Satan, who gave mankind knowledge, is portrayed as evil? By the church implying, as was stated in the Bible, that the church does not wish man/woman to think but simply follow like sheep. Why is knowledge so feared by Theism?

The idea that Satan gave mankind knowledge is, well, something Satan would say. The story of the Fall into sin in Genesis Chapter 3 has Satan lie by telling half the truth when he persuades Eve to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.

Satan did NOT give knowledge of good and evil, for GOD planted the tree and gave it the effect mentioned. Satan’s lie via half-truth only set the stage, didn’t it? He taught humans to lie, hence his title, Father of Lies.

And if you realize that Genesis is an origin story with about as much relationship to the real world as any other of thousands of origin stories, what’s important to Christians (and Jews for that matter) is the theology it contains. That was inspired by GOD.