A fascinating read for space colony fans

>
> Shared in response to some references to shrill commentary elsewhere,
> but worth passing along...
>
> SPACE RAPTURE: Extraterrestrial Millennialism and the Cultural
> Construction of Space Colonization by Ryan Jeffrey McMillen, B.A.,
> M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
> The University of Texas at Austin.
>
> http://www.lib.utexas.edu/etd/d/2004/mcmillend92689/mcmillend92689.pdf
> http://www.lib.utexas.edu/etd/d/2004/mcmillend92689/mcmillend92689.pdf>
>
> It is auguable here and there, but a fantastic piece of work.
>
> Don
>

Well, maybe. But you read this at the end of the introduction

In seeking to uncover the hand and will of God in the universe through
scientific research and technological experimentation, the
extraterrestrial millennialist ideology has helped to guide technology
and our assumptions about technology's advance to create the angry,
merciless, and capricious God of surveillance and imminent doom at the
heart of of a dark and semi-conscious will to destroy the Earth and
liberate a minuscule Christian portion of humanity into a lifeless sky.

And you wonder about the 'fantastic' part. But I'll bet it was a big
hit at UT Austin. Dadgum hipppies.

Brian Dunbar
System Administrator
Liftport - The Space Elevator Company

brian.dunbar@...
aim: bdunbar1967

this email is: [ ] bloggable [x] ask first [ ] private

Remember.
But move forward, too. Light a candle, yes. But also drive a rivet.
~Lileks