Hi Michael,
I don't know if this is addressing the concerns of your post... But I'd say you CAN learn many useful things from all kinds of sources...
I believe that knowledge is knowledge - no matter what path it took to reach you.
I see knowledge as something neither "good" nor "bad", but neutral... Almost any kind of "knowhow" can be used for "good" or "bad" - it depends on how it's applied...
For example, learning how to raise funds would seem to be "good". And it is "good" if the funds are raised for some worthwhile cause... But if this knowledge is used to raise funds for an "evil" cause, then the application of this knowledge is no longer "good". But the knowledge of how to raise funds itself, I think is neutral - it's how it's applied which can be either "good" or "bad".
Also, learning how to create poison would seem to be "bad" - since it could be used to hurt or kill. But if that knowledge is used to help prevent people from being poisoned, then using that knowledge could be "good" and used to save lives. However, I see the knowledge itself as "neutral" - it all depends how it's applied.
I don't think any of this changes no matter what pathway that knowledge took to reach you.
Sorry for gettin' all philosophical on everyone...
Anyway, that's my view on that issue...
- Dien