The Great Moon Hoax was launched on the New York public today in 1835, saying that life on the Moon had been discovered, including bat-like humanoids which flapped about on wings, built temples, and had yellow faces which were ‘a slight improvement upon that of the large orang outang’. The discovery was attributed to the famous English astronomer of the time, Sir John Herschel, who was staying in Cape Town. The story quickly spread and was widely believed on both sides of the Atlantic. There was scientific debate about the winged humanoids, not to mention sermons and prayers for their salvation. The hoax was debunked a few weeks later.
‘The astronomer has received at the Cape a letter from a large number of Baptist clergymen of the United States, congratulating him on his discovery, informing him that it had been the occasion of much edifying preaching and of prayer-meetings for the benefit of brethren in the newly-explored regions; and beseeching him to inform his correspondents whether science affords any prospects of a method of conveying the Gospel to residents in the moon.’ Harriett Martineau, Retrospect of Western Travel
The ‘God is Dead’ philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, died at noon today in 1900, in Weimar, after a decade of mental breakdown and dementia. A passionate and brilliant atheist, Nietzsche rejected Christianity and poured eloquent scorn on the virtues it prized most, including humility, self-denial, sacrifice and martyrdom. Nietzsche was buried beside his father, a Lutheran pastor, on whose grave, years earlier, Nietzsche had inscribed the words, ‘Love never fails’.
‘Does not night come on continually, darker and darker? Shall we not have to light lanterns in the morning? Do we not hear the noise of the grave-diggers who are burying God? Do we not smell the divine putrefaction? – for even Gods putrefy! God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers?’ Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science
Another of God’s philosophical sparring partners, David Hume, died today in 1776. His speciality was efficiently mowing down all the hardiest proofs for the existence of God that Christians had cultivated over the past millennium. He also originated the saying, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ although what he actually said was: ‘Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.’
It is the feast of St Genesius the Comedian. Why not celebrate it with your mother-in-law? He was a probably fictitious saint from the reign of Diocletian, the last Roman Emperor to persecute Christians. According to legend, Genesius and his acting troupe performed a comedy before the emperor, parodying the Christian faith. Genesius was mock-baptised, but at the end of the scene announced that he had genuinely just become a Christian. He refused to back down, even when he was tortured, and he was eventually beheaded. He is the patron of comedians, clowns, actors and dancers.
Voyager 1 passed into interstellar space today in 2012, 35 years after its launch in 1977. It carries a golden record containing sound tracks and images intended to give aliens a taste of human life on earth. The only nod to religion in the record is a blues song played and hummed by Blind Willie Johnson, ‘Dark was the night, cold the ground’, drawn from a 19th century hymn about the crucifixion of Jesus. In 40,000 years time, Voyager 1 will fly within 1.6 light years of the star Gliese 445, which will probably be the next opportunity for the record to be played.
Image: Gregory H. Revera