Post by labarum on May 4, 2015 18:16:26 GMT
I came across a "crackpot Egyptology" index online and used it as a basis for a "crackpot Jesus mythicist" index. Given any mythicist book, you may calculate the "wooo" factor using the list below. The higher the score, the nuttier the book. My scoring is as follows:
1 point for each claim in conflict with accepted theories asserted as fact without evidence.
2 points for each citation of Richard Carrier or Robert Price on points that only other mythicists agree.
2 points for each claim that is either vacuous or circular.
3 points for each citation of Earl Doherty on points that only other mythicists agree.
3 points for each internal inconsistency.
4 points for each citation of Frank Zindler or Rene Salm.
5 points for each presupposition maintained despite considerable historical evidence to the contrary.
5 points for each time specious data is asserted as factual.
5 points for each citation of Charles Francois Dupuis, Count Volney, Robert Taylor, Godfrey Higgins, Gerald Massey, or Kersey Graves.
7 points for each citation of Madame Blavatksky, Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Barbara G. Walker, D. M. Murdock/Acharya S , or C. Dennis McKinsey.
8 points for each citation of John Allegro or Joseph Atwill.
9 points for each favorable mention of the film Zeitgeist.
10 points for each citation of Jordan Maxwell or Tony Bushby.
11 points for each rant about a sky daddy or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
12 points for each baseless claim that widely accepted theories are fundamentally erroneous.
12 points for boasting of academic degrees unrelated to the topic at hand.
15 points for boasting of a lack of academic degrees, insisting that formal education is not only unnecessary but also an impediment to creative thought.
20 points for lamentations of being misunderstood.
20 points for every use of an urban legend as an axiom.
20 points for defensive citations of real or imagined ridicule inflicted by academia.
25 points for each citation of a book supporting sensationalistic ideas about lost continents, ancient aliens, or the Bermuda Triangle.
30 points for each time a crazy hypothesis is suggested and then assumed as fact thereafter.
30 points for claiming to be the victim of a conspiracy by the academic establishment.
30 points for claiming the evidence for your position was destroyed by the church.
30 points for claiming your assumption was a mystery never written down without giving an explanation as to how you came to know that mystery.
35 points for comparing yourself to Copernicus or Galileo.
40 points for professing to be privy to information that is secret or to which no one else has access.
50 points for using sources whose evidence is based upon claims of psychic revelation, communication with the dead, or firsthand past-life experience.
1 point for each claim in conflict with accepted theories asserted as fact without evidence.
2 points for each citation of Richard Carrier or Robert Price on points that only other mythicists agree.
2 points for each claim that is either vacuous or circular.
3 points for each citation of Earl Doherty on points that only other mythicists agree.
3 points for each internal inconsistency.
4 points for each citation of Frank Zindler or Rene Salm.
5 points for each presupposition maintained despite considerable historical evidence to the contrary.
5 points for each time specious data is asserted as factual.
5 points for each citation of Charles Francois Dupuis, Count Volney, Robert Taylor, Godfrey Higgins, Gerald Massey, or Kersey Graves.
7 points for each citation of Madame Blavatksky, Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Barbara G. Walker, D. M. Murdock/Acharya S , or C. Dennis McKinsey.
8 points for each citation of John Allegro or Joseph Atwill.
9 points for each favorable mention of the film Zeitgeist.
10 points for each citation of Jordan Maxwell or Tony Bushby.
11 points for each rant about a sky daddy or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
12 points for each baseless claim that widely accepted theories are fundamentally erroneous.
12 points for boasting of academic degrees unrelated to the topic at hand.
15 points for boasting of a lack of academic degrees, insisting that formal education is not only unnecessary but also an impediment to creative thought.
20 points for lamentations of being misunderstood.
20 points for every use of an urban legend as an axiom.
20 points for defensive citations of real or imagined ridicule inflicted by academia.
25 points for each citation of a book supporting sensationalistic ideas about lost continents, ancient aliens, or the Bermuda Triangle.
30 points for each time a crazy hypothesis is suggested and then assumed as fact thereafter.
30 points for claiming to be the victim of a conspiracy by the academic establishment.
30 points for claiming the evidence for your position was destroyed by the church.
30 points for claiming your assumption was a mystery never written down without giving an explanation as to how you came to know that mystery.
35 points for comparing yourself to Copernicus or Galileo.
40 points for professing to be privy to information that is secret or to which no one else has access.
50 points for using sources whose evidence is based upon claims of psychic revelation, communication with the dead, or firsthand past-life experience.