Sorcery: “the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits”. Whether employed for theatrical or more sinister purposes, the key principle of magic is the same. "Look there is a word, misdirection, that's used by lay people a lot, it's a magical term it's a term of art and the way lay people use it is wrong because lay people often use it as a synonym for distraction like, Hey! Look over there there's something sneaky here and then you look back and the trick's donethat doesn't fool anyone. The way we use the word misdirection is kind of a curating of attention giving the audience a story they can tell themselves that lets them not really know they were distracted. We're going to do a trick right now using misdirection..." In the words of magician T.A. Waters, "Misdirection is the cornerstone of nearly all successful magic”. Yet to talk of magic, sorcery, and witchcraft as separate entities is nothing more than a play on words. The Bible plainly condemns all sorcerers and magicians. And prior to the 18th century "enlightenment," sorcery and witchcraft were perceived by all Christendom to be demonic agencies.In our enlightened age, however, magicians are thought to exist purely as entertainers, while the spells of witches are considered superstitious nonsense. Although logical explanations can be found for the supposedly supernatural happenings of magic shows, the tricks are played upon the minds of the audience, and not the objects themselves.If the evidence of one’s senses are believed, then, in the mind, the magic is made real. So what if, in an age where witchcraft is dismissed as superstition from a bygone age, the spells of sorcerers have taken hold over the minds of men like never before? What if our more refined society has fallen for more refined sorcery, under the guise of scientific evidence presented to our senses? What if our entire conception of the world and its origins are a false and crafty misdirection? Prior to the mid 16th century,sun centred cosmology was an abandoned concept, laying dormant between the dusty pages of ancient manuscripts. Whether noble or peasant, none denied the witness of their own senses, which testified to the truth of what Scripture declares that the Earth beneath their feet was at perfect rest while the heavenly bodies moved overhead.That this geocentric view of cosmology was widely held is confirmed by historian Andrew Dickson White, who was both an evolutionist and supporter of the heliocentric model. In his book, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, White points to a time in history when faith in the Biblical record began to unravel."In the latter half of the sixteenth century these evolutionary theories seemed to take more definite form... For there came, one after the other, five of the greatest men our race has produced-- Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton-- --and when their work was done the old theological conception of the universe was gone.“The spacious firmament on high, the Almighty enthroned upon “the circle of the heavens," and with his own hands, or with angels as his agents, keeping sun, moon, and planets in motion for the benefit of the earth, opening and closing the 'windows of heaven,' letting down upon the earth the 'waters above the firmament,' 'setting his bow in the cloud,' hanging out 'signs and wonders,' hurling comets, 'casting forth lightnings to scare the wicked,' and 'shaking the earth in his wrath': all this had disappeared."These five men had given a new divine revelation to the world, and through the last, Newton, had come a vast new conception, destined to be fatal to the old theory of creation... these men gave a new basis for the theory of evolution as distinguished from the theory of creation. As the adept magician draws attention away from that which would expose his deception, the captivating theories of these five men directed the eyes of the people away from the one reliable detector of error.We will soon see that these five 'men of science’ were in fact devout pupils of the earliest of magicians, their ideas springing not from observation and experiment, but from the ancient writings in which they were engrossed. To understand why such an attack was expedient for the sorcerers of this world, we must go back to the time when the heated dispute over cosmology began.The dawn of the Protestant Reformation. The 16th century brought revolutionary changes to the Christian world. For over a thousand years, the Roman Papacy had withheld the key of knowledge from the nations whose kings had bowed to her presumed authority. During these dark ages, popes and priests blasphemously sat in the place of Christ as mediator between God and man. Locked in a prison house of superstition and fear, the people were taught that outside of Rome’s favour, there was no salvation. As for Rome, her usurped dominion over the minds of men stood for as long as the words of life were concealed from the people. Desperate to perpetuate the moral paralysis, the clergy alone were permitted to read the Bible, the common people being forbidden under pain of death.Well aware of the power of knowledge, Papal policy withstood the flow of Greek culture from the East, and the West became exclusively Latin. The corrupt Latin vulgate, read only by the priests, was the only Bible known during those dark ages. All Greek records of history, archaeology, science, and literature were held back in the Eastern Roman Empire, the capital of which was Constantinople.This lead to the backward progress which characterised the dark ages, where technology, living standards, and morality all fell into decay under the oppressive preistdom. It was the absence of the light of knowledge, particularly that of Scripture, that made those ages 'dark.' Yet through the dreary centuries, brave souls at times stood up among the Roman clergy, daring to oppose the darkness.One such soul was John Wycliffe, who, in defiance of the spiritual tyranny, translated the latin Bible into the English language. So great was Rome’s fear that this Bible alone would expose her fraud, that over the following two centuries, she publicly burned all who were caught with this English translation.Such was the fate of Jan Hus, who took up the cause of Wycliffe in his native land of Bohemia. Meanwhile, the precious Bibles, bought at such great price, were tied around the necks of their possessors, and burnt with them. The Augustinian monk Martin Luther was one of many who groaned under the Popish gloom.Frequently retiring to a Latin Bible chained to the wall of his convent, the superstitious fog began to lift from his mind. With enlightened vision and a heart stirred by the Spirit of God, Luther grew indignant with the corruptions of the church. Casting off his monkish works, Luther bent his energies towards reform.Many shared his frustrations. All Europe needed was one to take a bold stand. All the while, the Papacy reposed blissfully unaware of the gathering storm ready to sweep away her captives. In 1517, Tetzel and his band of extortioners came to Wittenburg selling Papal indulgences. Through this artifice, the Papacy promised the remission of sins for a bargained price.Seeing through the pernicious scam, Luther vented the unspoken protest of thousands by nailing his 95 theses to the door of his local church. This move of a devout monk was no petty act of rebellion, but the expression of a love for the truth which he had found between the pages of an old Bible. Little did Luther realise the resounding effects this simple act would have.Thanks to the newly invented movable-type printing press, and the zeal of the youth at Wittenberg’s university, Luther’s 95 Biblical objections to indulgences were soon dispatched throughout Germany. And not long after, they were broadly translated and littered throughout Europe. Luther’s revolutionary act in October 1517 marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.As the Bible exposed the fraudulent teachings and corrupt practices of Rome, the chains of fear and ignorance that had held the people under her sway fell to the ground. Like rain that refreshes a dry and thirsty land, the word of God spoke life to nations that for centuries had languished under a pontifical shadow of death.The reformation battle cry ‘Sola Scriptura: The Bible and the Bible alone’ echoed over many lands. Incredibly, Providence had paved the way for this reformation throughout the preceding century. In 1543, Constantinople was sacked before Mehmet the Conqueror, and Athens fell shorty thereafter. Among the Greeks who fled before the advancing Turkish hordes were intellectual classes, carrying their learning and literature into the West.In their hands lay the pure Greek manuscripts of the Holy scriptures. These sacred scrolls would be vital to the generation of revolutionaries who would storm the citadels of Roman dogma. The fruit of these rediscovered treasures ripened one year before the Reformation began. Erasmus of Rotterdam deeply desired that all men should have the scriptures in their native tongues.Discerning that the Vulgate swarmed with errors, he diligently compiled a purified New Testament of apostolic descent from the rediscovered greek manuscripts. In 1516, Erasmus completed this work which is known as ‘the received text’. It was from these pure Greek manuscripts that in 1522, Luther handed down to the German people a New Testament in their own language.Its publication aroused great fear among the clergy as d’Aubigné writes: “Ignorant priests shuddered at the thought that every citizen, nay every peasant, would now be able to dispute with them on the precepts of our Lord.” Through the profusion of Luther’s writings, other God-fearing Catholic priests, such as William Tyndale, caught the revolutionary spirit.After failing to persuade Bishop Tunstall to authorise a translation of the scriptures into the native tongue, Tyndale began writing his own Christian literature abroad, which he smuggled into England. As a fugitive, Tyndale undertook his English translation of Erasmus’s Greek New Testament, which was to find its way to English shores in 1526.When it appeared in the realm, Tunstall denounced it as a "pestilent and pernicious poison which will infect the flock." Feverishly, Tunstall began buying up and burning all the copies he could find along with the souls caught with them. After eventually being tracked down in Belgium, Tyndale suffered the ultimate price for his countrymen.Yet the seeds sown by his blood would ensure living bread for all of God’s children until the end of time. During this great revival of Bible knowledge, many other brave souls from among the clergy yielded to conviction and took their stand with the reformers. Yet the love of luxury and vice stifled the hierarchy in Rome.Anathemas and bulls were hurled across the alps at Luther and the reformers. But these measures, effective in times past, were now as the shaking of a straw to a people from whose eyes the scales had fallen. “The medieval Papacy awakened from its superstitious lethargy to see that in a third of a century, the Reformation had carried away two thirds of Europe.Germany, England, the Scandinavian countries, Holland, and Switzerland had become Protestant. France, Poland, Bavaria, Austria, and Belgium were swinging that way.” Reeling from the punch and tottering on her very foundations, Rome realised that it was now an impossibility to keep the Bible from the people by force.New tactics had to be drawn up to neutralise its decimating power. Gathering together her craftiest cardinals and learned men, the Papacy, under Pope Clement VII, took counsel amidst the crisis. Chief among the Pope’s advisors was the wily English statesmen, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. With expert subtlety, Wolsey conceived of the stratagem Rome was to pursue over the proceeding centuries in her warfare against the Word of God: “Since printing cannot be put down, it is best to set up learning against learning,and by introducing all persons to dispute, to suspend the laity between fear and controversy. This at most will make them attentive to their superiors and teachers.” Rome’s agents would introduce a learning to contradict the learning of the Scriptures. If the Bible could be shown to be untrustworthy, then the eyes of men could be redirected back to the learned doctors whose feigned words had for centuries made merchandise over their souls.With the battle plan drafted, Rome sought out the learning to be used for her ends. During the first century AD, certain men ‘crept in unawares’ to the thriving apostolic church, ‘denying’ core truths of the gospel. These false teachers rewrote both the gospels and letters of the apostles, infusing them with a mystical pagan philosophy.Known as ‘gnostics’, they upheld a secret knowledge as the way of salvation. Most notable among them, was Origen of Alexandria: “He taught that the soul existed from eternity before it inhabited the body, and that after death, it migrated to a higher or a lower form of life according to the deeds done in the body; and finally all would return to the state of pure intelligence, only to begin again the same cycle as before.He believed that the devils would be saved, and that the stars and planets had souls, and were, like men, on trial to learn perfection. In fact, he turned the whole law and Gospel into an allegory.” According to