Letter to the Editor

David F. Siemens, Jr., ASA Fellow
2703 E Kenwood St.
Mesa, AZ 85213-2384

From: PSCF 52 (June 2000): 147.

I wonder why Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith published positive reviews of Cremo's Forbidden Archeology's Impact and Ebert's Twilight of the Clockwork God ([March 2000]: 63f, 69f). The former book represents reactions to an earlier book, Forbidden Archeology, by the same author (Drutakarma dasa) with Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa dasa), also published by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the publishing arm of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. This earlier book uncritically collected reports on which to base a claim that scientists are involved in a vast cover-up of the evidence of human origins. Who, having read no more than the several views represented in Perspectives the last several years, can swallow that? Since the book is simply an apology for this Hindu sect, it has relevance only as a source on the kind of Eastern thought that is becoming influential among those who reject Christianity.

The nature of Twilight of the Clockwork God may be gauged by its stated purpose:

The appearance of a new species of scientist ... is precisely what this book is about, for in contradistinction to the mechanistic universe, its chapters are filled with visions of a cosmos that is alive and sentient, capable of remembering the past and interacting with our lives on the most intimate level. Ghosts, telepathy, angels, reincarnation and the existence of the soul are discussed here by scientists who take them seriously (pp. 17f).

One may also note the acceptance of astrology (pp. 181, 192, 195), psychokinesis (p. 194), and the views of Velikovsky (pp. 183, 190, 191)--although he is criticized for mistaking his mythology for reality (p. 193).

In the editor's conclusion, we find:

The universe creates itself from out of its own divine substance. [So] divinity [is] inherent in all things, including oneself (p. 168).

The cosmology of Genesis ... is outdated and ... pernicious. Further, the world is created by a God who is separate from his creation ... [so] we ... are not identified with the divine spirit, but with dead matter (p. 169).

The views of these books indicate clearly their total opposition, in purpose and content, to both science and Christian faith. Since both books are propaganda for splinter sects of Hindu origin, they are irrelevant to the members of ASA.