Man On The Moon ?

A quarter of Americans do not believe man landed on the moon. So what do they think NASA and the US Government spent $24 billion on ? Where did the money go ? Was it all spent on a massive deception, on TV mock-ups, on keeping politicians and the media quiet and complicit ?

Of course, it's not what they believe that's important, it's what they don't want to believe. Space travel and the further exploration of the universe asks important questions about the existence of God and many Americans simply don't want to have anything to do with doubting deity.

They are the same people who refuse to believe Darwin, reject theories of evolution and, not only that, think that their alternative explanation for dinosaurs deserves equal attention to the point where they should be taught in school.

It is interesting to note that one of the things Aldrin and Armstrong did on the surface of the Moon was conduct a religious ceremony of sorts, proving that science and reason are not always incompatible with faith and nor should they be.

But it will always be the case that people will not want to believe their own eyes because to do so would be to accept a truth that is so uncomfortable their whole belief system would be threatened and, perhaps, become unsustainable.

However, belief is important; we should all believe in something because to reject belief is to turn inward and reject society and humanity. A lack of belief is perhaps why so many people are greedy, self-absorbed, unhappy, alienated.

It doesn't help that as a social trend it has been growing, perhaps since the end of the Second World War when all the beliefs, all the -isms of the inter-war period, were crushed into ruins by bombs and guns and people en-masse seemed to decide it was better to retreat into a personal world whose bounds were one's own family. They left society to the politicians and instead rejected ideas ike mutual assistance and co-operation for a new car and a washing machine.

Thatcher's "There is no such thing as society" was the high water mark of such thinking but it has not left us despite outrage over MP's expenses and fat cat capitalist bonuses. Although at least now people say things like , "I wish I could believe in something" which may represent progress.

The lesson of the man on the moon is to look at what you see, think about what it represents, analyse the implications and form a view from there. But don't just reject, there are times when you have to believe and alter those beliefs as necessary.