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Originally Posted by Sliver
Okay, that sounds like a reasonable way to have an interesting discussion/debate. But to actually study the claims of religion, we're going to have to be more analytical and look at things with an empirical lens.
Should we ask the Cree what stars are? They have stories that have been handed down orally for centuries that explain what stars are and I believe stars can talk in Cree lore. Or if you were interested in factual information about stars, would you ask an astronomist who studies space empirically.
Sure you could always come back and say well maybe some stars do talk to some people sometimes. It has happened in our past and could happen again. You can't disprove that.
Well, no, I can't disporve that, but based on empirical evidence it is logical to dismiss it.
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It opens up a whole can of worms that's for sure and there's more questions than could possibly be answered here about the nature of the course and how to go about an investigation such as that.
One issue that obviously comes up is the nature of these stories and religious texts... are they meant to be taken as 100% literal? Do the Cree who keep up on that lore you mentioned believe in a literal sense that their ancestors talked to stars or is there symbolism involved here?
Perhaps some of it is 100% made up - the Jesus character in the bible was known to make up stories to teach a moral or a lesson - they're called parables. If the 'son of god' can do it why couldn't any other 'divinely inspired' biblical authors do it. Not everyone that believes in the bible takes it as literal truth.
There are simply too many interpretations to religion/religious text to try to scientifically debunk them like you proposed especially when completely disproving even the most strict and literal interpretations of the stories is impossible as you mentioned. Good luck at getting all that into a university course - its easier (and arguably better) to stick strictly to the facts.