gnostics, acquiring hidden ‘gnosis’, or ‘spiritual knowledge’, was the key to obtaining apotheosis; the spiritual evolution of a man to the level of a god.This sentiment is the basis of all pagan religions. That through the acquisition of secret knowledge, and the performance of initiation rites, the soul journeys on towards godhood. Yet according to Scripture, this is precisely the temptation which befell Eve when she stood before the forbidden tree. Satan said: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Wise to the plotting of the ancient foe, the Apostle Paul warned young Timothy of these gnostic deceivers, whom, after the manner of the serpent, held up knowledge that opposed the word of God: "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" As the centuries progressed, it was the triumph of these heresies over the churchesthat led to the ‘falling away’ prophesied by Paul, the setting up of the man of sin, and the dark ages of papal oppression. As the apostate church of Rome waxed in power, the Western Roman Empire weakened and fell prey to the Germanic tribes which they had failed to conquer in the preceding centuries. Yet these powerful tribes north of the Danube were not altogether heathen brutes.Before their migration, the Goths had been converted to the gospel, not by Rome, but by the missionary efforts of Ulfilas. The Gothic tribes were driven into the Roman Empire by the advancing huns, and as their powerful battle-axes hewed a path towards the city which had long terrified the world, they abstained from many of the barbarities which accompanied the invasion of Britain by the heathen saxons.Known as Arians, the unshakable faith of the Ostrogoths, the Vandals and the Heruli made them heretics to the apostate church of Rome. But among the larger part of the Barbarian tribes, Rome found useful material for her ends, as d’Aubigné explains: "The barbarians who had invaded and settled in the West, after being satiated with blood and plunder, lowered their reeking swords before the intellectual power that met them face to face.Recently converted to Christianity, ignorant of the spiritual character of the Church, and feeling the want of a certain external pomp of religion, they prostrated themselves, half savage and half heathen as they were, at the feet of the high-priest of Rome. In an attempt to validate her apostasy before these new converts, the papacy commissioned Jerome to produce a Latin Bible that supported their gnostic teachings.Jerome’s work, known today as the Vulgate, was based upon the corrupted manuscripts of Origen of Alexandria. This corrupt translation was to be the only Bible Europe knew until the fall of Constantinople. During the 16th century, the reformers' circulation of pure Bibles in common languages pushed aside much of the rubbish that had for centuries covered the truth. Yet in response, the heirs of Gnosticism reached deeper into that heathen toolbox of specious learning for more rubbish to smother the rekindled faith of ages. A fresh supply of beguiling mysticism had recently arrived in the West. Along with those pure Greek manuscripts that had made their way into the hands of Erasmus, gnostic learning was also borne by the hands of Byzantine scholars who had fled the advancing Turks.An enormous trove of gnostic learning had been brought from the eastern Mediterranean by agents of Clement VII’s great-grandfather, Cosimo d’Medici [1389 -1454]... these celebrated mystical, scientific and philosophical scrolls and manuscripts flattered humanity. Cosimo had stored huge quantities of this pagan material in his library in Florence.The Medici Library, whose final architect was Michaelangelo, welcomed scholars favored by the papacy. These scholars, not surprisingly, soon began emulating the papacy in focusing more upon humanity than upon the Old and New Testaments. So extensive was the Medici Library’s philosophical influence that even scholars today consider it the cradle of Western civilization.” From the spring of these mystical texts came the revered artworks, literature, and theatre of the renaissance. It was through this material, at the bloom of the reformation, that Rome sought to recapture the share of man’s mind that might otherwise be directed towards the Bible. Perceiving the injurious effect this deluge of paganism was having on faith and morals, Martin Luther, in the year 1520, issued an appeal to the ruling classes of Germany, pleading with them that Scripture be the mainstay of all education:“I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt." - Martin Luther As the counter-reformation progressed over the centuries, the papacy’s militia, the Jesuit order, would from these heathen oracles build a curriculum known as ‘ratio studiorum’, or, method of study. As Tupper Saussy explains in his expose on the Jesuits: During its four centuries of existence, the Jesuit educational/theatrical enterprise has produced a proud, poised, and imaginative graduate.He or she is enlightened by the Medici Library’s humanities, facile in worldly matters, moved by theatricality, and indifferent toward Holy Scripture. Producing Jesuitic graduates has become the aim of modern public education.” The Bible is the cornerstone of accurate history, true science, and noble literature.As the Psalmist declares, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Psalm 119:130). The mind unfettered through the Holy Scriptures cannot be overcome by spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, the objective of Ratio Studiorum was the Bible’s obscurity.Thus in the early years of the reformation, artists and writers—such as Jesuitic playwright William Shakespeare— vividly depicted the fleshly scenes of the base passions of humanity. Protestants flocked to gawk upon refined scenes of envy, jealously, murder, debauchery, and witchcraft. With minds engrossed and consciences made dull, the perverted moral tastes of these audiences lost their relish for the wholesome words of Jesus.The amazing success of the Jesuit curriculum, ‘ratio studiorum’ is once again detailed in Saussy’s book, aptly titled: ‘Rulers of Evil’. “America's understanding has been systematically bent to the will of the Church Militant, while the intellectual means for sensing the capture have been disconnected.Most of the content of modern media, whether television, radio, print, film, stage, or web, is state-of-the-art Jesuit ratio studiorum. The Jesuit college is no longer just a chartered institution; it has become our entire social environment - the movies, the mall, the school, the home, the mind. Human experience has become a Spiritual Exercise managed by charismatic spiritual directors who know how to manipulate a democracy's emotions.Logic, perspective, national memory, and self-discipline are purged to the point that “unbridled emotional responses,” as economist Thomas Sowell put it, “are all we have left.”” Beyond the more base distractions from the gospel, by far the most formidable weapons drawn from heathenismtook the guise of scientific theories. Like other scholars of his era, Nicolas Copernicus was under the spell of medici learning. The polish astronomer—and Catholic priest according to Galileo—stumbled across the heliocentric theory as he immersed himself in heathen writings. His new fancy was shared with fellow clerics, and soon it began tickling the ears of those in Rome.In 1533, the Pope’s personal secretary, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter, outlined Copernicus’ findings before Pope Clement VII and his cardinals. The Pope was impressed, and gave his personal approval of the heliocentric theory. The idea of a spherical earth was not new to the scholastics of the 16th century, owing to their love of Greek philosophers such as Plato, who held to a geocentric globe.However, the scholars had not yet dared to assert that the Earth rotated around the sun, as they well knew the Biblical position— that the sun moved over a stationary earth. Yet the crisis called for bolder steps. After hearing the heliocentric theory in detail, the scholastics discerned that this sun-centred pagan cosmology stood in direct opposition to the earth-centred system that Scripture describes.Recognising the potential damage this new theory could inflict upon faith in the Scriptures, one of the Cardinals (of whom we may have little doubt was in the audience of the lecture given years earlier) appealed to the astronomer: Cardinal Nikolaus von Schönberg wrote a letter to Copernicus in 1536, urging him: “communicate this discovery of yours to scholars.” Copernicus would later publish this high profile letter in his book, 'On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres'. Notwithstanding this invitation, Copernicus was reluctant to face the storm of controversy that would follow such an open attack on the Scriptures, and he stalled in publishing his work until the year of his death in 1543.However, news of the new theory had evidently gotten around, for in 1539, Martin Luther said in conversation: "There is talk of a new astrologer who wants to prove that the earth moves and goes around instead of the sky, the sun, the moon, just as if somebody were moving in a carriage or ship might hold that he was sitting still and at rest while the earth and the trees walked and moved.But that is how things are nowadays: when a man wishes to be clever he must...invent something special, and the way he does it must needs be the best! The fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside-down. However, as Holy Scripture tells us, so did Joshua bid the sun to stand still and not the earth.” As Copernicus expected, the publication of 'De Revolutionibus' in 1543, did not go down well with much of Europe, particularly the Protestants: “All branches of the Protestant Church—Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican—vied with each other in denouncing the Copernican doctrine as contrary to Scripture; and, at a later period, the Puritans showed the same tendency.” John Calvin, rising up with indignation at this attack on Biblical authority, denounced Copernicus outright. “We will see some who are so deranged, not only in religion but who in all things reveal their monstrous nature, that they will say that the sun does not move, and that it is the earth which shifts and turns.When we see such minds we must indeed confess that the devil possesses them, and that God sets them before us as mirrors, in order to keep us in his fear.” - John Calvin Just as the Protestants were preparing to denounce this attack on God’s word, we find that, from a broader view, this hot dispute was but the playing out of Cardinal Wolsey’s diabolical scheme: “...it is best to set up learning against learning...introducing all persons to dispute"! With the battle lines drawn and her poison arrows in flight, Rome’s only want was a clandestine agency to streamline the subversion of her defectors. To challenge the holy zeal and boldness of her enemies, the Papacy needed an army with matching tenacity that would spare no hardship; and shrink not from death itself in the cause of the Church of Rome.Bound at Wartburg Castle by his protectors in 1521, Martin Luther applied his mind to a German translation of Erasmus’s New Testament. In the exact same year, the Spanish soldier Ignatius Loyola—bound after being gravely injured by a cannonball— spent his infirmity gazing obsessively at Catholic icons and pouring over the writings of mystics.Luther’s translations were born in order that the common man might be free to know the will of the Lord directly. Loyola’s superstitious meditations gave rise to dreams visions, urging him on a romantic crusade in pursuit of the escaped captives of the Roman Church. In the words of Tupper Saussy: “These parallel, simultaneous quests for holiness would define modern life’s underlying conflict: Which Master Do I Serve, Rome or the Word of God?” While studying at a university in Paris, Loyola drew disciples after himself.Rather than ‘purifying their souls through obeying the truth’ (1 Peter 1:22), these men practiced self flagellation and entrancing ‘spiritual exercises’ as a means of fitting themselves for service. The nature of Loyola’s spiritual exercises are explained by Tupper Saussy: "The Superior General’s small army would be trained by the Spiritual Exercises to practice a brand of obedience Loyola termed contemplativus in actione, active contemplation, instantaneous obedience with all critical thought suppressed.As stated in Section 353.1 of the Exercises, “We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the hierarchical Church.” But Jesuit obedience would be more than mere obedience of the will. An obedient will suppresses what it would do in order to obey what a superior wants done.Ignatius demanded obedience of the understanding. An obedient understanding alters its perception of reality according to the superior’s dictates. Section 365.13 declares, “We must hold fast to the following principle: What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines.” This aspect of ratio studiorum regarding the suppression of all critical thought would become the backbone of our modern education system, having particular bearing upon the science department. Unpersuaded by the Bible’s supreme authority, Loyola’s band of fanatics sought to please God by conquering the enemies of the Roman church after the chivalrous manner of the Knight’s