Was God an Astronaut? By Holly Lovett
“It took courage to write this book, and it will take courage to read it”.
T
his is the opening of Erich Von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods? first published in 1969 which explores an array of thought-provoking concepts involving extra-terrestrial life. On the whole, the text provides an intense journey of theories, strongly brought to life by Daniken, that suggest it is important to question everything. One of the main concepts that is woven through this piece is the idea that aliens from another planet may have visited Earth in the past, and the humans present, resulted in labelling them as ‘Gods’. The retelling of these visits were then passed down through the centuries to such an extent that they became branded as myths, stories and legends. Whilst reading it is important to keep in mind the year of publication,
1969, as it was in this same year that humans succeeded in their mission to the moon. In society, there was a shift in peoples opinions relating to religion and science, many people either loved the developments in the world or despised them all together. There was lots of tension in society at this time, particularly with the US Civil Rights movement and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was debated that the ‘Space Race’ was wasting natural resources. But nevertheless, approximately 600million people watched the Apollo 11 moon landing on television and forgot their differences for a moment, joining together to experience this huge symbol of human achievement. It could be derived from Daniken’s theories that the
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