Velikovsky’s writings, the film ‘The Life of Brian’ and the reality rather than the official story surrounding 9/11 – all three suffer from similar reactions by various ‘powers that be’ of their time.
Velikovsky writes of a cataclysmic past and with painstaking attention to detail weaves together a momentous history of previous ages. His book ‘Worlds in Collision’ was on the best seller list but was so at odds with accepted academic belief that a small group of academics were able to exert influence on the publisher by threatening to remove the contract to produce many of the textbooks in use at the time and so the publisher bowed to pressure and ceased publication. It didn’t much matter as another publisher took over and the printing continued but the attempt at censorship was significant. Many thanks to the Velikovsky Encyclopedia for the following.
“In 1950, a book called Worlds in Collision, by Dr Immanuel Velikovsky, gave rise to a controversy in scientific and intellectual circles about scientific theories and the sociology of science. Dr Velikovsky’s historical and cosmological concepts, bolstered by his acknowledged scholarship, constituted a formidable assault on certain established theories of astronomy, geology and historical biology, and on the heroes of those sciences. Newton, himself, and Darwin were being challenged, and indeed the general orthodoxy of an ordered universe. The substance of Velikovsky’s ideas is briefly presented in the first chapter of this book.
“What must be called the scientific establishment rose in arms, not only against the new Velikovsky theories, but against the man himself. Efforts were made to block dissemination of Dr Velikovsky’s ideas, and even to punish supporters of his investigations. Universities, scientific societies, publishing houses, the popular press were approached and threatened; social pressures and professional sanctions were invoked to control public opinion. There can be little doubt that in a totalitarian society, not only would Dr Velikovsky’s reputation have been at stake, but also his right to pursue his inquiry, and perhaps his personal safety.”
One of the most luminous, funny and profound films of my existence was and continues to be ‘The Life of Brian.’ I state here that Christ IS the example from which I attempt to model, as best I’m able, my life. I hesitate to call myself a Christian, the label comes with so much baggage that I’d need to be specific about what I do and don’t accept as truth. My life experience indicates an intelligence I call universal – for want of a better word – and again, if I use the word God then … what do I mean by that? Much simpler to just reduce my approach to life to be ‘Do unto others ..’ and ‘love your neighbour’ and not give a stuff about heaven or hell. Even there, it’s quite simple for me … if I ‘do right’ because of fear of some hell or desire of a reward in some heaven then that approach seems to me to be no better than being a paid servant – I’d rather have a relationship. Apart from that brief summary, I live in Australia in a land peopled by Aborigines who’ve been here for tens of thousands of years and who have a real spiritual life which predates Christianity, Judaism and Islam by so much time as to make the latter relatively ‘new-comers.’
The Life of Brian suffered the same reactions from many in religious circles that Velikovsky suffered in the academic realm. In both cases the loudest criticism came from those who hadn’t read Velikovsky’s book nor – in the case of The Life of Brian, seen the film.
Which brings me to 9/11, a subject which I have researched and which suffers the same reaction from the great mass of the population who will not look at the evidence perhaps because of a blind faith in their particular ‘powers that be’, perhaps because they’re busy or stressed or … ‘it’s all too much.’ I don’t get judgemental about it nor do I see myself as being particularly clever. There was much about 9/11 that was immediately obvious to me but it was circumstance which gave me the opportunity to witness for hour after hour and from the other side of the world, in the middle of the night, the oddities and inconsistencies happening on that early morning day.
I’ve just watched ‘The secret life of Brian’ which is a documentary made in four parts although they consist of a single program. In a very Monty Python manner each part is followed by a minute or so of black screen, no sound, which is somewhat off-putting.
It’s well worth watching.