A Political History of SF

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Mike Bailey: 

SIASL for me shows Heinlein "projecting a world" - playing with the notions of 
government and religion, human nature, the role of the writer.  Gosh, I think 
it's his most un-fascist book, showing perhaps the individual is able to elude 
his government's efforts to repress him, but his Church will eat him.
Or something.  How can that be fascist?


Stranger also marked a radical departure of form, not only for the author, 
but for American thought and expression in general. Stranger was the 
quintessence that transformed the nation's repressively conformist, 
post-war paranoia into the overtly sensual, erudite, cynical optimism 
that epitomized the years preceding the Reagan administration. Entire 
volumes could be devoted to the influence of Stranger on fields as 
diverse (or convergent) as religion, physics, computer science, philosophy, 
government, anthropology, ecology and the occult. Movies, songs, and 
books quickly reflected its major themes. Grok, Heinlein's Martian neologism
for deep understanding, became a household word. Every form of media, art,
and science paid its respects to Heinlein's creation. The Church of All Worlds 
and the Covenant of The Mithril Star were two of many groups that formed 
around Stranger's principles and inspiration.

http://www.caw.org/

http://tinyurl.com/3xpz8z

"Magic, Inc." is Heinlein's one pure fantasy story. Though it takes place in a 
modern setting, it deals heavily with magic and its use in the real world. I 
was impressed by the depths of Heinlein's occult knowledge in this story.

http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.html?id=325

Adam, the Official Bard to the Church of All Worlds, claimed that 
Stranger in a Strange Land  was heavily influenced by Aleister 
Crowley, who billed himself as "The Wickedest Man in the World."  
It seems clear to me that Heinlein's actual occult knowledge, 
influences, and allegiances need more investigation.  For now, 
take this essay as suggestive but not definitive.

http://www.enter.net/~torve/critics/annex.htm

Hubbard followed Heinlein's now ten-year old advice, abandoning 
Dianetics. The Founding Church of Scientology opened in January 
1955 in Washington D.C. and in New York. Heinlein's advice to 
Hubbard had allowed him completely to bypass the medical 
opposition; for the next fifteen years, Hubbard's principal bêtes 
noirs would be the Internal Revenue Service (but Heinlein was 
right: the IRS was never able to prove Scientology a fake religion 
under U.S. law, and they eventually gave up after being defeated 
in decision after decision).

http://illuminationinc.blogspot.com/2006/09/crowley-parsons-heinlein-hubbard_29.html

Heinlein's involvement is further supported through Stranger in a Strange Land, 
where the concept of Thelema is illustrated, but cleverly coded in the text.

http://archive.alienzoo.com/conspiracytheory/jackparsonsconspiracy.html

http://www.thelema.org/

Thelema is also an initially fictional philosophy of life first described by
François Rabelais (16th century) in his famous books, Gargantua and 
Pantagruel.[4] The essence of this philosophy was summarized in the 
phrase ... ...Fais ce que tu veux, or, "Do what thou 
wilt". and this philosophy was later put into practice in the mid 18th 
century by Sir Francis Dashwood at Medmenham.[5]
This Thelemic Law of Rabelais was revived by Aleister Crowley[5] in 
1904 when Crowley wrote The Book of the Law, which contains both 
the word Thelema in Greek as well as the phrase "Do what thou wilt." 
>From this, Crowley took Thelema as the name of the philosophical, 
mystical and religious system which he subsequently developed, 
which includes ideas from occultism, Yoga, and both Eastern and 
Western mysticism (especially the Qabalah).[6] Thus Shri Gurudev 
Mahendranath, in speaking of svecchachara, a Sanskrit term which 
he considered the eastern equivalent of the term Thelema, wrote that 
"Rabelais, Dashwood, and Crowley must share the honor of 
perpetuating what has been such a high ideal in most of Asia."[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema