Antiscientism

https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/antiscientism.html

https://www.amazon.com/Battle-God-Fundamentalism-Judaism-Christianity/dp/0006383483/

I'm still puzzled by the reasons that people reject - even attack - mainstream science. It wasn't until I was in my fifties, some twenty years ago now,  that I discovered that a significant number of - Americans in particular - plus some Christian fringes in other parts of the English-speaking world and some Jewish and Muslim sects, reject biology, geology, astronomy and cosmology! 

I'm British. I trained as a teacher at a Christian-founded college of education located practically a stone's throw away from Canterbury Cathedral and the offices of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leading cleric in the Church of England.

The college taught the science of evolution. They organised visits to Down House, Charles Darwin's residence and study centre.

It is only when I started discussing evolutionary psychology, online, with American academics, that I started to learn about creationism. I thought that this had all but petered out by the end of the 19th century.

Since then, I have spent much of my time on the issue, resulting in my blog, accessible by the "Contents" link at the top of all of my pages.

So, in trying to understand this strange phenomenon, I came across Karen Armstrong's "The Battle for God". She pointed out that the Europeans who had invaded North America had a deep distrust of intellectualism. They had fled, ironically now, sectarian persecution in Europe. They were poor. There was no education system. The "pioneers" often had just one book, the Bible, in which the cogitations of the Irish Bishop of Ussher were written in the margins, claiming that the world had been created in 4004 BC, presumably just before teatime, Western European Time, maybe on some Thursday afternoon.

Now, there is an interdiction against adding to or subtracting from scripture, but Ussher's speculations, because they were printed in these Bibles, came to be idolised, like the original parts of scripture were idolised, as the "Word of God".

In this creationist sub-culture, deeply suspicious of any form of authority, we have a contradiction. We have a fertile ground for all sorts of conspiracy theories based on the distrust of sources of information, plus a deep need for something to trust to relieve oneself of the burden of having to actually think for oneself. That trust is invested in the Bible and the folk sub-culture surrounding a particular interpretation of it.

So what do I think it is that motivates and drives creationism?

It's quite clear that the motivation for the for-profit creationist leaders is money. Many come across as cynical and insincere exploiters. But what about the followers? 

I think that being in on a conspiracy theory makes people feel special. They are in possession of knowledge that others are unaware of.

Another factor is early indoctrination. Instilling fear of hell in intellectually immature individuals cripples them for life and it can be passed down generations.

There is an attraction and comfort in having a simple set of beliefs to cling on to in a chaotic world.

But I maintain that this is not a moral position. You cannot make mature and informed and effective decisions if you live in a fantasy world.


https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/antiscientism.html

The Amazon blurb -

Britain's greatest religious historian chronicles the rise and rise of fundamentalism. One of the most potent forces bedevilling the modern world is religious extremism, and the need to understand it has never been greater. Focusing in detail on Protestant fundamentalism in the United States, Jewish fundamentalism from sixteenth century Spain onwards and Muslim fundamentalism over the last four hundred years, Armstrong examines the patterns that underlie fundamentalism. These evolve from the clash between the conservative pre-modern mind that is governed by a love of myth, and the progressive rational society that relishes change. Fundamentalists view the contemporary world with horror, rejecting its claims to truth, and a state of war now exists over the future of our culture. They are not terrorists, rather, they are innovative, existing in a symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each urging the other on to greater excess. The Battle for God is original in its thesis and in its understanding; as a history of religious ideas it is fascinating, and as an explanation of one of the most destabilizing forces at large in the world today it is extraordinary.