Thread:Proxima Centauri/@comment-26279493-20150524071704/@comment-68.118.208.19-20160105035020

Well, I don't really know what to say. When you begin seriously looking into Jesus, I think you will find another example of influence. Once Rome adopted Christianity, it had plenty to gain by influencing dogma. In the case of the Roman Imperial family, or the Byzantine Imperial family, and the Church, they appear to have very quickly evolved a mutually beneficial relationship. Constantine's mother was a very important early researcher. Even if you could eliminate the bias inherent in funding, you may find a vastly older and greater influence of orthodoxy having limited lines of inquiry, and perhaps suppressed information which might tend to support non orthodox conclusions.

Here in the USA, we're perhaps in the equivalent of the late Roman Republic, a few individuals or corporations have immassed enormous wealth, but have not yet managed to either have more power than government, or gain control of government. Of course, this is probably the worlds greatest republic, and some of the weaker republics are pretty well captured by private interests. We can still peek behind the curtain, and see the manipulations, but it's getting tougher.