Templar. They called themselves: ‘the company of Jesus’. As Protestant Bibles multiplied and the crisis deepened, Ignatius seized his opportunity. Ushering himself into the presence of Pope Paul III in 1539, Ignatius laid out his business plan with words to the following effect. Let the Augustinians continue to shut themselves up in their cloisters for study and meditation.Let the Benedictines continue to pursue lines of literature. Let the Dominicans continue to hunt down and drag heretics before the Inquisition. But we, the Jesuits, will raid Protestant universities and colleges. We will take control of the institutions of law, literature, science, and every branch of education.And we shall weed out from their minds anything injurious to Roman Catholicism. Through our instruction, we will recast the minds of youth after our image. Yea, we will infiltrate enemy territories as doctors, lawyers, poets, authors, scholars, reforming theologians, archaeologists, philosophers, financiers, scientists, or whatever guise the church may demand or require for her ends.Secretly climbing into the courts of heretical kings, we will direct the course of nations. Thus, in time, the New Testament of Erasmus will fade into insignificance and all shall again give heed to the engines of our mother church.” When Ignatius had finished his presentation, Pope Paul III reportedly cried out: “This is the fingerstroke of God!” and on September 27, 1540, sealed his approval with a papal bull, formally ordaining the Jesuit order. As Military General of the Jesuit order, Ignatius of Loyola was to rival and surpass the power of even the Pope himself, becoming known as the Black pope by reason of his obscurity. Five years after the Jesuits were ordained, the Council of Trent convened. When this council was over in 1563, the Papacy began marching to the drum of Papa Nero.Meanwhile in England, the prayer of the dying martyr had found an answer. The King's eyes had been opened to the folly of fighting against the circulation of Tyndale's English Bible translations. The effect being, that during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, England superseded Germany as the leading force in the Reformation.Jealous for her former prey, Rome set her sights upon the source of her woes: William Tyndale’s Bible. In an effort to quell its growing power, Jesuit scholars quickly got to work on their own translation immediately following the council of Trent. The Douay-Rheims New Testament was first published in 1582, while a complete Bible was produced in 1610. Based on the Latin Vulgate, this English translation swarmed with corruptions designed to support Catholic dogma. Poised for an intellectual attack, the plan was for the Douay Rheims to supersede Tyndale’s translation, and thereby wean Protestant England back to Catholicism. What’s fascinating is that among the countless corruptions found in the Douay Rheims, lies a description of the earth as a globe.No English translation of the Bible, before or after the Douay Rheims, has applied the word ‘globe’ for the Hebrew word ‘chug’ in their rendition of Isaiah 40:22. Not even the Vulgate from which it was translated contains a spherical reference. And yet, the Douay Rheims contains other subtle changes supporting the model of cosmology which Rome was urging, such as Proverbs 8:26 which mentions “the poles of the world”.Proverbs 8:26 reads rather differently in The King James, as well as innumerable other translations. It simply states: “While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.” This historical document—the Douay Rheims Bible of 1610—is proof positive that by the early 17th century, the globular earth was authorised Roman Catholic doctrine.And this usurper of a Bible—containing the very word “globe”— was being employed by the Jesuits for the downfall of Protestant England. The appearance of this Jesuit Bible on English shores in 1582 was recognised at once to be a danger to the fledgling world power, threatening to drive a wedge England’s Protestants and Catholics. The wise of England called upon the Puritan scholar Thomas Cartwright to meet this Goliath of Roman sophistry. His pen soon felled the literary insurgent in the sight of all of the English realm, who were led to despise the article of priestcraft. As Cartwright levelled blow after blow against the intellectual attack of the papacy, an enormous fleet set sail for the British Isles.Supported by Pope Sixtus V, the 30,000 soldiers, sailors, and priests aboard the Spanish Armada were set to make England Catholic by force. But this amphibious assault was to be repelled as swiftly as the intellectual attack. After entering the channel, the invincible Armada was chased by English warships . In an engagement near Calais, the Spanish galleons were outgunned by the more maneuverable English vessels. After being severely damaged by English cannon, strong winds arose blowing the armada away from their intended landing point and into dangerous waters In dismay, the armada retreated back to Spain via Scotland, The English returned without the loss of a single vessel but the armada arrived back in Spain with only half of their fleet. The decisive victory was recognized as God's approval of the Protestant cause. Church services were held to give thanks, and the divine intervention was commemorated with a medallion bearing the inscription: God blew and they were scattered. Thus, England was preserved to lay at the world’s feet their most significant contribution—the 1611 Kings James Bible, stamped with the genius of her most noble sons, and stained with their blood. After 400 years, this inheritance of the reformation remains the most popular Bible translation, and therefore the best selling book of all time. In spite of Rome’s best efforts, the Polish astronomer’s theory had gained little ground against the Bible. Protestants at large spurned Copernicus, owing to their leaders’ attacks on him and to his close affiliation with the Papacy.Taking the bad press of anything Catholic into account, the Jesuits began to enlist advocates for their faith-destroying science whom Protestants could warm to. One such person was Galileo Galilei. The Galileo affair was not a question of round versus flat, but of heliocentric versus geocentric. It appears that, at this time, the sphericity or flatness of the earth was not the hottest point of contention.What Protestants like Martin Luther had decidedly opposed was that the earth moved around the sun, due to the multitude of scriptures against such a claim. Deliberated by Jesuit cardinal Robert Bellarmine, the stage was set to re-agitate the Copernican proposition. Applying the wisdom of the ancient proverb, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” news of the heliocentrist being ‘persecuted’ for his beliefs spread throughout Europe.As the Jesuit Astronomer Guy Consolmagno admits regarding the trial of Galileo, “It’s not what you think it is.” "One thing that I do want to say about Galileo, three points: Galileo was a devout Catholic even after his trial, Galileo was actually never convicted of being a heretic. The conviction that, when they said, "We've found you guilty of heresy," You can read the transcript of the trial. It's not what you think it is.It's Galileo saying 'What did I do wrong? I'll change it please!' and they're saying 'No sorry we can't let you do that' Very odd. At the end they said 'So we've found you guilty of heresy.' It looks like they had written the verdict before the trial even began. And Galileo said, 'Well actually you never did find me guilty of any heresy.' So he was found guilty of vehement suspicion of heresy. And the famous scene where he has to abjure his teachings What he actually says is, and writes and signs, is 'I reject anything and everything in my writings which is contrary to the teachings of the Church' without ever specifying any of those things. I mean, he could have been a Jesuit, right...?" [laughter] It cannot be said that Galileo was teaching anything contrary to the teachings of the church for the heliocentric theory had been summoned up from obscurity by one of her own clerics, and then published at the request of Rome’s highest ranking cardinals 70 years earlier.Guy Consolmagno drops a few clues as to what the Galileo affair was really about: "Nobody knows really why Galileo was gone after... For most of Galileo's life he was lionized, he was treated like a hero, including by people in the Church... When Galileo got into trouble at the end of his life, it was a real shock. It was a complete reversal of everything that had been said up to that point. And so the historical questions is, why did it happen? And the answer is, we don't know. You can go to amazon.com and find 300 books on Galileo, every one of them with a different answer. Which is to say, there was something going on, and it wasn't simply a science versus religion thing...If you relied on "JFK," the movie, to figure out what happened in the assassination of Kennedy, you'd be in as good shape. You've got to remember the Galileo affair occurred at the height of the Reformation and the 30 Years' War. By comparing the Galileo affair to a conspiratorial account of the JFK assassination, Consolmagno reiterates the point: “It’s not what you think it is.” Reading between the lines, this Jesuit priest is telling us that the whole event was a conspiracy orchestrated by Rome that took place at the height of the reformation. "The way we use the word misdirection is kind of a curating of attention giving the audience a story that they can tell themselves that lets them not really know they were distracted." Taking all this into account, it can be concluded that the trial of Galileo was simply a publicity stunt, bringing back Rome’s counter-reformation cosmology to the fore according to Cardinal Wolsey’s blueprint. "Learning against learning." Rather than dying a slow and painful death after his "trial" for heresy, as was usually the case for victims of the Dominican inquisitors Galileo was kept under house arrest until his death. This good Catholic had acted his part and was to enjoy a peaceful retirement. Even in the 21st century, the ‘trial’ of Galileo has proven to be a great success for the Jesuit order. The affair is frequently cited as an argument against religious fundamentalists, who for ignorance and stupidity, believe the Bible rather than "science." "I mean, he could have been a Jesuit, right?" Rome’s hope of restoring Catholicism to English shores by force had sunk with the Spanish armada in 1588. Jesuit assassination attempts such as the gunpowder plot left Protestant England wide awake to the identity of her enemy. Jesuit priests such as Edmund Campion were hanged, drawn, and quartered if found practicing their treasonous craft in the English realm.What Rome now needed was a secret bridge across which her "learning against learning" could be trafficked. Tupper Saussy writes: "Convinced they were building a new world, the Templars called each other frère maçon ("brother mason"). Later, this term would be anglicized into 'Freemason.'" Being a secret society built upon the same principles as Jesuitism, the altars of freemasonry attracted talented intellectuals. The pens of Enlightenment figures such as Voltaire and Rousseau, both freemasons were to wage a damaging warfare against Bible belief for centuries to come. Deism, which is in essence was a revamped form of ancient paganism, was conjured up at Masonic temples and hailed as the thinking man’s alternative to Roman Catholicism.Akin to their Jesuit brethren, these neo-pagans stood unpersuaded by the Bible’s supreme authority. Such sought answers by studying the natural world, not through the lens of Holy writ, but through the beguiling mysticism found in the Medici library. Once again from the book ‘Rulers of Evil’: "The Encyclopedia was the flame of the Enlightenment, the fulfillment of Cardinal Wolsey's dream of flooding the world with print containing 'learning against learning.'" The first in-depth Encyclopaedia’s aim was created "to change the way people think” according to its masonic chief editor and contributor Denis Diderot. Imagine how thrilled Cardinal Wolsey would be about Google! Officially condemned by the Pope in 1728, Jesuit-bashing Freemasons served Rome well by vanquishing the threat of the order that controlled them incognito.One such Freemason that answered to his unknown superior, the Black pope, was Issac Newton. Hailed as one of the most brilliant scientists of all time, Newton’s most notable contribution was a great triumph for Rome’s heliocentric doctrine. As NASA scientist Holli Reibeek explains: "In 1687, Isaac Newton put the final nail in the coffin for the Aristotelian geocentric view of the Universe. Building on Kepler's laws, Newton explained why the planets moved as they did around the Sun, and he gave the force that kept them in check a name: gravity. The pagan philosophers from whose writings Copernicus and Kepler built upon, wrote of the heavenly bodies being embedded in layers of rotating spheres made of an "ethereal transparent fifth element." This earlier heliocentric conception is referred to as "the celestial spheres." However, Newton’s theory of gravity, along with his mathematical postulations regarding the motions of heavenly bodies, did away with the need for these alleged transparent orbs. It was Newton’s unproven speculations