[extropy-chat] Bill Moyers' Comments - Global Environment CitizenAward

[Samantha Atkins]

Mike Lorrey wrote:

>
>Rapture is a mythical state of *some* kind of transcendance that is
>described by many more than just Christian theology, nor does it depend
>on an Earth created in 4004 BC. Refusing to hijack the rapture meme is
>literally refusing to take necessary action in supplanting the
>prescientific mythocracy. Just as replacing Christmas with Newtonmas
>(as Christmas replaced the Roman Saturnalia), supplanting christian
>theological precepts with rational transhumanist ones is necessary to
>win the memetic war.
>
>  
>

An interesting point.   However, in this particular case of the Rapture, 
the subject is so heavily overlaid with fundamentalist Christian 
memesets that I have difficulty seeing how this can lead to anything but 
confusion and accepting some pretty horrific package deals.   You don't 
supplant prescientific myths by saying you have a better form of the 
same thing.  This would be equivalent to claiming that chemistry was 
actually modern alchemy and astronomy nothing but scientific 
astrology.     Redefining the meaning of a holiday is a far simpler 
task.   That we should do the latter does not make the former doable or 
recommended.

- samantha