Politics of space funding

are there any Christian considerations on a level with
> these?

Yes. I'm working on this question in the third short story of the
series I've been working on.

The first big one is the heart of the Church, the Incarnation.
Christ is God, and united the God nature with human nature, that's
why the word is incarnation, if you know the Latin root. This is the
teaching that "makes all things possible," as St. Paul said--makes
it possible, but not inevitable, for man NOT to steal, not to lie,
to remain faithful to one wife and one family, which is not at all
natural. It is also the teaching that makes the absolute respect for
the human person possible. This is a delicate point in civilization.
We know deep down that we must use animals and when we permit the
dominant social teaching equate humanity with animals, we open the
door to all other abuse. To say that the nature of the poorest child
in the poorest place in the world is united to the nature of the
living God is--important. (Of course the Church doesn't always live
up to this! But it's bound to the teaching, and saints live up to
it.)

But will this teaching, the Incarnation, apply to aliens? Does the
same Christ who offering himself in place of us saved mankind from
the just consequences of our sins, save them? And are we, as
Catholics, bound by the same love that sent the little friars into
the huge southwest and Latin America, bound also to bring it to
small green guys in Alpha Centauri?

This same question applies on earth, too, and B16 has addressed it
explicitly. One of the things that "the spirit" (us hippie
nutscases) of Vatican II was wild to do was "adapt" Christ to our
age. In fact, all ages have wanted to do that, because there's
something really really hard to accept that an actual guy who spoke
an actual language (Aramaic) lived in a town, in a time, and that
town and that time were not OUR TIME and OUR TOWN!! How dare God!
Let's put him in a suit, and cut that hair! Etc. Etc.

But the heart of it all is that it isn't some kind of myth designed
to lull us to sleep but something real, and that means
time/culture/place bound [I guess sort of like Mecca--not a relative
point, but an actual point.]. Anyway, Benedict as Cardinal Ratzinger
reiterated the teaching loud and clear. Christ isn't "adaptable." He
lived in one time, one place, married the God nature to humanity,
and offered his life for us on one lonely hilltop. (That this gives
unspeakable dignity to every lonely hilltop is something else to
discuss, and why Christianity, above all other religions, is so
precious to the future. It's like this emphasis on the particular is
what redeems every particular.)

Anyway, the Church has not ever written on whether the incarnation
applies to aliens. I might get excommunicated and have to repent.
But I think I am correctly applying the principal in saying, yes, it
does. I think by this, if the stories were read, I could unleash a
little of the same energy that fueled the other pushes outward, when
the Frontier wasn't high, but west. This could be good for space
exploration, or exploitation, I'm waiting for Joe to explain his use
of the word.

There are a few other things, too. For example, the Church must use
wheat in the consecration of the host. No substitutes allowed. So if
wheat is touchy to get growing in space, there won't be any Blessed
Sacrament for a while. Same with wine. Must use wine. It must be
done as Christ said, or it doesn't count. (These limitations are in
no way bad--they bring out the best in humans, and it's the best we
need, not the willingness to jerry-rig everything.)

Also a priest is consecrated by a bishop who was consecrated by a
bishop who was consecrated by one of the original apostles, and the
paperwork exists, must exist, to prove it. So how will that be done
in space? The story I'm working on now is the first bishop of the
universe, hastily consecrated on earth and sent to join his brother
on the arkship the Regina Coeli, headed for Alpha Centauri to bring
back carbon dioxide resistent plants to gene splice and save earth
plants, including wheat (which really is suffering if recent crops
are a sign of the future). See, that would be necessary to maintain
Catholicism in space--no bishop, no priests, no mass or sacraments,
no Church.

There are probably other caveats, but I think these are the main
ones.

Jan

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "terrierkeeper"
>
> --- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophile"
> wrote:
> >
> > Cool. I'm perfectly happy to discuss how to get politicians
> > interested. And how to get their constituents interested.
> >
> > And even religion, as it pertains to High Frontier. For
instance:
> > when exactly is the Sabbath if you experience twelve or so
sunrises
> > every twenty-four hours? How does a prohibition against travel
on
> the
> > Sabbath pertain to being in, say, a Low Earth Orbit? How is an
> > Orthodox Jew supposed to deal with this environment?
>
> I suspect the solution is quite simple. Since in my current flop,
I
> have my colonists having trouble coping with wanding into
different
> parts of a colony for lunch in one section, then into another
where
> dinner is being served and then into a third where it is luncn and
a
> fourth where it is breakfast, the solution is simply to establish
> Time Zones. Initially in the colony itself and then among the
> colonies as they form up into groups. The colony may be able to
set
> the amount of the day but rules may be established.
>
> Their big problem is how to keep things going during the Sabbath
> observance since even pushing a lightswitch would be considered
WORK
> even if it were voice operated.
>
> How does a
> > Muslim bow towards Mecca (not bowing TO Mecca; Mecca is not a
God to
> > be bowed to)?
>
> They may have to crawl into the zero gravity core of the colony
and
> pray straight down.
>
> Some Neo-Pagans hold their rituals in open fields or
> > sacred groves. Would a field or grove in an Island Three be
> > satisfactory?
>
> That would be up to them to determine.
>
> Are there any Christian considerations on a level with
> > these?
>
> Not that I know of.
> >
> > What I don't care for is an argument about who has the "best"
> > political philosophy or the "best" religion. If Jesus,
Mohammad,
> and
> > Buddha know how to get launch costs down, then great, somebody
quote
> > me the chapter and verse. If not, then I really don't care what
> they
> > have to say. Not here. Somewhere else I might, and might be
> prepared
> > to argue all night long why my faith is the true one, why my
> political
> > philosophy is the best one. But here, I don't care.
> >
> A lot of things run on Common Sence. Society's First task is to
> maintain and preserve itself. Second Task it to produce the Next
> Generation that will hopefully grow and improve upon what the
> existing generation is doing and prepare it for its period of life
so