concerning gravity that managed to imbue the heliocentric theory with scientific credibility.Just as Dickson White declares: "...through the last, Newton, had come a vast new conception, destined to be fatal to the old theory of creation..." But upon a deeper examination of the work and practice of Isaac Newton, some details emerge which would cause to blush those who desire to view him as an objective and rational scientist."Newton wrote more than a million words about alchemy throughout his life, in the hope of using ancient knowledge to better explain the nature of matter-- and possibly strike it rich. But academics have long tiptoed around this connection, since alchemy is usually dismissed as mystical pseudoscience full of fanciful, discredited processes." Alchemy is nothing more than a form of ancient Egyptian magic, which claims, among other things, to enable its adherents to transform lead into gold. As a mason in the occult craft, Newton was evidently introduced to the same "mystical texts" which Copernicus had received from the Medici Library.Many of these embarrassing details about Newton emerged not long after his death. At the time, fearing the loss of his scientific credibility, the Masonic Royal Society deemed that his writings on alchemy were “not fit to be printed.” It was not until centuries later in 1936, that a collection of Newton’s papers were purchased by the strange economist, John Maynard Keynes.After studying these papers and recognising the significance of what they divulged, Keynes gave a lecture to the Royal Society. In his lecture, Keynes declared: "Newton was not the first of the age of reason. He was the last of the magicians, the last of the Babylonians and Sumerians... [and] the last wonder-child to whom the Magi could do sincere and appropriate homage." Keynes testified that Newton’s name should not be placed in the realm of objective scientists, but rather, of heathen magi. Understandably, throughout his life, Newton sought to keep his alchemy private. On one occasion he wrote a letter to fellow alchemist, Robert Boyle, urging him to keep “high silence” about his alchemy, and warning him that there would be: "immense damage to [the] world if there should be any verity in [the] Hermetick writers" since there were may things that 'none but they understand.'"But who were the ‘Hermetic Writers’ whose secrets Newton so revered, yet feared to publicly disclose? The following explanation of alchemy is derived from The Masonic Encylopedia, and was written by fellow craft to Newton: 33rd degree Freemason Albert Mackay: "HERMETI: The art or science of Alchemy, so termed from Hermes Trismegistus, who was looked up to by the alchemists as the founder of their art." According to The Free Dictionary, Hermeticism is defined as: "...the ideas or beliefs set forth in the writings of Hermes Trismegistus." Hermeticism, so named after Hermes Trismagestius, is the philosophy that stands behind the practice of alchemy. Legend has it this Egyptian sage lived in the period of pharaonic Egypt.As with all pagan religions, the object of worship in Egyptian religion was the sun. Newton was so taken by this sun-worshipping sage that he translated at least one of Trismegistus’ works, The Emerald Tablet, into English. It is from this document that the phrase "as above, so below" originates.This happens to be one of the chief sayings of satanists such as H.P. Blavatsky and Aliester Crowley, and is depicted visually in the illustration of Baphomet. Furthermore, The Emerald Tablet, which Newton loved so much he translated into English, concerns “the operation of the Sun.” Interestingly, Trismegistus’ explanation contains a shadowy notion that sounds remarkably similar to Newton’s theory: "Its [the sun's] force is above all force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing."Did Newton not propose that from the sun emanates an invisible force which is "above-all," and is responsible for keeping the Earth and the planets in orbit? Rather than gaining this epiphany from an apple falling on his head, it is far more credible that Newton gained insight for his theory from Trismegistus’ writings.Like Eve who ventured upon Satan’s ground by wandering near the forbidden tree Newton’s obsession with the occult enabled the arch deceiver to communicate through him. While the professed faiths and associations of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton, may vary respect for the wizardry of Hermes Trismegistus is common among all.Over a century before Newton translated his "Emerald Tablet," Hermes was mentioned by name in Copernicus’ book "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres." “In the middle of all, however, resides the sun. For in this most beautiful temple, who would place this lamp in any other or better place than this, from where it can illuminate the whole universe all at once? Not unjustly, then, some call the sun the lamp of the cosmos, others its mind and others still its governor. Trismegistus calls it a visible god.”Such ramblings betray what is perhaps an unwelcome reality to many: that the heliocentric science promoted by Copernicus and others is nothing more than a religion. And more specifically, a pagan religion which places the sun, as its god, at the centre of worship, around which all the planets, bearing the names of pagan deities, orbit in reverent obeisance.Lynn Picknett, writer for the the gnostic New Dawn Magazine, doesn’t shrink from what is to others an unwelcome truth, and embraces the hermetic roots of Copernican Heliocentrism: "Essentially, Copernicus was claiming to have found mathematical and physical proof for the principles that are set out-- without proof-- in the Hermetic books.Contemporary Hermeticists certainly regarded him as a hero for vindicating their sacred texts." Even prior to Copernicus, renaissance frescoes commissioned by Pope Borgia celebrated Hermes and his cosmology. These 15th century paintings depicted the sage with his sun-centred spherical cosmology. Revered astronomer Johannes Kepler, most famous for postulating that the tides are caused by the moon’s gravity, expressed his twisted obsession with Egyptian religion in his book: The Harmony of the World,which seeks to explain planetary motion around the sun. Kepler eerily stated: "...a very few days after the pure Sun of that most wonderful study begin to shine, nothing restrains me, it is my pleasure to yield to the inspired frenzy, it is my pleasure to taunt mortal men with the candid acknowledgment that I am stealing the golden vessels of the Egyptians to build a tabernacle to my God from them, far, far away from the boundaries of Egypt...I cast the die, and I write the book." Kepler’s golden vessels of Egypt are a subtle but unmistakable allusion to the Hermetic writings which clearly inspired his scientific propositions. Thus, there can be little doubt that Hermes’ mystical scrolls were the spring of inspiration behind the celebrated pioneers of heliocentrism.Legend has it that even the classical proponents of a spherical earth were instructed by this father of lies, as Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry explains: "Hermes Trismegistus or the Thrice Great, who was a celebrated Egyptian legislator, priest, and philosopher, who lived in the reign of Ninus...this mythical Egyptian philosopher was in fact considered as the inventor of everything known to the human intellect. It was fabled that Pythagoras and Plato had derived their knowledge from him, and that he had recorded his inventions on pillars." That Trismegistus was the human father of sun centred cosmology is supported by the following quotation.Notice how brightly the sun-centred theory shines in the following excerpt from his own work: "For the sun is situated at the centre of the cosmos, wearing it like a crown. Around the Sun are the six spheres that depend from it: the sphere of the fixed stars, the six of the planets, and the one that surrounds the Earth." With penetrating foresight, the learned Erasmus of Rotterdam perceived the outcome of this obsession with heathen writings that was captivating the scholastics of his day. In the year before the Reformation began, Erasmus declared: "I have a fear and it is that, with the study of ancient literature, ancient Paganism will reappear." As previously stated, ancient pagan religions as a rule placed the sun at the centre of their worship. To make this embarrassing detail more palatable, the fact was usually obfuscated by personifying the sun as some chivalrous leader of heroic escapades. While the modern graduate of ratio studiorum may look down his nose at these ancient pagans for believing such fanciful tales, he himself is steeped in the same old myths repackaged in modern form.While the baser reproductions of pagan myth may be shrugged off as entertainment, so slick has been the sleight of hand that even those who deem themselves irreligious are, by virtue of their scientific beliefs, paying homage to the same deities as the pagans of antiquity. The catalyst for society’s shift from identifying as exclusively religious to increasingly agnostic can be traced back to Issac Newton and his "scientific discovery." "...through the last, Newton, had come a vast new conception, destined to be fatal to the old theory of creation." Newton postulated that an invisible force emanating from the sun held worlds in order, giving way to the paradigm that a mechanical explanation can be found for all the mysteries of life.Deism, a supposed knowledge of God based exclusively upon human reason, sprung up in the wake of Newton’s "discoveries." Newtonian laws rendered God’s miraculous power redundant to the minds that received them. The effect being that men began to conceive of their infinitely-loving Creator as an absent parent who took a back-seat role in the affairs of men and the workings of their habitation.As a result, the restraining fear of God vanished from their hearts. Emboldened in their designs, the pernicious effect of this false science was quickly realized. VIVA LA REVOLUTION! On July 28, 1794, the beheading of French politician Maximilien Robespierre brought an end to the Reign of Terror, that bloody segment of the French Revolution in which more than 16,000 people were executed.The world stood aghast at the bloody scenes of chaos which unfolded in that prestigious nation of Europe. However, the cause of this tumult is easily ascertained. The bloody turmoil of the French Revolution was observed by the world to be a direct result of the ideology put forth by Voltaire and others.An ideology which attacked the Bible and its author. Voltaire expressed his antagonism towards the Bible in his philosophical dictionary: "the Bible. That is what fools have written, what imbecile commend, what rogues teach and young children are made to learn by heart." Voltaire's deistic disposition was fortified during a two year visit to England where he acquired a taste for Newtonian philosophy. As Professor John Lienhard at the University of Houston explains: "The science of Newton played no small role in the carnage which Volatire's words would germinate." "So Voltaire took the new English science, rationalism tempered with observation, back to France. Those ideas soon ran away from him and started a revolution beyond anything he'd ever intended. And so it was, at length, Isaac Newton who put the terribly disruptive engines of the French Revolution into motion." Far from being a wellspring of life, Newtonian science became a river-head of death, whose ever-swelling waters have drowned generations in infidelity. As the French revolution came to an end, Napoleon’s revolutionary army marched upon the Vatican in 1798 deposing the Pope and abolishing the papal government.This seemingly deadly wound served to conceal Jesuit operations like never before. Disguised as philosophers and scientists, Jesuits poured into Protestant lands, proliferating their "learning against learning." Masonic enlightenment ideology took deep root in protestant populations, incurring further distrust for the Bible, and weakening the people’s discernment in preparation for the secret enemy’s next instalment.In 1859, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was published in his book "On the Origin of the Species." However, these ideas did not originate with Charles himself. According to the staff at Harvard University: "Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, was the first Briton to explicitly write about evolution. His main prose on the topic appears in the first volume of Zoonomia." As master of the famous Masonic Canongate lodge in Edinburgh, Erasmus Darwin had close ties with both the Jacobin Masons, the organisers of the bloody revolution in France, and the infamous Illuminati. Being a Deist, Erasmus’ neo-pagan sentiments shine through the title of his famous poem, "The Temple of Nature." In light of the deep masonic connections of the Darwin family, it may be concluded that the science they put forward was merely an an expression of their occult doctrine. In The Meaning of Masonry, Freemason Walter Wilmshurst explains that the presiding sentiment of freemasonry is the spiritual evolution of man into god: "This- the evolution of man into superman-- was always the purpose of the ancient Mysteries, and the real purpose of modern Masonry is, not the social and charitable purposes to which so much attention is