Space And Religion

A brief history of their relationship. I infer that she thinks evangelicals not supporting spaceflight is a problem, because of concern that it could reduce public support for it. Apparently she doesn’t realize that public support is irrelevant to a space future that is funded not by the government, but by private interests, which is what our space future now is.

[Update a while later]

Related, sort of. Laura Seward Forczyk describes her eclipse experience.

[Update mid-afternoon]

Another account from Miri Kramer.

[Update Wednesday morning]

It’s good to be an earthling.

6 thoughts on “Space And Religion”

  1. You’re killing me Rand. You follow that last post with this one?

    I will simply share this (with which I don’t completely agree) rather than clog up your blog (which that article would normally elicit from me.)

  2. There are a lot of people who don’t care for space and think it’s a waste of money.

    I don’t recall the space program ever being promoted as god vs the godless but I wasn’t alive in the 60’s. It is a mistake to think the answer here is getting some subset of Christians to think God wants them to explore space. I don’t mind if some people have this view but an outsider instilling it through propaganda isn’t something that should be done.

    Rand is exactly right to point out that the a future in space is best determined by the people who desire to go there rather than a government budget, which competes with every other issue people think are important. There are many groups that act as roadblocks for government funding, Christians are probably not one of them. What part of the budget is Christian?

  3. For years I would read how soul-searing some event was, and wonder why I never felt so strongly about such things.

    Apparently I’m immune to gratuitous drama. It prevents me from embracing conspiracy theories, or throwing my (metaphorical) panties at politicians or other celebrities, or losing my excrement when there’s a double rainbow in the sky, or a single one in my sprinkler.

    It also keeps me from seeing ghosts or UFOs, hearing voices, mistaking a homeless guy for Elvis, and so on.

    I do live in a fascinating, magical world — fairy tales would only distract me from it.

    1. So you think that this is just something that those emotional women do?

      I don’t think I’d cry, but I’d imagine the experience is weirdly profound.

    2. Apparently I’m immune to gratuitous drama.

      Novelty is short lived. But as you noted, some people are more prone to it than others.

      Its always good to keep in mind too, that everyone squeees for different things and that whatever makes you squeee is going to be boring to someone else.

      Was watching some documentary and one of the astronomers saw Earth from the vantage of Jupiter or Saturn and was super excited but I couldn’t help but think it wasn’t that big a deal. Why wouldn’t you expect to see Earth as a little blue dot? How is it different than seeing Mars from Earth? To me, the profound part is the larger picture, not the smaller one.

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