A Question for the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11: Apollo 11's "Giant Leap" or Apollo 8's "Genesis" Reading?

When NASA and the media celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 2009, they are certain to overlook a profound question, one that is explored in the latest books by Barry Vacker, a professor of media studies. That question? Which words spoken from the moon have proven more prophetic and powerful back on Earth: Neil Armstrong's "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" or William Anders' "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth," from the famed Genesis reading of Apollo 8?

Philadelphia (PRWEB) June 23, 2009 -- When NASA and the media celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 2009, they are certain to overlook a profound question, one that is explored in the latest books by a professor of media studies.

That question? Which words spoken from the moon have proven more prophetic and powerful back on Earth: Neil Armstrong's "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" or William Anders' "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth," from the famed Genesis reading of Apollo 8?

Cultural and media theorist Barry Vacker (http://www.barryvacker.net), a professor at Temple University, believes that the leap into the secular universe of the space age has been undercut by a great leap backward into the creationist worlds of evangelicalism and fundamentalism.

"The deeper meaning of Armstrong's words broadcast to a billion television viewers on Earth and of the famed Earthrise photo beamed to our planet from Apollo 8," said Vacker, "was the realization that we live on a tiny planet floating amidst the vast cosmic void. There is nothing to save us or our planet but ourselves."

"For some, this realization united humanity in a feeling of global goodwill and energized the ecological movement," Vacker continued. "But during the last 40 years, the majority have responded with a retreat to the superstitious past, as evidenced today by the global rise of creationism, anti-intellectualism, religious warfare, and even evangelical presidents in the White House."

As Vacker explains in his books, much of humanity has turned away from a secular or scientific orientation toward the 'big bang' universe in order to understand our existence, instead preferring sacred texts written centuries ago in the pre-scientific age. As the mayhem in our daily headlines reveals, Armstrong's "great leap for mankind" has proven less prophetic than Apollo 8's Genesis reading, at least so far.

Vacker explores Apollo 8, the space age, and the retreat from secularism in Starry Skies Moving Away and Crashing Into the Vanishing Points (Theory Vortex, 2009). Vacker also wrote the text for Peter Granser's photography book about America, Signs (Hatje Cantz and Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2008), where he first wrote about the Apollo 8 Genesis reading. He is also the author of Slugging Nothing: Fighting the Future in Fight Club (Theory Vortex, 2009).

Also, he is editor of the forthcoming anthology, entitled Media Environments (University Readers, 2010). Author of many articles and book chapters, he also wrote and directed the documentary film: Space Times Square (http://www.spacetimessquare.net) (2007). For more information on Vacker's book series, visit the Theory Vortex (http://www.theoryzero.net) web site.

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