Do you apply that attitude across the board?
That is, to your own people as well?
I don't have any "people", but of course I am immensely sceptical of any claims with weak provenance, based upon eye witness testimony and unsupported by independent, multiply verified evidence. It would be ridiculous to give any credence to such claims, especially if their truth or falsehood could have a major impact upon my life. Any other attitude would, to my mind, be ridiculous, irresponsible, self-indulgent and metaphorically criminal.
It depends on the arena, doesn't it?
If you were the victim of a crime, would you want an eyewitness on your side in court?
No, there is no dependence on context. I have a very low opinion of eye-witness testimony. I do not rely upon my own "eye witness", so why would I ever place much reliance of that of a friend, a stranger, or a group of unknowns who have been dead for a couple of millenia?
I certainly don't want eye-witness on my side in court. I want them to be on the side of justice. I want them to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as they understand it. I don't want them, for example, saying "yes, that's the man I saw hit Ophiolite with a dead aardvark" if they don't think it was the man. Perhap I am the one mistaken in my identification, perhaps my tentative identification of my assailant has led to the wrong man being on trial.
Let's deal then.
Lay them cards out on the table and let's discuss it.
We'll see who ignores what.
I'm agreable to trying, but I'm not sure what you mean, unless it is this:
Here's my selective vision:
1. Bible says x, Science says x = go with x
2. Bible says x, Science says y = go with x
3. Bible says x, Science says ø = go with x
4. Bible says ø, Science says x = go with x
5. Bible says ø, Science says ø = free to speculate on your own
Prime Directive: Under no circumstances whatsoever is the Bible to be contradicted.
Let's see yours.
It seems you are asking one of two things:
- How do I evaluate the "truth" of what is in the Bible?
- How do I evaluate the "truth" of anything?
Since I don't know which one you mean I shall answer both.
1. Since I moved, in my teens and early twenties, from being a believer to being an agnostic and finally, in regard to the Abrahamic religions an atheist, I no longer consider those aspects of Bible that represent the "truth" of Christianity to be relevant to me. The reason being a lack of evidence, coupled with a conclusion that faith - which sustained my belief for many years - was an unreliable "thing" for arriving at "truth".
I think there are valuable moral lessons in some of the teachings of Jesus. This value is independent of whether or not there ever was a historical person called Jesus. There are some beautiful evocative words sprinkled throughout that have their own truth. As a historical work I understand there is controversy over much of the Bible, but as none of that controversy seems to impact on aspects of history that interest me, I'm not troubled either way. The only reason I pay more attention to the Bible than I do the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita is that I was raised as a Christian, not a Moslem, or a Hindu.
2. For matters that I consider to be important I examine the views of recognised experts on the matter, trying my best to sample across the spectrum of opinions. I explore the basis upon which those views have been developed, looking for sound evidence and well reasoned argument. I then provisionally accept what seems to be best supported position and act accordingly based on it being true. If new evidence or arguments arise I assess them and, if appropriate shift my provisional acceptance.
There are two downsides of this approach. It requires me to accept positions that I "just don't like", such as Big Bang Theory. I have no logical, or evidentiary grounds to reject it and there is, currently, no better explanation for the present expression of the universe, so I have to put up with it. But, "I just don't like it". As far as I can tell the universe remains indifferent to my dislike.
Edit: I forgot to put in the second downside. Sometimes, I decide there is not enough data to make a choice from the options, so I defer. This is seen by some people as indecision. I find that silly since indecision should only be applied to things that demand a decision be made
now.
If you were asking something else, you need to tell me what it was.