Batteling the faith breakers such as Acharaya S.

[One Bad Pig]

yeah but I amened another of your posts to make up for it!

Effect of your neg rep: ~200 points deducted
Effect of your Amen: 5 points added.

[Sparko]

Effect of your neg rep: ~200 points deducted
Effect of your Amen: 5 points added.

really? I thought Amens were the same as giving rep.

[One Bad Pig]

really? I thought Amens were the same as giving rep.

Nope. The effect of adding/subtracting rep depends on your current rep level. Amens are the same across the board.

[fm93]

How utterly disgusting can you get? Great job of blaming the victim. You actually have the nerve to harass her because her child was kidnapped? Is there nobody here with an ounce of integrity to stand up to such misogynistic bullies? You should ALL be ashamed of yourselves!

Um, no one is harassing her at all. If by "harass" you mean "making fun of her," then yes, some of us were doing that, but it's because her arguments are so diametrically opposed to logic and facts, so she therefore doesn't deserve to be taken seriously as a scholar or debater. No one's making fun of her for having her child kidnapped.

[Chrawnus]

Nope. The effect of adding/subtracting rep depends on your current rep level. Amens are the same across the board.

Does that mean that if someone with negative rep subtracts from your rep it will actually go up instead?

[One Bad Pig]

Does that mean that if someone with negative rep subtracts from your rep it will actually go up instead?

I doubt that it would do anything. You could try finding someone with negative rep and ask them to demonstrate.

[GakuseiDon]

A more general thought on Acharya S: other Christ-mythers avoid her name when trying to preserve their integrity. They try to separate their serious "mythicist scholarship" from the rest of the bunch. Do you need any other reason not to fear (or endorse) her work?

That's true, but with some important exceptions. Both Earl Doherty and Dr Robert M Price have given (mainly) glowing reviews of her books.

Here is Earl Doherty on Acharya S's "The Christ Conspiracy":
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2QE1LGGUKNCZ6

The other thing the reader comes to recognize is that Acharya S has done a superb job in bringing together this rich panoply of ancient world mythology and culture, and presenting it in a comprehensive and compelling fashion. Moreover, she grabs the reader from the first page and doesn't let go. Her style is colorful, bold, occasionally (and justifiably) indignant, even a touch reckless at times, but never off the track--a little like an exciting roller coaster ride...

She covers a wide range of interesting and provocative topics, with plenty of stimulating insights. Especially effective is her attention to elements of the Old Testament that one doesn't usually encounter in biblical studies: astrology in the bible, the mythological nature of much of the Old Testament material, the falsity of the idea that the Hebrews were monotheistic, even a chapter on Sex and Drugs. She delves into Egyptian and Indian precedents for the possible derivation of many of the bible's traditions. When she ranges even further afield and notes the astonishingly widespread commonality of certain religious and cultural motifs from one end of the planet to the other, extending back into very ancient times, we are on intriguing if speculative ground, but for the most part the author simply lets the data speak for itself, and readers can draw what conclusions their own adventurous spirits might wish.

Now, Acharya S floats some bizarre ideas in that book, including that there was at least one ancient advanced global civilization that explains "the astonishingly widespread commonality of certain religious and cultural motifs from one end of the planet to the other". She suggests as a possible candidate for this ancient advanced civilization... the Pygmies! And the Pygmies believed in a Pygmy Christ born of a Pygmy Virgin! I review this here: http://members.optusnet.com.au/gakus...d_pygmies.html. Acharya S herself has written on her views of the Pygmies here: http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/...hp?f=26&t=3117

Acharya S reproduces on her website an email from Doherty, where he describes her next book, "Suns of God", as a "tour de force". Doherty apparently states "Acharya S has joined the growing number of pallbearers to the Historical Jesus, providing a few more nails in the coffin": http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/...php?f=18&t=392

At the same link, Dr Price, upon receiving a copy of Acharya S's "Who was Christ?", responds:

"Divine Acharya -

"Got my copy! Thanks! Looks great! I'm proud and privileged to be part of it! Thanks so much for the opportunity!"

