Hey JP it's a little farther than that. Earth to Mars is 90.682 million miles. Earth to the Moon is a mere 238.9 thousand miles. The last several years of my working carrer was working in the aerospace industry. I spent some time working on some Space Shuttle test equipment in the mid '70s and in the last few years some proposal work on James Webb, and "various" satellites. I've always said sending humans to the moon was a HUGE waste of money, man power, and human lives. Now we are talking Mars? It's just stupid, ludicrus, insanity!
It has been said that in our time, we more than most generations before us, suffer from an
illusion of original thought. The longer I live and the more I learn, the more I subscribe to that thesis.
We think, because of having technology making getting to the moon possible, that we are the first generations to seek its mysteries. Hardly.
Do we realize that ancient Gnosticism is alive and very well in the 20th and 21st centuries?
And has seen tremendous revival in America for almost 200 years, having not been this robust since the 1st and 2nd centuries after Christ.
Human quest of discovering the moon and all its mysteries are even older than that but the quest for "true" knowledge (we label it by names such as science/math/philosphy/etc) started long, long ago.
We are not the first people to seek it (Illusion of original thought).
What is gnosticism and why is it growing again?
At its core is the progression - progressivism - of humankind. Gnostic thinking is basic to the “human potential movement” because it focuses on man and his problems, man and his needs, man and his happiness.
Here's a good summary from an article I have;
"At its point of historical origin, it is fundamentally a radical reading of Plato as regards matter and the body. In Plato’s dialogues, arguments are presented claiming the senses deceive, for the visible realm of sense perception is illusory and a realm of constant flux, while it is the invisible, intelligible realm that is stable, unchanging, and ultimately Real. We may attain knowledge of it through the spiritual soul’s contemplation of it. And so in Plato’s dialogues, the body is a problem. Indeed, it’s described even as a “tomb” or a “prison,” neither of which are nice places... Gnostic concepts mirror a modern school of philosophy known as existentialism ("how and why do we exist?") Gnostics asked and answered such questions as: "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" and "What is my true self?So we head to the moon, with the hippie generation in charge of the dollars (that's people our age) because the hippie age is a generation built upon seeking love, truth, and what is real.
A lot of 'em tripped out to "find" that "place," but that tactic isn't original either.
Seem not possible?
I had no idea how entrenched Gnostics were in our land until my theological grad studies.
In my theological studies I learned that;
There are three main platforms that Gnosticism's leaders - known as[b] elites (where have we heard that name before?) - have... and they all read like modern day America;[/b]
1. "With regard to humanity, Gnosticism was, and is,
elitist, holding that there is a hierarchy within humanity. The highest rank comprises the pneumatics, the “spirituals” (as pneuma in Greek means “spirit”). These people have spirits that can be liberated from their bodies. The next rank comprises the psychics, “soulish” people (psych: meaning “soul”) who may not be able to be saved as they lack spirits but who, having some sort of souls, can achieve some degree of illumination. And the final rank comprises the vast mass of humanity, the hylics (meaning “matter”), who are only bodies, lacking spirits and souls. They’re cattle, and cannot be illuminated or saved.
Secrecy: Gnosticism trades in it, and the elites were the ones who possessed the secret knowledge about the cosmos and the secret codes for escaping it. The elites simply know the very structure of the universe and simply know the secret code of salvation."2. "In terms of morality, it means second that babies were bad; what else is a newborn but seven pounds of inherently evil matter? And so Gnostics advocated and practiced contraception, abortion, and infanticide, all of which were common in the ancient world. They also had a disdain for the female form since females bore babies, and saw the human person not as dimorphic (male and female) in principle but as androgynous."
3. "Gnostics are antinomian, meaning that they reject any rules or laws disciplining the body, and so felt free to engage in licentious behavior; if the body does not matter, if we are not ultimately our bodies, why not use them as we please?
It has been said that the legalization of gay marriage has been the pinnacle of modern day gnostics as this wholeheartedly undermines those who oppose the heretic Gnostics >>>> the Judea-Christian believers, who commit to the one-man married to one woman covenant (as instructed in the Bible), which is the human template of the divine Jesus Christ (Bride Groom) and the Church (Bride).
And gender identification will be allowed because the tenets of the Gnostics declare that sex of a human doesn't matter because it is irrelevant to the truth of this universe. Male - female - them - it... they are all the same when you know what Gnostics believe and how they go about their progressivism.
The ages pass but the battle remains the same today as it was then.
I say, like Sun Tzu, it's always necessary to know the enemy and the terrain.
The space expiration has so very little to do with finding pretty rocks and more resources for humans. Gnostics despise the material, which includes human bodies.
It's all about the Gnostic elites proving to themselves they have the power to leave this wretched evil embodied earth for reasons the Gnostics and their 21st century faithful, who are many, place their faith in.
Count me and mine out.
Period.
There's no future in it
Blessings,
Mark
