making a list item
is this a second item
is this a third

ok, now this is in block quote
i have just moved down a line

I have closed the block quote
and now i have spaced down again

now we will see how this line thing works
so what happens

if we put it on a different line

ok, now this is in block quote
i have just moved down a line

I have closed the block quote
and now i have spaced down again

To suggest otherwise as Steve does, is simply a debating position. (Thanks for taking the losing side, Steve!) If a peoples’ myth says that the stars were painted there by gods, that belief must have been an attempt to explain the inexplicable, and it served to amplify the glory and power of the gods.

Beholding the night sky in a desolate location at the height of the Pleiades meteor showers, and/or gazing at the Northern lights singing across the sky, are events that scream about the vastness and power of what lies above us. That keeps one humble, whether that person believes that it is caused by magic or whether that person knows astronomy.

The difference is that believing it is magic can lead to a fear of the awesome powers of the gods, while having an understanding of physics makes it clear that the only thing to fear are the high priests or kings who want you to continue believing those myths. Such people usually want their peasants to be afraid of those “gods” and to become subservient to “gods’” wishes always as interpreted by the kings or their high priests on behalf of their subjects.

Thankfully, our civilisation has advanced to where we can find scientific explanations for otherwise incredibly awesome and near unbelievable fear instilling events. Rather than improbable and highly speculative (almost magical) explanations provided by wizards appointed by the “king”, we have wonderfully intelligent, independent and questioning people like these:

Scientists: http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2006/09/jones.html

Architects & Engineers: http://www.ae911truth.org/

Structural Engineers: www.georgewashington.blogspot.com/2007/05/structural-engineers-question-collapse.html

Sweet.

In fact, the default assumption throughout most of history has been that the Earth was the center of the universe. Most humans thought the stars in the sky rotated around the earth, or were painted there by the gods.

It’s only relatively recently that we discovered the vastness of space, and I think we’re more aware of that than ever before, light pollution or not.