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Famous hoaxes: Difference between revisions

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== Religious hoaxes ==
== Religious hoaxes ==
=== The Da Vinci Code (Christianity) ===
* while a work of fiction, Dan Brown's series, "The Da Vinci Code" is based on an unsupported claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married
=== Letter of Benan (Christianity) ===
* in 1910, Ernst Edler von der Planitz claimed he had discovered  a 5th century Coptic (ancient Egyptian derivative language) text
** he claimed it was a translation from a Greek text in 83 AD
** the text was about the encounters of an Egyptian physician with Jesus and the apostles
=== The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Judaism) ===
* published in 1903 in Russia, which was strongly anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) at the time
* a literary forgery, the papers outlined Jewish plans for global domination
=== Scientology (cult) ===
* technically not a hoax, as its inventor did not deliberately aim to decieve
* however, its practices have been questioned by governments, medical experts, and theologians
* in 1950 author L. Ron Hubbard published, "Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science" in a science fiction magazine
** the book mentioned the term, "Scientology"
** Hubbard, who had undergone psychiatric treatment, hated psychology and offered a new counseling treatment, "Dianetics"
** it was intended to be a form of psychotherapy, but he morphed into a "religious philosophy" in 1952
** he said he created it as "scientific rather than religious" thought
** however, after being banned from running a medical clinic, he established it as a religious organization, instead
* over 25,000 people follow Scientology today
=== The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ ===
* in 1894, a Russian journalist published a book that claimed historical evidence that Jesus had visited India and studied under Hindu & Buddhist priests
*


== Scientific hoaxes ==
== Scientific hoaxes ==