Guest: Rt. Reverend James Heiser. Topics: Space civilization building, Mars colonization, religion and space development. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Bishop James Heiser was our guest to discuss his new book "Civilization and the New Frontier: Reflections on Virtue and the Settlement of a New World." This book is available on the OGLF website and remember, if you buy it there, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show. Please visit www.amazon.com/dp/1891469487?tag=onegialeafou-20 to purchase this book. In our first segment, Bishop Heiser talked about building a new civilization through Mars colonization and he introduced us to his new book which consists of four essays that he delivered at recent Mars Society Conferences. We also talked about people having a spiritual connection to space and how space colonization is a type of renewal of civilization. We talked about some of the obvious problems with our system, highlighting our focus on the short term, not the long term, and on the two year cycle of power for Congress. Bishop Heiser then took us through a very brief summary of the four essays in his book. His discussion of the four essays then developed into a theme of how do we actually connect with the public because it seems that space enthusiasts largely connect with themselves, something we hear about on The Space Show programs. Reverend Heiser then introduced us to the carrot and stick approach of space advocacy. Listen carefully and let us know what you think about this approach. Reverend Heiser received lots of questions about the reception he gets from both those attending Mars Society conferences and from those listening to his talks in his church. This dialog carried over to the second segment with the lead off question by listener Becky. You might be surprised by Bishop Heiser's response. Tony sent in an email question that opened up a big discussion topic for the balance of the program. He simply asked if it would take a religious group like the Pilgrims to successfully colonize Mars? Well, this became the main theme of the discussion for the balance of the show though we also talked about ethics and the potential discovery of life on Mars and what that might mean for human exploration and eventual colonization of Mars. Don't miss this discussion. Trent asked for a clarification on what our guest meant when he talked about the frontier. As you will hear, Bishop Heiser provided us with a broad definition for the frontier and how its applied to space development. In the third segment, our guest was asked if we really could afford to think about space given all the problems we face right here on Earth. Then Tim called in and the Pilgrims were front and center for the balance of the show with lots of questions about religion going into space, fringe religious groups going to space for religious freedom and more. I believe you will find this to be a most interesting and unique discussion. Toward the end of the program, Bishop Heiser was asked about non-western cultures and religions colonizing space and he said that development could break either way. Don't miss all of his comments on this issue. If you want to send our guest a comment or ask him a question, please post it on the blog URL above and you can email Bishop Heiser at hunnius@mac.com.
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