Buzz Aldrin's Flip-Flop Faith

This devotion was updated when I learned the full story of Aldrin's moonwalk activities. The many positive comments in the comment section are based on the initial devotion about Aldrin's communion on the moon. 

1969: “One day while I was at Cape Kennedy … I wondered if it might be possible to take communion on the moon, symbolizing the thought that God was revealing Himself there too, as man reached out into the universe.” ~ Buzz Aldrin 

Aldrin, the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, was the second man to walk on the moon. With the blessing of his pastor, he packed a chalice and communion bread with his gear. 

On July 20, 1969, when he landed on the moon, he read John15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

According to Aldrin, he did this “to indicate our trust that as man probes into space we are in fact acting in Christ.” Then he celebrated the Lord's Supper. NASA didn't publicize this ceremony for fear of protestors. But Aldrin celebrated communion on the moon, honoring the atoning death of Christ.

I was impressed by Aldrin's desire to do something that so appropriately honored Christ. But as time went on, Aldrin's true beliefs became evident:  

While on the moon, Aldrin also honored Freemasonry, claiming to set up a lodge on the moon and carrying a “handmade Masonic silk flag” which is now on display at a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C. 

And in 2009, he apologized for communion, but not for the Masonic flag: 

“If I had it to do over again, I would not choose to celebrate communion. Although it was a deeply meaningful experience for me, it was a Christian sacrament, and we had come to the moon in the name of all mankind – be they Christians, Jews, Muslims, animists, agnostics, or atheists. But at the time I could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God.” Buzz Aldrin, Magnificent Desolation 

Aldrin became involved in Freemasonry in 1956 at age 26, so we should not be surprised at his confused contradictions. Christianity and Freemasonry are not compatible. 

“There are many branches on the Tree of Freemasonry but Esoteric Freemasonry is the root system of this great organism. Esoteric Freemasonry, the tradition of Freemasonry that delves deeper and sees further than the mere surface of our catechisms, rituals and traditional explanations, is the connection to the soil of history and human tradition that sustains Freemasonry even now. Freemasonry is a diverse collection of traditions, rites and rituals that have been passed from lip to ear for millennia. Freemasonry, though now cloaked in the symbols of the building craft, is in fact the inheritor of the great wealth of religious symbolism that humanity has produced. All religions communicate the story of a single God, a unitary divine flame that has burned brightly from the beginning of time and that sustains all life in the Universe.” Universal Freemasonry

If you are not aware of the ungodly mixture of paganism, mysticism, and biblical half-truths behind Freemasonry, check out its roots in Phallic Worship, Gnosticism, Rosicrucianism, etc.

Despite Aldrin's honor for a pagan organization and his flip-flop faith, I'm still glad that our God was honored because He deserves our praise to the moon and back and beyond!! 

💙💙💙💙

For more inspiration, see Are You Listening to the Sky? and Why Creation Is Central to Christian Faith and Why It's Always Challenged by Mankind

Resources for information and quotes: Guideposts & Universal Freemasonry & The Grand Lodge of Ohio.

💙 Please check out the Bible Love Notes devotional Wisdom for Life. It features one-minute devotions from Psalms and Proverbs and is for sale on Lifeway and Amazon. 

And please sign up for a free subscription to Bible Love Notes one-minute devotions HERE and receive a devotion like this in your email each weekday (no spam, no pop-ups, no misuse of your email address).

 

Images: Wiki Commons and Public Domain

BLN