Propaganda vs Epistemology
In the ongoing contest between Atheism and Theism, the crux of the issue is that what is Epistemology for one, is Propaganda for the other - and vise versa. This plain spoken distinction is rarely ever spoken about. Assertive Atheist Moments asserts strongly - every time that Symbols and Symbolic Form come in to play, the issue of How do we Know, What we Know (or Epistemology) IS the key in dealing with the presented Symbol or Symbolic Form.
Both Epistemology and Propaganda use Symbols and Symbolic Form. Both may even use the same same Symbol or Symbolic Form, but in different ways - which certainly sounds confusing. The difference, of course, is spin.
We have discovered that although Theists tend to have an easy time asserting that various Atheistic Epistemological orientations are Propaganda, rather than True - Theists tend to have a much harder time recognizing that their particular brand of Theistic Epistemological orientations, may be seen by others as Propaganda. It appears as though Theists tend to place such a high status on the word "Truth" that they have a hard time grasping that anyone would be able to label what they consider as True, as being Propaganda.
This curious observation is brought about by the nature of True Believers and an unwillingness to plunge in to the depths of Epistemology. As noted above, reference is made to Atheistic Epistemology and Theistic Epistemology - and that Symbols and Symbolic Form provide the base for any given Epistemology. Without Symbols, Epistemology is impossible. Without Symbols, the passing on of a Theology from generation to generation is impossible. Without Symbols, the accumulation of Knowledge is impossible.
So it appears that the distinction between Epistemology and Propaganda is how Symbols and Symbolic Form find usage. Classically, Propaganda tends to use Symbols and Symbolic Form to appeal to the emotions. Classically, Epistemology tends to use Symbols and Symbolic Form to appeal to the thinking process. Both the emotions and the thinking process are parts and processes of the Human condition.
A large differentiation between Atheism and Theism is the issue of where the Human use of Symbols and Symbolic Form come from.
The Atheist orientation posits that Symbols and Symbolic Form evolve with the evolution of Homo Sapiens through a 3,000,000 year time frame. Additionally, this evolutionary framework holds that Language formation and differentiation evolve with Homo Sapiens. Most importantly, the Symbols and Symbolic Forms used for the expression of Theism and the Symbols and Symbolic Forms used for the expression of Atheism, evolve with the evolution of Human Beings!
For Young Earth Theists, Symbols and Symbolic Form have only been around for 10,000 years or so, and according to John 1:1, a Symbol, "the Word", was God and the beginning of it all. This orientation holds that Symbol and Symbolic Form usage and Language formation came from God only 10,000 years ago or so and became differentiated by God during the building of the Tower of Babel.
For other Theists, Symbols and Symbolic Form are a product from the origin of a given Theism. As with the Young Earth Theists, Symbols, Symbolic Form, and Language do not exist earlier than the beginning of the particular Theism being presented, and generally originate from the given Deity after the creation of Humans. Curiously, in many Theistic traditions, Deity (gods and other creatures [angels, etc.]) somehow communicated, presumably by using Symbols and Language. In these other traditions, the differentiation of Human Languages tends to be caused by the actions of the given Deity.
One of the deepest questions that all Theists who posit an acceptance of the Big Bang Theory for the creation of the Universe - particularly using the time frames involved - is why their particular brand of Theistic Whatever, waited so long prior to introducing Symbols and Symbolic Form to Human Beings. The rough time frames are these:
1. The Big Bang - about 14 Billion light years ago.
2. The Creation of the Sun - about 6 Billion years ago.
3. The Creation of the Earth - about 4.5 Billion years ago.
4. The evolution of Homo Sapiens from proto-Homo Sapiens beginning about 3 Million years ago.
5. The history of Human Beings using the written word no earlier that 100,000 years ago.
The above rough time frames assume that for whatever Theistic orientation is posited - that the Theistic Whatever, has a presence prior to the Big Bang. Thus - For roughly 2/3 of the time from the Big Bang to the Creation of the Earth - the Theistic Whatever keep Symbols and Symbolic Form solely within the purview of the Theistic Whatever for this period of roughly 8 billion light years, give or take several thousand light years of time. What did the Theistic Whatever do with the keeping of Symbols and Symbolic Form to themselves? Why?
Please visit the Site Blog for an ongoing discussion of this and other issues.