fadedbear43 said:Elvis selectively interprets the Bible to suit his own narrative. This is exactly what millions of other people do when they misinterpret the Bible, Quran, or Talmud, often leading to global conflicts. 😵 What he’s doing is nothing new; it’s a pattern we've seen countless times. He has every right to his perspective, whether people choose to accept it or not. In my view, the concept of a flat earth isn't inherently hate speech.
Regarding COVID, he obviously won't take responsibility. If anyone should be held accountable, it would be the politicians in Congress who built their entire platforms on opposing vaccines and other virus protections. 😵 A figure like Nina Raspudić has a media reach that far outweighs Elvis's.
What Elvis is doing is a textbook example of how different Christian denominations formed and how Catholicism eventually split apart. I have to hand it to him for having the guts to go out there publicly and share his views—just like everyone else who did it before him. You need a lot of courage to go almost directly against what you’re essentially trying to "sell," which is God. Though, I suppose they probably don't see it as selling. I’m thinking of all those other denominations that dare to go door-to-door, personally trying to convince folks to join them and believe what they believe. In the US, business has been broken down into such simple components that any person who reads the Bible or a summary could just go register a church and start preaching.
I actually thought the guy was pretty funny at first, but then he started getting interesting to me because some of the things he said actually made sense. So, I started trying to wrap my head around it, much like I did with the whole flat earth movement. Why would someone go to such extremes—facing public shaming and being treated like a pariah—just to claim something like that? After reading up on them a bit, watching some documentaries, and listening to a few debates, I stepped back to reflect.
People have completely legitimate questions, but the only thing they ever seem to get in return is total mockery. That really gets under my skin. Those scientists who try to explain things usually don't exactly win any popularity contests. Now, whether they were coached to act that way or not, I don't know. But when you watch a debate between an intelligent flat-earther and a scientist, you see a massive difference in how they process information. Scientists often seem to have this barrier where they simply miss the forest for the trees, while on the flip side, flat-earthers act like they can't see the trees for the forest. Instead of actually listening to one another and trying to find common ground or a sensible answer, they usually just attack or mock each other and move on.
The thing that irritates me most is the mockery or the dismissal, because that’s exactly why all these various theories gain traction—because they are persistently ignored. If people are wrong, then I think the only logical and decent way to handle it is to dismantle their arguments with facts and evidence so they'll finally be quiet. If you have nothing to criticize and you know you're right, then just break their arguments down into simple terms; it’s really that easy.
But I think that’s where the key to growth lies, both spiritually and materially. You have to step completely outside your comfort zone, against everything you thought you knew, everything you were taught, or everything you were told, and actually start questioning it. You need courage for that, and not everyone has it, mostly because everyone is too attached to material things. It's only when a person has nothing left but their own being that fear disappears. But that’s kind of the goal of the modern age, isn't it? To destroy the self. It’s interesting that it was only when people dared to question "someone else's" dogma that the world began to shake off its shackles and progress. And just as people liberated themselves from religious dogma, industrial development followed suit.
The Flat Earthers have gone so far down their own rabbit hole of questioning everything that I honestly think they’ve completely given up on science and the people behind it. But that's a mistake, really. If it wasn't for those very same scientists, we'd probably still be out there tilling gardens by hand or riding around on horses or camels instead of having the technology we have now.
I get where their arguments are coming from—they kind of make sense in a way—but unfortunately, they just don't have any actual proof. It seems like the world isn't looking for meaning anymore; it's just looking for evidence.
