Is there a general shared belief or philosophy (apart from the obvious one) amongst the flat earth society?
Rowbotham was said to postulate the Flat Earth theory on the basis of literal interpretations of Bible passages. Does this influence carry on?
Does the Flat Earth Society offer a particular viewpoint on how the world operates on an ethical or moral level?

Any answers you have regarding my questions will be greatly appreciated.

Thork

Re: Does the FES offer a myth/religious perspective about how the world began?
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2015, 12:23:17 AM »
Sadly bed time for me, so no long answers. I'm sure others will fill in though.

The general consensus is the earth is flat. There are several core theories but we don't exclude flat earthers for holding opinions different to our own.
This isn't really a religious site. There are a few religious nutbags like Hoppy, but they are a minority. Most are Atheiset, Deism always polls high here too. Oh, and there's a Jew here somewhere but he is busy trying to get us all sued for being anti-Semitic. In actual fact its because he is a giant douche that he gets treated with little respect.
No real code on morality. Do whatever you can get away with.

Night

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Offline Tau

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Re: Does the FES offer a myth/religious perspective about how the world began?
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2015, 02:01:07 AM »
Rowbotham's flat earth theory was based on obaervation and experimentation. There was a lot of religiosity in the early society, but it was based in science. Anyway, we don't really have shared beliefs about much of anything. There are several competing theoretical frameworks for how the world works (gravity, etc). Some of them provide insight into how the Earth formed, some don't.
That's how far the horizon is, not how far you can see.

Read the FAQ: http://wiki.tfes.org/index.php?title=FAQ

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Offline Tom Bishop

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Re: Does the FES offer a myth/religious perspective about how the world began?
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2015, 02:39:20 AM »
Rowbotham does not base his belief on bible passages. The bible is only mentioned in the last chapter, more of a comment that any religious man should return to his roots because it is taught there too that the earth is flat.

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Offline markjo

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Re: Does the FES offer a myth/religious perspective about how the world began?
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2015, 05:36:35 AM »
Rowbotham does not base his belief on bible passages. The bible is only mentioned in the last chapter, more of a comment that any religious man should return to his roots because it is taught there too that the earth is flat.
It seems that not all believe that the bible teaches that the earth is flat.
Some Bible critics have claimed that Revelation 7:1 assumes a flat earth since the verse refers to angels standing at the “four corners” of the earth. Actually, the reference is to the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. Similar terminology is often used today when we speak of the sun's rising and setting, even though the earth, not the sun, is doing the moving. Bible writers used the “language of appearance,” just as people always have. Without it, the intended message would be awkward at best and probably not understood clearly.
Abandon hope all ye who press enter here.

Science is what happens when preconception meets verification.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -- Charles Darwin

If you can't demonstrate it, then you shouldn't believe it.

Thork

Re: Does the FES offer a myth/religious perspective about how the world began?
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2015, 01:42:13 PM »
It seems that not all believe that the bible teaches that the earth is flat.
Some Bible critics have claimed that Revelation 7:1 assumes a flat earth since the verse refers to angels standing at the “four corners” of the earth. Actually, the reference is to the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west
That's just someone's interpretation too. And singular and out of context.

The thing is the bible goes on to describe the earth in many places.

In genesis ...
"God said, “Let there be a vault within the water, and let it separate the water.” God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above the vault, and thus it came to be. God named the vault sky"

If you follow all those little bits in genesis including the pillars of the earth you end up with the Hebrew version of the earth we all know ....

And its flat.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2015, 01:43:58 PM by Dr David Thork »

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Offline Rushy

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Re: Does the FES offer a myth/religious perspective about how the world began?
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2015, 02:25:21 AM »
We do not have enough information on where the earth came from to create any consensus on what happened. Also, I do not understand why you put "myth/religious" in the title. The terms are interchangeable, especially when referring to one singular story (creation).

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Offline Theorist

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Do any scientists study the subject of why is the bible still around after all this time?

They don't even care about that, or look into it. Doesn't enter their heads.

Do they have any answer for that apart from "because people are gullible" which isn't the answer?

Gullible people are often simply people that assume others are gullible and thus that is the way things are. In psychology its called projecting - offloading what you don't like about yourself onto others etc.

People calling other people "gullible" seem to only do it because they have to and they have to because they are worried about their own assuredness and having to be "right" and so on, but all you have to do is notice it. You can actually end up laughing at yourself for never realizing it before, its liberating.