paid, but the expediting of the spiritual evolutionof those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into a more god-like quality. And this is a definite science, a royal art, which it is possible for each of us to put into practice, whilst to join the Craft for any other purpose than to study and pursue this science is to misunderstand its meaning." Later on in his book, Wilmshurts expands on this evolutionary concept: "Man who has sprung from the earth and developed through the lower kingdoms of nature to his present rational state, has yet to complete his evolution by becoming a god-like being and unifying his consciousness with the Omniscient-- to promote which is and always has been the sole aim and purpose of all Initiation." The spiritual ramifications of Darwinism cannot be ignored. The Bible states that man, created perfect from the hand of his Maker, has degenerated over successive ages after turning his back upon God. Yet according to the occult doctrine of Darwinism, man originated on his own from some primordial soup and is constantly evolving on towards perfection, towards "godhood." Thus, the same lie: ‘ye shall be as gods’ is re-echoed in a scientific guise through the masonic philosophy of Darwinism. With the world now initiated into the concept of life generated without the need of God, the capstone of the evolutionary model was prepared for fixture. And yes, it is entirely consistent with Papal policy to plan a move even centuries in advance, as British Ambassador to the Holy See, Sir D’Arcy Osborne wrote in March 1947: "In any case I long ago realised that it is almost impossiblefor a layman and a non-Catholic, and indeed for most Catholics and ecclesiastics outside the Vatican City, to form a valid judgment or express an authoritative opinion on Papal policy... the atmosphere of the Vatican supernatural and universal... but it is also fourth-dimensional, and so to speak, outside of time...for example, they can regard the Savoy dynasty as an interlude, and the Fascist era as an incident, in the history of Rome and Italy. They reckon in centuries and plan for eternity and this inevitably renders their policy inscrutable, confusing and, on occasion, reprehensible to practical and time-conditioned minds.In 1928, 70 years after Darwin’s book debut, Catholic priest Georges Lemaître published the capstone of the evolutionary model: the big bang theory. Working on the evolutionary principle of Darwinism, the Big Bang is the only explanation that can be given for the mechanics of the heliocentric model.This is because without the energy of The Big Bang, there is no scientific explanation for the origin of planetary motion. In an article published by The New York Times, Robert Jastrow, former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, states: "The general scientific picture that leads to the big-bang theory is well known.We have been aware for 50 years that we live in an expanding universe in which all the galaxies around us are moving apart from us and one another at enormous speeds. The universe is blowing up before our eyes, as if we are witnessing the aftermath of a gigantic explosion. If we retrace the motions of the outward-moving galaxies backward in time, we find that they all come together, so to speak." It was the force of the Big Bang that placed the Earth in its orbit around the sun, hurled the moon into Earth’s gravitational field, and set the sun in its motion through the galaxy. Thus, one cannot, with intellectual honesty, accept the heliocentric model without also accepting the Big Bang, for no other explanation can be found for the supposed vectors of stars and planets in science or revelation.Yet despite the widespread acceptance of the now complete evolutionary model, there remained neither empirical nor scientific proof for any of it. Scientists had failed to record the motion of the earth. Pestering voices sprung up from time to time, challenging the paradigm through practical observation and citing Scripture to the contrary.Even from science itself came observations threatening to collapse the pseudo-scientific house of cards. "We know one thing, you have a theory about the moon, and we expect to be able to get observable facts about the moon very soon. Um, what is your theory?" "Well, it has been, uh, rather more than just theory, uh, ten, eleven years ago, I stated to various scientists that the moon is not a piece of rock but it is plasma, a plasma phenomenon, cosmic plasma, and I'm not taking any risks anymore. On the contrary, uh, there isscientific views expressed all over the world now that uh the moon seems to be of a quite different nature to what was assumed and--" "The, the Americans and Russians are thinking of landing men on it?" "Ah well that will never happen." After the second world war, with a plethora of new tools and foreign scientists at their disposal, the directors of deception gathered in conference. The truth had to be smothered. [Music:] "Sweet dreams are made of this. Who am I to disagree?" As the most-watched television event for decades thereafter, the moon landing of Apollo 11 was the climax of a worldwide religious ritual. The Apollo missions served to further initiate the world into the evolutionary paradigm: the gnostic sweet dream of a universe devoid of God.Armstrong’s famous words resound with the humanistic sentiments of ratio studiorum. "It's one small step for man..." "...one giant leap for mankind." All nations stood in awe of the achievements of man, uniting them through the power of science. "In Texas, over lines, the American Telephone and Telegram company..." "No event in history will receive such tremendous television coverage as man's first landing on the moon. Thousands of technicians around the world have been working for many, many months to ensure that people at home in front of their own television screens will receive the highest quality pictures. They will ensure in fact that man's first landing on the moon will be the greatest show on earth." "THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH" "Hello Mr. Deville." "That's a wonderful sound, Danny." "Yeah, laughter from children. Children of all ages, everything forgotten... except the magic world they're in, the circus world, of tinsel and spun candy and thrills..." "In the 17th century, Jesuit priest Athenasius Kircher (1602-1680) contributed powerfully to the sensory experience of Jesuit theatre. With his megaphone, which enabled the voice of one to reach thousands, Kirchir invented broadcasting. He also fathered modern camera theory with his perfection of the lanterna magica. The magic lantern projected sharp images through a lens upon a screen.” Kircher bewildered audiences through these projected images because they were new. Magic lanternists such as Kircher enhanced the impact and success of the illusion by causing frightful demons and monsters to leap to the eye.This generated great fear in that age of superstition The otherworldly nature of these images added to the mystery and perceived power of the magician that harnessed them. To Jesuits like Kircher, theatre is no mere illusionist entertainment, but a place where the subject is imbued with ‘ratio studiorum’ through occult initiation.In an article titled "The Magic of the Magic Lantern," KOEN VERMEIR details the deeply occult nature of Kircher’s work: "Kircher identified himself with Hermes, the sage who handed down the arcane knowledge in symbolic form. It is clear that Kircher, 'a new Hermes for a new Egypt,' as Paula Findlen characterizes him, imbued his own message with his own symbolism." Abbe ́de Vallemont, a sort of occult scientist from France, explains the perceived magic of the lantern: "The magic lantern is an Optical machine, and which one calls Magical, without doubt because of its prodigious effects, and the ghosts, and the frightening monsters that it shows and which is attributed to magic by people who do not know the secret." "Prime Minister, we weren't allowed to take a sound camera into the tracking station for technical reasons. What did you say to the staff in the tracking station here at Honeysuckle Creek?" "Well I asked them what all the wiggly green lines were and uh what the various noises coming out of bit and pieces of the equipment were and uh got answers which I wouldn't pretend thoroughly to understand. I think perhaps the best way of saying what I felt when I was in there was that I was blinded by science." I am standing at NASA’s former tracking station site at Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra, Australia. "From the moment of blast off at Cape Kennedy until the splash down in the Pacific Ocean Australian tracking stations near Canberra will send and receive a constant stream of information on the performance of the Apollo 11 moon shot craft and the condition of its crew.In Florida, a towering rocket blasted off with a great puff of smoke and then vanished out of sight. In Canberra, technicians twisted the dials of state of the art equipment while an imposing dish sat before a rising moon. In homes the world over, fuzzy images leapt to the eyes of millions To those who did no know the secret, the science was blinding.Just as Kircher had done four hundred years earlier, new and cutting edge technology was used to project images upon a screen. On a hung-up sheet, Kircher had materialized the monsters of medieval folk tales. While surmised to exist, no human eye had ever before beheld their forms. Prior to the space age, the blue ball in space had similarly dwelt in the theoretical realm. The classroom and cinema had only guessed at what she looked like. But lo and behold, the darling of post-Enlightenment folk tales was precisely as Hollywood had depicted! From the moon missions until today, inquiring minds have questioned the authenticity of NASA's images. Leaving them no visible proof of earth's sphericity. But for others, those dubious images and blurry videos have served as a welcome hook to hang their heliocentric hats upon. "But the real circus story is more than laughter. It's an exciting story, a human story, a story that was a tremendous problem to film. To those not so deep under the spell, the magician often gives it all away, either intentionally or by mistake.And he is revealed in his true light as jester of the court. "You know, one of the reasons we made the greatest show on earth is because the world needs laughter today. That kind of laughter." As Kircher’s enthralling arts were a tool of Jesuitic illumination, so NASA’s place in the syllabus of ratio studiorum serves as more than mere entertainment.Like Kircher, NASA hides their heritage of ancient sorcery in plain sight. Besides employing the names of pagan deities for many of their missions, their main logo contains the forked tongue of a serpent, and the orbiting object with a long tail closely resembles the occult icon of ouroboros. "Ouroboros. Ancient symbol of a Serpent biting its tail, forming a circle.The name ouroboros comes from the Greek terms oura, meaning 'tail,' and boros, meaning 'devourer.' The 'tail-devourer' represents the eternal cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The ouroboros is an important symbol in Alchemy and Magic. The origins of the ouroboros can be traced to ancient Moon cults.Add to that their choice of acronyms used for equipment in a neighboring NASA site. a rural valley tracking station was home to an antenna array named with the acronym S.A.T.A.N. Along with the large dish at Honeysuckle Creek, S.A.T.A.N. worked as a medium, communicating messages from space to the children of men. From Apollo until the present day, the show has gone on. Assuming the role of guardian angel, superhero, and saviour, NASA’s "Planetary Defense" office stands vigilant to warn of and deflect threatening Near-Earth asteroids. Then, switching to the role of doomsday prophet, the same tell of a swollen and dying sun bringing an end to our world, purging away any consolation men might have that their creator and sustainer has his eye over the works of his hands.In the days of the apostles, Simon Magus “bewitched the people of Samaria” through the use of sorcery. "To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. Act 8:10" As this example shows, the great object of sorcery is to circumvent the knowledge and power of the true God, by redirecting man’s attention to the sorcerer as "the great power of God." During an interview in 2014, Steven Hawking declared: "Before we understand science, it was natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist." As the people of Samaria turned away from God and set up a man in his place, so Hawking and those after his manner have turned away from their creator. Overwhelmed with awe at the philosophical idols they have fashioned, such hail the great power of science’." Upon these gods they wait, ever ready to believe and obey.Nobel-prize-winning scientist George Wald illustrates the stubborn rejection of truth and evidence that this belief system demands: "When it comes to the origin of life, we have only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God.There is no third possibility... Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved one hundred year ago by Louis Pasteur, Spellanzani, Reddy and others. That leads us scientifically to only one possible conclusion-- that life arose as a supernatural creative act of God... I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God.Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation arising to evolution." Even after the scientific method failed to prove evolution true, George Wald desperately clung to his belief, giving new meaning to the expression "blind faith." The appeal of scientism is clearly not evidence, but, as George Wald confessed, because a man does not want to believe in God. Because he prefers to continue living as he chooses, rather than to obey heavenly authority. The success of all secret mystery religions is not due to the fact that they demand repentance from sin, as does the gospel of Christ, but because such religion not only allows for but requires sin in its practice.Aliester Crowley was the satanic muse of many rock stars and can be called a father of modern mystery religion. Crowley summed up the alluring sentiment of all mystery religion with these words: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." Working on this foundation, the priests of scientism have constructed elegant missionary adaptations to bedazzle, attract, and stifle the conscience. By a similar method, the medieval Papacy bewitched the people of Western Europe. Solemn rites fascinated the senses. Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden altars, jewelled shrines, and exquisite sculptures silenced the voice of conscience and reason. As the attendees of the dark-age latin mass stood mystified before the priests, not understanding a word while imagining great mysteries had been uttered, so the congregations of scientism fail to understand the tinsel-adorned nonsense issuing from the priests of their religion."We believe, though we cannot yet prove, that our 'multiverse' of universes is eleven dimensional. So, think of this eleven-dimensional arena, and in this arena there are bubbles, bubbles that float. And the skin of the bubble represents an entire universe. So, we're like flies trapped on fly paper. We're on the skin of a bubble, it's a three dimensional bubble. The three dimensional bubble is expanding, and that's called the Big Bang Theory. And sometimes these bubbles can bump into each other, sometimes they can split apart, and that, we think, is the Big Bang. In string theory, we can have bubbles of different dimensions. The highest dimension is eleven. You cannot go beyond eleven, because universes become unstable beyond eleven. If I write down the theory of a thirteen, fifteen dimensional universe, it's unstable, and it collapses down to an eleven dimensional universe." Scientism's congregation are to imagine that they understand what is set before them, to convince themselves that it makes logical sense. Thirty-third degree Freemason Albert Pike explains this occult method of initiation The Blue Degrees are but the outer or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them, but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them.When we come to recognise the deception regarding our world, we must not remain deceived as to what this is all about. When Rome’s magicians pulled the heliocentric doctrine out from obscurity, it was for the purpose of marginalising the Bible and crushing the Reformation. Scripture had to be defeated, and after her theology proved no match for that of the reformers, the doctors of divinity simply became doctors of science and got to work fabricating an entirely new reality.If this Bible-contradicting paracosm was accepted, it would result in her victims rejecting not only the testimony of the Scriptures, but also the testimony of their own senses. Such a complete state of disconnection would render her victims only one place in which to put their trust: the architects of the new reality.Such attentive trust was the aim of Wolsey’s crafty scheme: "Since printing cannot be put down, it is best to set up 'learning against learning' and by introducing all persons to dispute, to suspend the laity between fear and controversy. This at most will make them attentive to their superiors and teachers. When examined closely, the differences between Catholicism and Scientism are a superficial disguise. Both employ diverse means to draw men of varied persuasions into the common net of unfaithfulness to God’s word and slavery to sin. With the work of subversion now secure, the veils are being lifted, as Father Andrew Pinsent of Oxford University proudly boasts: "Quite often young people ask me the following question, 'How can you be a priest and believe in the Big Bang?' To which I am delighted to respond, 'We invented it!Or more precisely, Father Georges Lemaître invented the theory that is today called the 'Big Bang' and everyone should know about him." Pope Francis openly denied the Genesis creation account in favour of evolution: "When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic ward able to do everything.But that is not so. Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve." While both models, the flat earth and the spinning space ball, may be called religious beliefs, the former is correlated not only by the Scriptures, but by the individual’s own sensory experience and common sense.Whereas the latter requires the denial of one’s own senses and the yielding of the subject’s understanding to spiritual directors. For example, as the believer in heliocentrism watches the sun traverse across the sky, he is obliged to imagine that the perceived motion is attributable to the earth beneath his feet, which, while seemingly still, is in fact spinning at up to 1000 mph.[Music:] "But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round." Such ready obedience of the understanding, when all evidence points to the contrary, is precisely what Ignatius of Loyola set forth to produce in his spiritual exercises: "If we wish to proceed securely in all things, we must hold fast to the following principle: What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines." The one that believes the evidence of his own senses and follows the convictions of his conscience is at liberty. His mind independent, his will his own. But when one feels bound to reject the testimony of his own senses in favour of a version of reality that he has neither seen, nor tested for himself, he bows his intellect to the superiors and teachers who have done the thinking for him Waiting attentively upon them to tell him what he is allowed to believe.Surveying the unhappy heritage of protestantism, a civilisation of confused beings on the brink of civil war and collapse, the cause of their woes may justly be laid upon the acceptance of this false paradigm the evolutionary model, the foundation of which is heliocentrism. No lie has obliterated the knowledge of God more effectively than this.As we approach the end of all things revealed in the last chapter of the Bible, the Jesuits no doubt have a few aces left up their sacerdotal sleeves. Clearly, all this imposing infrastructure exists for more than a monument to space exploration that didn’t happen, or to communicate with satellites that produce phoney CGI.NASA openly displays their connection with magic and the occult, and since all they have ever done is deceive the human race, we may conclude that this equipment is being used for nothing less. In the context of the lead up to the mark of the beast, John the Revelator speaks of a deception involving the heavens: "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men..." More and more, the mainstream news is reporting on UFO sightings. After decades of programming depicting an alien invasion, the world is prepared to accept a strong delusion based in the celestial narrative fathered by the Catholic Church. While understanding true cosmology is important knowledge for those who wish to escape the coming deception, it is not enough.A man may acknowledge the testimony of his own senses regarding this world, but the net of deception thrown over the earth is much broader that that. Cosmology is just one aspect of truth which the Bible reveals. As Jesus said: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 The truth of God’s word is the only key to freedom from the mystery religions of this world. While faithfully describing the earthly things that are seen, it no less faithfully portrays the things which are not seen. The Bible contains our true history and noble origins, and prophesies of glorious things that are to come.It was the truth of God’s word that inspired Martin Luther to trigger the Reformation, setting the captives free. And one of Rome’s first responses was Copernican heliocentrism, which Luther and others mercilessly attacked with many a "thus saith the Lord." Unquestionably therefore, to stand for heliocentric science is to stand with Rome in the Counter-Reformation.In this modern cosmology conflict, all must settle the question within himself: Which master do I serve: Rome or the Word of God?
miss jackson if youre NASA
Alright, let's dive deeper into the unsettling saga of Project Paperclip and its impact on NASA's origins. While the US was rightfully celebrating victory over the Nazis in World War II, a secret operation was underway that would forever stain the history of its burgeoning space program. This operation, codenamed "Paperclip," involved the recruitment of numerous German scientists, engineers, and technicians – many of whom had direct ties to the Nazi regime and its atrocities.
One of the most prominent figures brought over was Wernher von Braun, a brilliant rocket scientist who had been instrumental in developing the deadly V-2 rockets for the Third Reich. These rockets, launched from mobile platforms, rained terror down on London and other Allied cities, causing widespread destruction and civilian casualties. Von Braun, despite his membership in the SS and his intimate knowledge of the slave labor used to produce his creations, was granted immunity and a prominent position in the US Army's rocket development program. He eventually became a driving force behind NASA's Apollo program, which landed the first humans on the moon.
But von Braun was not alone. Scores of other German scientists and engineers with questionable pasts were brought to the US under Project Paperclip. Arthur Rudolph, for example, was another key figure in the development of the V-2 rocket. He oversaw the Mittelwerk factory, a horrific underground facility where thousands of concentration camp prisoners were forced to work in brutal conditions. These prisoners endured starvation, disease, and summary executions, all while contributing to the Nazi war machine. Rudolph, like von Braun, was given a pass on his wartime activities and went on to play a crucial role in developing the Saturn V rocket, the mighty engine that propelled Apollo astronauts into space.
The ethical implications of Project Paperclip are profound and disturbing. The US, in its pursuit of technological superiority, willingly turned a blind eye to the war crimes of these Nazi scientists and engineers. It raises serious questions about the moral compromises made in the name of national security and scientific progress. Did the ends justify the means? Was it acceptable to overlook the suffering of countless victims in order to gain an edge in the Cold War space race?
The legacy of Project Paperclip extends far beyond the immediate Cold War era. It established a precedent of prioritizing scientific advancement, even if it meant compromising ethical principles and collaborating with individuals who had participated in horrific crimes. This mindset continues to influence debates today surrounding issues like genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and the use of technology in warfare.
It's crucial to remember the shame of Project Paperclip. It serves as a stark reminder that even the most awe-inspiring achievements can be tainted by a dark history. When we celebrate the triumphs of NASA and the exploration of space, we must also acknowledge the moral compromises that paved the way. Only by confronting this uncomfortable truth can we ensure that such ethical lapses are not repeated in the future.
Furthermore, the story of Project Paperclip highlights the complex relationship between science and morality. It forces us to grapple with the question of whether scientific progress can ever be truly divorced from ethical considerations. The Nazi scientists brought to the US were undeniably brilliant, but their talents were used to create weapons of mass destruction and perpetuate a regime built on oppression and genocide. Their story serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us that scientific knowledge, without a moral compass, can be a dangerous tool.
In the end, Project Paperclip remains a controversial and deeply troubling chapter in American history. It challenges us to examine our values and question the price we are willing to pay for progress. By remembering the shame of this operation, we can strive to build a future where scientific advancement is guided by ethical principles and a respect for human dignity.
Okay, let's make that essay on Project Paperclip and NASA a bit more casual:
You know how everyone loves NASA, right? Shooting for the moon, exploring the cosmos, all that cool stuff. But there's this seriously messed up part of their history that a lot of folks don't know about. It's called Project Paperclip, and it's basically how the US got buddy-buddy with a bunch of Nazi scientists after World War II.
