Earthrise: Judeo-Christian Traditions & Social Landscapes

I wanted to respond to the photo of Earthrise and how it connected to Judeo-Christian traditions, but also how it reflected a different social landscape in the United States at that time. Earthrise had the obvious connection to Judeo-Christian traditions because all three astronauts read a portion of Genesis near Christmas and Hanukkah while the video of the moon with the Earth floating in the background broadcast into the homes of America and other nations. It must have been awe inspiring to conquer "the final frontier," the culmination of thousands of minds and hundreds of thousands of man hours sending humanity into space, giving us greater knowledge and a much broader perspective of our universe. I'm sure the astronauts felt almost as if they were nearly one with God, viewing the world through the creator's eyes. Though I understand how the Astronauts' actions can be seen as excluding other religions, the social landscape that the three astronauts grew up in was not like our own. I would argue that the astronauts were not trying to be exclusive, but were rather only referencing their thoughts and emotions to the sole spiritual text they were aware enough to quote--the bible. Regardless of the fact that discrimination was much more prevalent in the United States from the 1940's to the 1960's, respect to various nationalities and their cultural traditions were not observed how they are today--today, it's no longer called Christmas nationally, it's the holiday season, it's no longer appropriate to read the bible over national broadcasting networks, it's barely even appropriate to show any religious symbols during the holiday season in public places unless other religious symbols are included. I would argue that America has changed from being overly Judeo-Christian, to the extent of insensitivity to other cultures, during the 1960's to being much more observant of others' religions and cultures today. On that note, I would reiterate that the astronauts were not attempting to be exclusive but were only following the somewhat ignorant social norms of the 1968 American cultural landscape.