Kim, The general problem is when religious texts are used to explain astronomical phenomenon. I read a Facebook posting by a LDS person reviewing Lynn Hilton's work, talking about how they liked that he used the scriptures to study the stars and not the stars. People who treat these texts literally are likely to reject scientific authority in favor of religious/scriptural authority. This is certainly not unique to LDS people, but I would say that the additional scriptures of the LDS movement complicate matters, because they are added to what are already problematic passages in the Bible. The Book of Abraham is filled with some cryptic and confusing descriptions of the universe, much like the Book of Revelation from the NT, and so is subject to all kinds of wild interpretations. While the astronomy in the BoA appears to me unscientific, there are two instances of heliocentrism in the Book of Mormon. Then again, D&C 77 is pretty clear on the point of the earth being a few thousand years old, and this is NOT the statement of a bronze age man, but the communications of a deity to a modern prophet. I think that the problem is less with the LDS scriptures and more with the people who mix these ideas with those of, as I mentioned before, Sitchen, Talbott, Velikovsky, etc. These are crackpots, and associating them with LDS thought is a great disservice. There are real LDS astronomers who have contended with this ignorance, like R. Grant Athay and the late Erich Paul, but I see very little of their thinking and more of that of Rod Cluff, prominent LDS hollow earther. Is there stuff like this elsewhere? Absolutely. It seems to be a universal phenomenon, but especially in the U.S. There are versions of this occurring in every major religious tradition, where the boundaries between science and religion are always tested and a struggle for authority continues. Does that concern me? Absolutely. The US is declining in its academic vigor towards the sciences. Many countries are now launching probes and landers, and America's pride in its technical achievements seems at a low point. This is not the time to be building creation museums and trying to force intelligent design into textbooks. Thankfully, none of these things have happened in Utah (yet), which is to our credit.
I hope others don't mind if we continue this a bit. Now I think we may have something to talk about. Richard, you obviously have very strong opinions - nothing wrong with that, but they can easily be construed as attacks. I share your sentiments regarding Von Daniken but I'm not familiar with the others you cite. From my experience, Latter-Day Saints are no more prone to believe such stuff as any other group of well-meaning but perhaps uninformed people. I'm sure that literal interpretations of some LDS scriptures such as the writings of Abraham (where the Kolob story comes from) can sound just as strange and silly to others as ancient astronaut theories do to me. My take, as a believing LDS, is that the story of Abraham's Kolob, Biblical creation story and other stories from the Old Testament are largely allegorical. After all, how else might God explain to a goat herder concepts of cosmology, big bang theory, inflation, etc.? (Assuming these theories are basically correct, of course - another discussion.)
For what it's worth, I've been really disappointed that the History Channel is airing programs on UFO's and ancient astronauts. A lot of nonsense, in my opinion. So, Richard, again I don't think that LDS are more na?ve or gullible than others. It's simply a strange but fascinating reality of our American culture. Do you or anyone else know if this kind of stuff is as pervasive elsewhere in the world, particularly in our western counterparts such as Europe?
BTW, David - love the cartoon!
Kim
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End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 94, Issue 60 **********************************************