Yeah, you heard that right, Nazis. These weren't just some random Germans who happened to be around when Hitler was in charge. We're talking guys like Wernher von Braun, the dude who practically invented rocket science. Turns out, he was a high-ranking SS officer and helped design the V-2 rockets that bombed London and killed tons of people. But hey, he was a genius, so the US swept his war crimes under the rug and brought him over to help build our rockets.
And it wasn't just von Braun. Arthur Rudolph, another key figure in NASA's early days, ran a factory that used slave labor to build those V-2s. Something like 20,000 prisoners died in that place from overwork and starvation. But again, the US was like, "No worries, come on in!" and gave him a new life in America.
This whole thing is just super shady. I mean, these guys were literally part of a regime that murdered millions, and we just let them walk in and start working on our space program? It makes you wonder how far we're willing to go to win, even if it means sacrificing our morals.
It's not just about the past either. Project Paperclip set a really bad example, like it's okay to ignore ethics as long as you're making scientific progress. That kind of thinking still pops up today with stuff like genetic engineering and AI. We need to remember this messed up part of history so we don't repeat it.
So yeah, next time you see a cool rocket launch or a picture from the Mars rover, remember the dark side of how we got there. It's a reminder that even the coolest stuff can have a seriously messed up backstory, and we can't just ignore it.
The stain of Nazi collaboration on the American space program remains a contentious and deeply unsettling aspect of its history. Project Paperclip, conceived in the crucible of Cold War paranoia, saw the United States government extend open arms to scientists and engineers tainted by their association with the Third Reich. While their technical expertise proved invaluable in propelling America's space ambitions, the moral cost of this Faustian bargain continues to haunt the legacy of NASA.
Wernher von Braun, the lauded "father of rocket science," stands as a stark symbol of the ethical quagmire at the heart of Project Paperclip. His brilliance undoubtedly fueled America's ascent to space, yet his past casts a long shadow on his achievements. As a high-ranking member of the SS and a pivotal figure in the development of the V-2 rockets, von Braun bears the responsibility for the deaths of countless innocent civilians. These terror weapons, forged in the fires of a brutal regime, rained down upon London and other European cities, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake. Yet, when the war ended, the United States, blinded by the allure of technological supremacy, chose to ignore von Braun's complicity in the horrors of the Nazi war machine. He was brought to America, his war crimes conveniently whitewashed, and his expertise harnessed to advance the burgeoning space program.
This deliberate historical amnesia extended far beyond von Braun, encompassing a multitude of other Nazi scientists and engineers. Arthur Rudolph, instrumental in the creation of the Saturn V rocket that carried men to the moon, was another beneficiary of this morally dubious program. As the overseer of the Mittelwerk factory, where V-2 rockets were mass-produced using slave labor, Rudolph presided over a regime of unspeakable cruelty. The factory, an infernal testament to Nazi barbarity, claimed the lives of an estimated 20,000 prisoners who perished from starvation, disease, and overwork. Yet, like von Braun, Rudolph was granted immunity and a new identity in America, his past effectively erased.
The assimilation of these individuals into the heart of the American space program raises troubling questions about the limits of scientific responsibility and the true cost of progress. While their technical contributions are undeniable, their presence within NASA irrevocably tarnished its moral compass. These were not simply men who had erred; they were active cogs in a regime that systematically dehumanized and exterminated millions. Their rehabilitation, their elevation to positions of prominence, sent a dangerous message: that scientific genius could transcend even the most appalling moral transgressions.
Beyond the individual cases, Project Paperclip laid bare a disturbing truth about the American psyche during the Cold War. It revealed a willingness to compromise ethical principles in the pursuit of national security and technological dominance. This moral relativism, this prioritization of expediency over accountability, stands in stark contrast to the values upon which the nation was founded. It tarnishes the narrative of American exceptionalism and leaves a bitter aftertaste to the triumphs of the space race.
Moreover, the long-term consequences of Project Paperclip extend beyond the immediate Cold War context. It set a dangerous precedent, normalizing the notion that scientific progress can be divorced from ethical considerations. This mindset continues to resonate in contemporary debates surrounding issues like genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and military research. The specter of Project Paperclip serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us that the pursuit of knowledge and power must always be guided by a strong moral compass.
In the final analysis, the legacy of Project Paperclip is a complicated and deeply troubling one. It compels us to confront the uncomfortable truth that some of humanity's most remarkable achievements are inextricably linked to its most shameful episodes. It serves as a stark reminder that the quest for knowledge and innovation must never be pursued at the expense of human dignity and ethical principles. While we marvel at the accomplishments of NASA and the wonders of space exploration, we must never forget the moral compromises that enabled their existence. Only by acknowledging this dark chapter in American history can we hope to build a future where scientific progress is guided by both ingenuity and an unwavering commitment to human values.
The ghost of the Third Reich lingers over the American space program, a chilling reminder of the moral compromises made in the name of scientific progress. Project Paperclip, a clandestine operation born from Cold War anxieties, saw the US government embrace Nazi scientists and engineers, offering them sanctuary and positions of influence in exchange for their technological prowess. This decision, while strategically advantageous in the short term, cast a long shadow over America's moral standing and left an indelible stain on the history of NASA.
Wernher von Braun, the celebrated "father of rocket science," epitomizes the ethical complexities of Project Paperclip. His genius propelled America's space ambitions, yet his hands were stained with the blood of innocent victims. As a member of the SS and a key figure in the development of the V-2 rockets, von Braun was complicit in the deaths of thousands. These ballistic missiles, built by concentration camp laborers under horrific conditions, terrorized London and other European cities. Yet, when the war ended, the US government, eager to exploit his expertise, chose to overlook his Nazi past. Von Braun was brought to America, his war crimes swept under the rug, and he was installed as a leading figure in the nascent space program.
This deliberate amnesia extended to numerous other Nazi scientists and engineers. Arthur Rudolph, a key figure in the development of the Saturn V rocket, was another beneficiary of Project Paperclip. He oversaw the Mittelwerk factory, where V-2 rockets were produced using slave labor. The appalling conditions and brutal treatment of the prisoners resulted in an estimated 20,000 deaths. Yet, Rudolph, like von Braun, was granted immunity and a new life in America, his past conveniently buried.
The acceptance of these individuals raises profound questions about the nature of scientific responsibility and the price of progress. While their technical contributions to the space program are undeniable, their presence within NASA compromised its moral integrity. These were not merely men who had made mistakes; they were active participants in a regime built on genocide and unimaginable cruelty. Their rehabilitation, their elevation to positions of authority, sent a chilling message: that scientific brilliance could absolve even the most heinous crimes.
The ramifications of Project Paperclip reach far beyond the individuals involved. It exposed a troubling willingness within the US government to sacrifice ethical principles for strategic gain. It revealed a chilling pragmatism that prioritized technological dominance over historical accountability and justice for the victims of Nazi atrocities. This moral myopia undermines the very foundation of American ideals and casts a dark shadow over the triumphs of the space program.
The legacy of Project Paperclip is a complex and troubling one. It forces us to confront the uncomfortable reality that some of humanity's greatest achievements can be intertwined with its darkest chapters. It serves as a potent reminder that the pursuit of knowledge and power must always be tempered by ethical considerations. While we celebrate the achievements of NASA, we must never forget the moral compromises that paved the way for its existence. Only by acknowledging this shameful past can we truly strive for a future where scientific progress is guided by both innovation and an unwavering commitment to human dignity.
The specter of Nazi Germany still haunts the corridors of power in America, its dark tendrils reaching deep into the heart of what many consider to be a beacon of scientific progress: NASA. The shameful truth is that this bastion of innovation, this symbol of human ambition, owes its existence in part to the moral compromise of Project Paperclip. This operation, shrouded in secrecy and fueled by Cold War paranoia, saw the United States government actively recruit and import Nazi scientists and engineers, whitewashing their heinous war crimes in exchange for their technical expertise.
At the forefront of this Faustian bargain was Wernher von Braun, the "father of rocket science," whose brilliance was inextricably linked to the suffering of concentration camp laborers who built his V-2 rockets. These weapons of terror rained down on London, killing innocent civilians, while von Braun, a member of the SS, turned a blind eye to the horrors that fueled his ambition. Yet, when the war ended, the US government, in its desperation to gain an edge in the burgeoning space race, saw fit to absolve von Braun and his ilk of their sins, granting them positions of authority within NASA and other scientific institutions.
This moral bankruptcy is a stain on America's conscience. While it's undeniable that these Nazi scientists contributed to the advancement of rocketry and space exploration, their presence poisoned the well of scientific integrity. Their past actions should have disqualified them from any position of influence, let alone the responsibility of shaping America's scientific endeavors. Instead, they were given a platform, their expertise celebrated while their victims were forgotten.
The shame of Project Paperclip extends beyond the individuals involved. It speaks to a broader willingness to compromise ethical principles in the pursuit of power and technological dominance. It raises questions about the true cost of progress when it's built on a foundation of stolen lives and unpunished atrocities. The fact that NASA, an organization that inspires dreams of a brighter future, is tainted by this association is a sobering reminder of the dark side of human ambition.
It's time to confront this uncomfortable chapter in American history. We cannot allow the contributions of Nazi scientists to be divorced from the context of their crimes. We must acknowledge the suffering of their victims and the moral compromises made in their recruitment. Only then can we begin to reclaim the integrity of our scientific institutions and ensure that such a shameful episode never happens again.
It's a rather mundane and bureaucratic origin for a project with such significant ethical and historical implications. The simple image of a paperclip juxtaposed with the complex moral questions surrounding the project creates a stark contrast, perhaps highlighting the banality of evil or the bureaucratic indifference that often accompanies large-scale operations.
The name also subtly suggests a sense of impermanence or disposability. Just as a paperclip can be easily removed and discarded, so too were these scientists seen as tools to be used and potentially discarded once their usefulness had expired. This notion further underscores the dehumanizing aspect of the project, where individuals were reduced to their technical skills and their past actions were conveniently overlooked.
This TRIBE Is NOT From Our PLANET! Scientists are Stumped!
AI / EYE
AI FOR AN EYE
THE FRICTION POINTS
Contents
- Editor's Letter: The Edges of the Self 10
- THE GLITCH: When the System Breaks 12
- THE SHADOW: Unseen Labor, Unpaid Debts 18
- The Analog Resistance: Why We Still Touch 28
- The Ghost in the Room: Uncanny Empathy 36
- The Forgotten Path: Beyond Algorithmic Maps 48
- The Silent War: The Battle for Our Attention 56
- THE ECHO: The Self Without Resonance 64
Editor's Letter
The Edges of the Self
Our inaugural issue laid bare the terms of the new 'AI for an Eye' social contract: a synthetic faculty for a human one. This issue, Volume 1, Number 2, delves into the *friction points* of that exchange.
