. christianity is just the version of apocalyptic judaism that got big, mostly because of its openness to conversion and dropping the obsession with slicing off foreskins, though the author of revelation is probably an exception to that last bit
This is that XKCD comic that says "Honestly I find atheists to be just as annoying as evangelical christians." "The most important thing is that you found a way to feel superior to both."
Given that I’m an atheist myself, no it isn’t.
what if jesus was just the first guy with skitzophrenia
plenty of people (including biblical figures) thought gods talked to them before jesus came along
Almost definitely not the first. But the timeline does make sense for someone suffering from schizophrenia. It usually comes on in the twenties and if left untreated often leads to homelessness and premature death.
Theres no evidence for that