.ll 72 .fo off .co on .ce ((Editor's comments in double parenthesis - Homer)) .ce ADR - 209 .ce .ce Copyright (C) Homer Wilson Smith .ce Redistribution rights granted for non commercial purposes ======================================================================== 251 Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 21:45:28 EDT From: Homer To: adore-l@ualtavm .ll 72 .fo no .ce on .ce off Mr. Steve Ericson DIAMONDA EUROPA PO 209 8070 AE Nunspeet Holland 011-31-3412-58944 .co on 10/12/88 Dear Steve, I have spent a lot of time thinking about your letter concerning the Christian involvement of Diamonda Europa (DE). I have shown your promotional literature to various people here at Cornell who have not had a terribly negative reaction. Their reaction is condescending however and tolerant rather than openly accepting. I and they are impressed with the ability some Christians have of getting things done, and the amount of backing in terms of money and cooperation from people in power they can command. With this in mind it would seem that DE will be a highly visible and successful enterprise. It is not however usual that Christians attempt a SCIENTIFIC project of this scope. In this case the number of highly skilled and professional scientific people that will have to be involved will probably be greater than previous Christian undertakings. I am sure there are many professional scientists in the Christian community, but sad to say there are also many seriously non scientific minds in the same community. Hysterical instead, and dangerous almost to a charm. The scientific community that I am immersed in tends to be non religious and openly hostile to and contemptuous of Creationism in any form, which attitude may be just as insane as stark Fundamentalism. In ART MATRIX I have had to deal with the fanatical fringe of both the Secular Humanists and the Fundamentalists alike. I find both terribly obnoxious and not worth my time. Both go to great lengths to find offense at various things I have written concerning fractals and their application to biology, evolution (which exists even if God created the world 6000 years ago!), and even ethics, psychology and philosophy. Caught between those who insist I believe in God and those who insist I don't belive in God, I have often wished that both sides would all just go to hell and stay there. Which brings me to the crux of the matter. You. Presuming that you and I end up finding each other acceptable, I still have the problem of presenting DE as a suitable project to those I work with in the scientific community. Christians have a reputation that preceeds them in the secular world, usually as an alienated and inane cult, with little wisdom and no confront. Although most men recognize that not all Christians are this way they will most certainly wonder if YOU are. Especially since you are a big bucks operation. This does not go well in today's climate. Perhap's wrongly. There is also a feeling going around that those who make the loudest noise about sin and damnation are usually making it with prostitutes or underage kids between takes. Non-Christian scientists therefore, before they get involved with this, are going to wonder just how much serious science will be allowed to flourish in the atmosphere created by DE. I have spent days thinking about arguments we could have had back and forth, pro and con, concerning the validity of religion, yours in particular, and science. Sifting through the damage I have managed to come up with 3 questions that you most certainly would be asked by scruntizing minds at this end. Well thought out answers, not involving simple 'I don't know's' would go a long way towards gaining the cooperation you seek even amoung the most doubtful and hostile opponents. If your answers were acceptable to the scientific community, then your Christianity would become of secondary and irrelevant importance, and you would obtain full and instant cooperation from the people you seek. You see most scientists don't care that the Christian feels a need for Salvation nor do they care that he believes in the particular mechanism offered. What they resent most is being told their science is all wrong. Scientists hate having what they can't see make wrong something they can see. For example they are told by the true believer that the world was created 6000 years ago because the Bible says so and the Bible is right because God wrote it. But the scientists can't SEE God. They CAN however see the fossil record going back millions of years. Of course anyone would have to admit God might have fabricated the fossil record itself 6000 years ago to make it LOOK like the Earth had been here longer. But then serious attempts to answer 'Why?' would be in order. Christians have had a long time to think about it after all, and should probably be expected to have some answers. So the following questions go something like this. I suggest that a clear response to each, responses that I can relay to the important people involved here, would greatly expedite the cooperation we both seek in this matter. 1.) Is Earth the ONLY planet with conscious sentient life on it? Has God created life on other planets or provided for the possibility of life on other planets through the mechanism of normal biochemical evolution? Is our Universe BILLIONS of light years across, containing BILLIONS of galaxies, each containing BILLIONS of stars with most of them having planetary systems, meaning there are TRILLIONS and TRILLIONS of planets on which life might form? If this is true what are the probabilities that Earth is the ONLY planet that has ever had life or ever will have life? 2.) If there IS life on other planets, has God provided for their Salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord? Does Jesus Christ have to visit each planet in turn and get Crucified on each one again and again? Or is the Crucifixion on Earth enough to save the people on other planets? What of planets that existed millions of years ago around suns that cooled far earlier than Earth? Did they have to wait all these years for Christ to get Crucified on Earth before they could be saved? What grave are they waiting in? What of the planets that have yet to form in the inner core of the Galaxies? In millions of years when life forms there, how will they know to call on the name of Jesus Christ the Lord to be saved? Or are the people on Earth the only ones destined to be saved? 3.) If a living alien from another planet or star system were to visit Earth, how would this affect Christianity? In clarification then, people are going to be mainly interested if the Bible specifically claims that Earth is the only planet that has ever had life or ever will have life on it; or if any of your following actually believes this. Further they are going to wonder how God will provide for the Salvation of other life forms on other planets if indeed there are any. Lastly they will wonder how Christians can handle finding out with certainty they are not the center of the universe and may have been wrong about something. Answers to the effect that 'We don't know, because God works in mysterious ways' will not cut it with the group I work with. (Footnote 1.) They already find Christians a little funny but are really concerned that Christians will do everything in their power to stop people from knowing the Earth is round and not the center of the Universe. It has litterally happened once before. The Pope KNEW Galileo was right (and TOLD him so while showing him the rack) and most people figure Christians have not changed much since that time either in wisdom or in attitude towards knowledge. (The Pope was concerned the people might break with the church upon learning that its Earth Centered teaching was wrong. He felt it was more important for the people to maintain their ties with the church than to know the truth about the Universe (and therefore God too!)) Thus many scientific people feel that Christians should not be taken seriously except maybe to exterminate them from our schools and positions of power. A bit rough perhaps, but the truth. If you really feel that Diamonda Europa can provide a flourishing ground for serious science, then I am sure you can get the backing of just about anyone you please. I can't image a better place to gain visibility and a chance to be in the public's eye. I know most would be honored to be involved in an operation of such class. However if DE is merely going to be another breeding ground for Flat-Earth mentality, then you will probably be laughed out of the business. Seriously yours, Homer Wilson Smith (Foot note 1.) When ever Religion and Reality come into conflict it always seems Reality looses out. For example when presented with the fossil record or direct memories of past lives Christianity answers that it is all wrong because the Bible says so. Its the 'Devil's work'. When asked how can all this evidence exist in contradiction to the Book, they say 'I don't know, I am not supposed to know, I just have faith the Bible is right.' Thus what are Christians doing to help us understand evolution or why we can not remember our past lives? (I mean if the Devil ever had his hand in something, that would be it. Not being able to remember the experience and skill of 100 lifetimes is not the work of kindness. Maybe Christians believe the world was made 6000 years ago because they don't want to remember what they were doing 7000 years ago. Probably it was not pretty.) Thus to many Non-Believers Christianity seems to be a religion with built in 'NOT KNOWS'. These 'NOT KNOWS' exist at each point of the track where the Bible contradicts Reality. If no one had ever TOLD the Christians the world was made 6000 years ago they would all be working on the fossil record like the rest of us because that is what they can SEE. As it is, a hefty portion of our work force is off trying to ressurect the Spanish Inquisition. Homer adore-l@ualtavm 6/15/89 No subject