Tom writes:

> Speaking of Harrison Schmitt and "shocking revelations", the Detroit Free
>  Press ran a story today about what NASA is doing about rumors that the
moon
>  walks did not happen.
>
>  See http://www.freep.com/news/nw/moon30_20021030.htm

The terms "The Dark Ages" and "The Renaissance" were marketing phrases dreamt
up by people within the secular humanist wave that swept Europe in the late
1500's, and were meant to symbolise in the least number of words, like any
good marketing phrase, the differences between the rebirth of independent,
critical thought and the stultifying religious doctrines that had dominated
Europe for the previous 600 years.

The "Dark Ages" weren't completely dark however. There were people,
especially among the Arabs, English, Poles, Germans and Dutch, all far enough
from the power centers of Rome, where scientific investigation continued
during that period. Indeed, even in Italy, the wave of university
construction that began in the late 900's in Egypt and England was relatively
quickly taken up in Italy too and a number of universities (essentially
unchanged today in basic function) flourished in Italy by the 1200's.

Nonetheless, despite this learning, the common folk of France, Italy and
Spain tended to the believe the "Fox News Network" version of the news rather
than a more obvious and simple truth: that the aqueducts that laced Europe
were well-known to have been built by the Romans during their time of
conquest of Europe to simply transport water. The level of human achievement
that the aqueducts represented fostered the belief among the less
well-educated and least powerful peasantry that they were built by the
Olympian Gods to carry wine to the their orgies, I presume simply because
those who believed in such a vision could never imagine themselves doing
anything so grand.

Given the modern rise of conservative home-schooling and the packing of
school boards with troglodytes for whom thought must pass religious tests, I
sometimes greatly worry that we're not on the cusp of a new "Dark Age". If
people watch enough of the "Fox News Network" and Jerry Falwell, the
percentage of the population who believe that we never went to the moon, that
the Earth is only 6000 years old, and that the complete occupation of the
West Bank by Jews will signal the second coming of Christ will likely rise
from 20% to 50%. At that point, we're likely lost.

Wirt Atmar

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