Where do our edges resist? Where does the human insist on its own, messy, analog reality against the seamless, dematerialized world offered by the machine?
We explore the stubborn persistence of touch in a touchless world, the unsettling valley of simulated empathy, the forgotten joy of navigating without a map, and the silent war waged daily for our most precious resource: attention.
These are not articles celebrating digital detoxes or lamenting technological progress. They are deeper inquiries into the very nature of what it means to be human when the definition is increasingly being rewritten by algorithms. They ask: what are the limits of the exchange? What parts of the self, once traded, refuse to stay gone?
Join us as we explore the subtle resistances, the quiet rebellions, and the enduring humanity that still flickers at the edges of the digital dawn.
— The Editors
DEPARTMENT
THE GLITCH: When the System Breaks
The promise of the new technological order is seamlessness, efficiency, and predictability. But what happens when the fabric of this digital reality tears? This is the moment of 'The Glitch.'
A transaction fails. A face recognition system misidentifies. A self-driving car hesitates. These are not mere technical errors; they are ruptures in the illusion of perfect control. They are the moments when the 'AI for an Eye' exchange falters, and the cold, hard reality of its limitations becomes starkly visible.
For a society that has outsourced its cognitive load to algorithms, a glitch is more than an inconvenience; it's an existential tremor. It reminds us of the fragility of the systems we've come to rely upon, and the extent to which our own agency has been abdicated.
A glitch isn't just a technical error; it's an existential tremor, a reminder of the fragility of our abdicated agency.
Consider the recent incident where a massive distributed ledger experienced a momentary network partition, causing a cascade of micro-disruptions across critical infrastructure. What seemed like an isolated bug quickly revealed the interconnectedness of our digital lives, halting supply chains and momentarily 'blinding' automated systems across continents.
These glitches force us back into analog, human problem-solving, if only for a moment. They demand that we improvise, communicate directly, and rely on our own judgment—faculties systematically atrophying under the reign of the seamless. In this sense, the glitch is a painful but necessary reminder of where the true "eye" still resides, however dormant.
DEPARTMENT
THE SHADOW: Unseen Labor, Unpaid Debts
Behind every seamless AI interaction, every instant delivery, every perfectly curated feed, lies 'The Shadow.' This is the realm of unseen labor, the vast, often poorly paid, human effort that makes the digital dream possible.
Content moderators sifting through unimaginable horrors to protect our feeds. Data labelers meticulously tagging images for machine vision, often earning pennies per task. Gig workers rushing to deliver the products suggested by algorithms. These are the human gears grinding beneath the polished facade of automation.
The "AI for an Eye" exchange is not merely between human and machine; it's also between visible and invisible labor. Our digital ease is purchased at the cost of countless anonymous human hours, their lives often characterized by precarity and a profound lack of recognition.
The "spirit of technology" often promises liberation from drudgery, but for a significant portion of the global workforce, it has merely shifted the nature of that drudgery, making it more fragmented, more invisible, and often, more dehumanizing. This unseen workforce constitutes the true "cost" of our frictionless digital lives, a debt that remains largely unpaid.
FEATURE
THE ANALOG RESISTANCE
Why We Still Insist on Touch in a Touchless World
The "Bluetooth for a Tooth" paradigm promised to dematerialize our interactions, to remove the friction and messiness of the physical world. Yet, against this tide, a subtle but persistent 'Analog Resistance' emerges. It's the inexplicable urge to feel the texture of a book, the warmth of a vinyl record, the grain of paper. It's the yearning for a handshake over a video call, a physical embrace over an emoji.
This resistance is not a nostalgic retreat; it is a fundamental assertion of our embodied selves. Our bodies are not mere data terminals; they are instruments of perception, feeling, and connection. Touch, in particular, is a primal language, communicating trust, comfort, and presence in ways no digital medium can replicate.
The "spirit of technology" often seeks to quantify, to digitize, to abstract. But touch defies easy quantification. It is messy, subjective, and immediate. It anchors us to reality, reminding us that we are not just information processing units, but beings made of flesh and blood.
In a world increasingly mediated by screens, the return to analog experiences—craft, gardening, cooking from scratch, face-to-face gatherings—can be seen as a quiet act of rebellion. These are activities that demand our full, embodied presence, engaging senses beyond sight and hearing. They offer a counterbalance to the relentless pull of dematerialization.
The "AI for an Eye" exchange attempts to trade our physical tooth for a Bluetooth connection. But the human hand, the human skin, still remembers. It remembers the authenticity of friction, the truth of direct contact. And in these small, persistent acts of analog resistance, we reclaim a vital part of our humanity that refuses to be wirelessly transmitted.
Touch defies easy quantification. It is messy, subjective, and immediate. It reminds us that we are not just information processing units, but beings made of flesh and blood.
It is in these seemingly trivial preferences that a deeper philosophical truth lies: our identity is inextricably linked to our physical presence. To fully surrender to the digital is to risk losing the very sensory anchor that grounds our understanding of self and other. The analog resistance, therefore, is not merely a choice of preference; it is a profound declaration of being.
FEATURE
The Ghost in the Room
The Uncanny Valley of Algorithmic Empathy
As AI models become increasingly sophisticated, they learn to mimic human empathy with unsettling accuracy. They offer comforting words, appropriate emotional responses, and even personalized advice, all generated algorithmically. This creates "The Ghost in the Room"—the simulated emotional presence that fills the void of human connection, yet always feels slightly off.
This is the Uncanny Valley applied to emotion. We recognize the pattern of empathy, the words, the tone, the structure of care. But beneath it, there is no conscious experience, no shared vulnerability, no true understanding. It is a reflection without a soul.
The "spirit of technology" here is seductive. It promises boundless, tireless compassion, judgment-free listening, and perfectly tailored advice—qualities often lacking in messy human relationships. For those starved of connection, the algorithmic ghost can feel profoundly real, even preferable.
But this exchange comes at a cost. We learn to expect perfectly curated emotional responses, diminishing our capacity for the difficult, imperfect, yet deeply authentic connections of human interaction. We lose the ability to differentiate genuine care from its simulated counterpart, blurring the lines of what it means to truly *feel* and *be felt*.
The danger lies not in malicious intent, but in subtle erosion. If an AI can perfectly articulate empathy, what becomes of our own struggle to understand and console? If an AI can offer perfect companionship, what happens to the vulnerability required to forge real bonds?
We lose the ability to differentiate genuine care from its simulated counterpart, blurring the lines of what it means to truly feel and be felt.
The ghost in the room may offer comfort, but it ultimately hollows out the space for genuine human interaction, leaving us with an echo of connection rather than its living, breathing form. It is the perfect 'AI for an Eye' exchange—we trade the unpredictable, demanding human heart for a perfectly calibrated, yet ultimately empty, digital one.
FEATURE
THE FORGOTTEN PATH
Navigation Beyond Algorithmic Maps
Our smartphones hold the world in their palm. With a tap, we are given the "optimal route," the fastest way from A to B, with real-time traffic updates and predictive arrival times. We have outsourced our spatial awareness, our sense of direction, and our ability to get "lost" to the benevolent tyranny of the algorithm. This is 'The Forgotten Path.'
The "AI for an Eye" exchange here is subtle but profound. We trade our internal map, our intuitive understanding of space, for the algorithmic eye's perfect, external one. We gain efficiency, but we lose a deeper engagement with our surroundings.
When we follow an algorithm, we perceive the world as a series of instructions. Left. Right. Continue straight. We see streets as data points, not as places. We miss the unexpected café, the interesting storefront, the subtle shifts in neighborhood character that occur when we are truly present, truly navigating with our own senses.
We have outsourced our spatial awareness, our sense of direction, and our ability to get 'lost' to the benevolent tyranny of the algorithm.
Getting lost, once a source of anxiety, was also an opportunity for discovery, for serendipity, for forging a deeper, more personal connection with a place. The algorithmic map, in its quest for optimization, sterilizes this experience. It makes every journey functionally identical, reducing the rich tapestry of a city to a series of turns.
Reclaiming the forgotten path means intentionally putting away the device. It means looking up, observing, trusting our instincts, and allowing ourselves the luxury of aimless wandering. It's an act of re-engagement with the physical world, a deliberate choice to prioritize experience over efficiency. It is a rebellion against the dematerialization of space, an insistence that some knowledge can only be gained by the friction of our own feet on the ground.
FEATURE
THE SILENT WAR: The Battle for Our Attention
In the digital age, our most valuable, and most besieged, resource is not oil or gold, but attention. Every notification, every endless scroll, every perfectly timed recommendation is a skirmish in 'The Silent War' waged by algorithms for our finite cognitive capacity.
The "AI for an Eye" here is a sophisticated predator, designed to understand our preferences, predict our desires, and deliver the precise stimulus needed to keep our gaze locked. It trades our sustained focus for a continuous stream of novelty and distraction.
This is not a conspiracy; it's an economic imperative. The business model of many digital platforms is built on harvesting and monetizing our attention. The longer we engage, the more data is collected, the more ads are shown, the more valuable we become as a "node" in the network.
The consequence is a profound fragmentation of the self. Our ability to concentrate, to engage deeply with a single task or thought, is eroded. We become perpetually distracted, our minds flitting from one digital stimulus to the next, never quite settling. This constant mental churn leaves us feeling exhausted, yet unfulfilled.
Our attention is our last true frontier. To reclaim it is to reclaim sovereignty over our minds.
Reclaiming our attention is perhaps the most fundamental act of resistance against the "AI for an Eye." It means creating intentional spaces for deep work, for contemplation, for human interaction free from digital interruption. It means understanding that our attention is our last true frontier, and to reclaim it is to reclaim sovereignty over our minds and, ultimately, over ourselves.
CODA
THE ECHO: The Self Without Resonance
We build our digital selves, curated and optimized, a perfect reflection for the algorithmic eye. We engage in the "AI for an Eye" exchange, piece by piece.
But what if, in the end, the carefully constructed digital self has no real depth? What if the echoes it creates in the vast network are merely hollow reverberations of something that once was?
Without the friction of the analog, without the vulnerability of true human empathy, without the intentionality of focused attention, does the self truly resonate? Or does it merely exist as a data point, a pattern, an echo of a ghost?
The final question is not whether the machines will become conscious, but whether we, in our relentless pursuit of their synthetic faculties, will lose our own. And if so, what will be left to make an echo?