According to this article NASA is set to slam not one, but two satellites into the moon. Since Mormon leaders have taught that the moon is populated (along with the sun), I anticipate that the LDS church will vehemently protest this planned attack on the moon. I expect to see the LDS church publicly confront NASA on their disregard for human life and their insensitivity to the inhabitants of the moon. The LDS church will have to race against the clock, though, as this attack on the moon people is scheduled for February 2009.
If they don’t take a stand here and now, Kolob may be next!
1, February 29, 2008 at 4:44 am
I sure do hope they can manage to put an end to the anti-Quaker sentiment this mission is sure to stir up! I wonder if President Romney would have put a stop to this?
1, March 4, 2008 at 2:33 pm
It’s fun to ridicule other people’s beliefs, isn’t it? Makes us feel smug and superior. It also makes us look foolish for not recognizing how our own beliefs and history can also be made to look silly.
It is possible that Joseph Smith believed the moon was inhabited, although the reliability of the 1892 Huntington quote given more than 50 years later could certainly be questioned. For argument’s sake, let’s say he did believe it. What does that really prove aside from the fact that he held a belief that was very common in his day?
Some of the most prominent astronomers of Joseph Smith’s day believed that the moon was inhabited. Astronomer William Herschel, a contemporary of Joseph Smith and the discoverer of the planet Uranus, stated that it was “an absolute certainty” that the moon was inhabited. He was not alone. Johann Schroter, Franz Von Gruithuisen and Etienne Trouvelot (all contemporaries of Joseph Smith) shared this belief. Some even went further arguing that the Sun was also inhabited. The belief in canals on the moon persisted into the 20th century.
If these learned men of science believed that the moon was inhabited, why wouldn’t the average person at that time share a similar belief? That is the true historical context of the Huntington quote, but why bother with context when your intent is simply to ridicule?
The truth is up until the development of more powerful telescopes in the latter half of the 19th century, the belief that the moon was inhabited was the norm, not the exception. Throughout history, great men have shared this belief. Leonardo Di Vinci believed it. So did Aristotle. So what?
What shall we say about the geocentric, flat-earth, four-pillar cosmology of the men who wrote the Bible? Obviosly, those “inspired men” can’t be relied upon to deliver religious truth if they have their facts wrong about astronomy and cosmology, right?
The whole approach used in this post is too easy if one wants to return the favor. There are 2000 years of Christian history and quotes to chose from. How about the belief that weasels conceive with their mouths, hares grow a new body orifice for each year of their lives, and hyenas can change sex (from the epistle attributed to the apostle Barnubus). How about the claim that the Pheonix bird is real and is performing his magical resurrection every 500 years in Eqypt (from apostolic father Clement of Rome)? Do I even have to get into talking donkeys, planet formation without gravity, a sun that stops in its orbit around the earth and other interesting scientific facts from the Bible? Is it possible that an inspired man can have erroneous scientific beliefs? Does inspiration equal omniscience?
Using your approach, I could say, “See, look what Christians believe. Isn’t that silly?” I’m barely scratching the surface here. Believe me, there’s a lot more. The volume of source material is enormous. What does it all prove from a religious perspective? Nothing. But then again, this is all about ridicule, not fairness, consistency or objectivity.
1, April 15, 2008 at 4:47 pm
“What shall we say about the geocentric, flat-earth, four-pillar cosmology of the men who wrote the Bible? Obviosly, those “inspired men” can’t be relied upon to deliver religious truth if they have their facts wrong about astronomy and cosmology, right?”
FALSE.
Isaiah 40:22 says (hundreds of years before modern science) “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth”….was that just a coincidence? A circle is round, the writers of the Bible never said the earth was flat.
Oh yeah, they also said the earth hangs on “nothing”. Hersey!!!