—Bob

Dr. Robert M. Price
The Pre-Nicene New Testament

Dr Price gave a negative and damning review of "The Christ Conspiracy" a few years back, causing some bad blood between him and Acharya S. However, he eventually removed his review and appeared to make friends with Acharya S. His review of "Suns of God" is much more positive (though note he is still critical of some aspects):
http://www.truthbeknown.com/price-sog-review.html

The very learned Acharya S has spoken again. In a sequel to her wide-ranging The Christ Conspiracy, she has redoubled her efforts to show the solar - that is, the astro-theological - basis of all religions and mythologies, and to demonstrate that the great savior figures of the world's religions are late historicizations of the sacred sun myths. At the outset, let me make clear that I regard Acharya ("the Teacher," as she was dubbed by friends and students) as a colleague and fellow-laborer in the field of Christ-Myth scholarship. The issues over which she and I differ are secondary, though important and fascinating. In my review (which I fear has done at least as much harm as it may have done good) of her previous book, I focused on our differences, disliking to be held responsible for certain specific views set forth by one with whom I am nonetheless in fundamental agreement...

She goes much further afield than the title of the book suggests in order to show the virtual ubiquity of particular salvation mythemes and religious symbols. One finds startling parallels, as the first missionaries did, between myths and symbols among Christians, Vajrayana Buddhists, and pre-Columbian Mexicans...

Acharya also argues that the far-flung similarities between myths and faiths are the result of dissemination. There was borrowing, cross-pollination, at least where travel was imaginable. She accepts the theories of various nineteenth and early twentieth-century scholars to the effect that just about all ancient languages (at least including Hebrew, Welsh, and Sanskrit) were cognate cousins, and that faith communities as seemingly disparate as Buddhism, Druidism, and Essenism represented different branches of a single denomination whose priests were sometimes in communication with one another. It was a conclave of such secret brotherhoods that invented Christianity. Here, I confess, I am way over my head. I am no linguist, much less a comparative linguist. Some of the writers Acharya cites seem to have been grinding an ax, e.g., to demonstrate that all Western culture had roots in Ireland, including the Bible. She quotes Freemasonry apologists who have their own reasons for wanting to see Egyptian connections all over the place. But motive matters not. They might be right anyway. But I can't say. I know I was quite surprised reading Jaan Puhvel's comprehensive Comparative Mythology to see how modern scholarship does trace a wide arc of linguistic and mythic dissemination from India to Ireland. But does Phoenician Baal equal Irish Bel? Do the Samana ascetics of India have anything to do with Semitic sun-worship? I suspect a lot of this amounts to lucky false cognates.

Strangely enough, Doherty supporters and Price supporters tend to divorce Acharya S's work from the mythicist "mainstream". They seem unaware or unconcerned that both Doherty and Price themselves have given support to Acharya S's work, though this often gets trumpeted by Acharya S's supporters.

[GakuseiDon]

Wow, the falsehoods tossed at Acharya S here are truly pathetic. Joseph Wheless refered to these types of people as "Liars for the Lord." none of it would ever be necessary if Christianity had valid evidence to substantiate its claims but, it doesn't.

Acharya S has handily refuted all the falsehoods, misinformation and malicious smears with primary source evidence and scholar commentary on them from where I stand

Apostatenproud, are you Freethinkaluva/Dave31/etc, etc? Freethinkaluva is someone who goes into various websites with different aliases, and pretends that he has just encountered Acharya S's work (so is totally unbiased, of course!), and is so impressed by what he finds, he just has to share it.

There is a cult-like repetition of stock phrases from Acharya S supporters: reference to people critical of her work as "hyenas"; accusations of "misogyny", even when the critic is female; accusations of "smears" and "smear campaigns" and avoiding any actual criticism. I see them here, so I wonder if you are Freethinkaluva. If not, no big deal. In fact, even if you are, no big deal either. I'm just curious why he works that way.

Apostatenproud, do you think that Pygmies had an ancient advanced global civilization, and this explains (as Doherty puts it in his review) "the astonishingly widespread commonality of certain religious and cultural motifs from one end of the planet to the other"? Do you think the Pygmies traveled the world, spreading the myths of Pygmy Horus, Pygmy Osiris, and a Pygmy Christ born of a Pygmy Virgin? What is your view on this suggestion that Acharya S floats in her book as a possibility?