Of Death and Conscience: Brief thoughts on gender role and the values of the dominant culture in medicine: "“Under the influence of the Church and the newly formed male-dominated medical establishment, the word “witch,” which originally meant “wise one,” became a term of scorn. It took a reign of terror lasting several hundred years to radically alter a way of life thousands of years old. Millions of women who carried the healing lineage were systematically killed (see The Church and the Second Sex by Mary Daly).”"
Dawkins has become outspoken in his atheism , coining the word "bright" (as an alternate to atheist), and encouraging fellow non-believers to stand up and be identified. intelligent design is creationism redressed creationists are right that evolution is hostile to evolution statistical improbability of the complexity of design - intelligent design but the intelligent designer wouldn't have made such a hash - why would the designer be bothered with disapproving of our sex lives, favor our side in the war Dawkins suggest rocking the boat - attack religion as a whole taboo of speaking ill about religion - Douglas Adams said, sacred ideas at the heart of religion, holy cows, you can support any operating system you want, but the challenge of religious ideas is off limits science and religion are corrosive to each other - religious explanations are trivial and improbably, teaches people to accept authoritarianism takes the example of famous scientists and imagines
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"witch" originally meant "wise one"? I'd like to see the source!
Keep in mind, the church had existed for 1450 years before conspiracy theories began preying on the medieval mind. After all, someone had to be responsible for the black plague.
The number of those executed has also since been established to be around 50 000 during the next 3 centuries. But while the balance of power certainly tipped the panic mostly against women, many men were also burned; in France, more men than women. [http://www.gendercide.org/case_witchhunts.html]
There was an undeniable and unforgivable gendercide as evil as the holocaust. But while the victims were certainly not always plotting "to destroy the Christian kingdoms through magick and poison", they were also often not just female healers.
(I'm a believer that best backlash is a BETTER backlash!)
I don't do the 'your source is bigger (or better) than mine' thing though. I am comfortable with you choosing reasons and things to believe that are different from mine. You believe in 'the truth is so compelling, you have to believe it'. I believe in 'truths are permeable'.
You are the one who believes that 'facts' and 'truth' are better. I haven't found them to be stable and reliable, and much prefer to look with my 'vestand'. It's not always right, but it's the way that works for me.
Your skepticism works for you and me. Everyone in fact. You are the Checker, and without you, huge vacuums of unchecked facts may turn into black holes of unchecked facts.
Thanks for questioning, it lead me on a Fantastic Journey. I have been in nooks and crannies of history that I would never have gone into in my passive acceptance of both of those tidbits. And I have learned and articulated things about myself I would never have had access to without your skepticism. Thanks for the birds-eye view.
http://faultline.org/index.php/site/item/incendiary/