Religion and Space exploration: Science & Religion
Michael Martin-Smith (martin@miff.demon.co.uk)
Sat, 28 Dec 1996 12:56:21 -0600
Dear Bahai's,
As you will know, the last century has seen a growing conflict between
Religion and Science, which Abdul Baha, in particular, has very
comprehensively addressed. In the past 20 years, science has made
several discoveries which are relevant to the question of human
uniqueness on earth and our role in the Universe, which serve to counter
the views of some writers that human intelligence, science and
technology are an evolutionary dead end, or even a mistake! This view,
I'm sure , runs counter to Bahai views and deserves to be rebutted.
Although not a Bahai , I have had a degree of understanding for and
sympathy with the Faith for many years arising from personal friends. I
have recently written an article intended for the Bahai Journal, which
is at the moment held up for want of room in an admittedly small
magazine devoted naturally to the activities and ideas of practising
Bahai's. Nevertheless, I feel that many of the Faith will find this
article of interest, so I would like to submit it to this Newsgroup :-
it follows below (sent to Bahai journal July 5, 1996, 791 words>Mrs Anne
Maund editor)
A Marriage in Heaven?
With the coming of the Millennium, there is evidence of a
growing angst about the future of Humanity, and its purpose in the
scheme of things, typically exemplified by a disillusion with science
and technology, to such an extent that some writers are even wondering
if human Intelligence is not a regrettable accident, and that we have
lost our animal status to our great disadvantage; in short, people are
wondering whether Science, in addition to robbing us of the religious
certainties and comforts of bygone years, may not actually be the agent
of our extinction. This article was indeed prompted by an article in the
"Observer" by the paper's science correspondent, Robin Mckie, on Feb
25,1996 as an extract from his book making exactly this case. From this
it would appear that Evolution ( or Creation, if you are theologically
inclined) is actually pointless. If Evolution is merely about the
survival of DNA, this is true, as this could have been achieved had
Life remained unicellular, as in the Pre Cambrian Age.
However, the last 100 million years show that, just as Life was
a qualitative advance in organization and complexity over chemistry and
physics in the Universe, there is now underway the next qualitative
change - the development of Mind. The dinosaurs, according to
palaeontologist Dale Russell were on the way to mental development,
while the Cetacea are, perhaps, examples of a different kind. A
distinguishing mark of Humanity is science and technology.
Science, in the form of astronomy, palaeontology, and
archaeology have shown us, in the past generation only, that these
negative prospects apply to humans only if we are seen as an Earthbound
species. The recurring mass extinctions revealed by geologists, and the
swarm of Near Earth Asteroids shown to us by astronomers, prove beyond
doubt that the growth and survival of Mind, from a long-term
perspective, is impossible on the Earth. The archaeological discoveries
at Rapa-Nui (Easter Island) show that the threat of ecological collapse
into barbarism by tree-felling, over-population, and resource depletion,
although susceptible to delay in the larger world, is, in time,
inevitable, and likely to be horrific in human terms.
Fortunately, this same science and intelligence which marks out
humanity has given us the only practicable means of escape from this
box, namely, the ability to leave, by act of will, the planet of our
origins. Research by space agencies, and privately funded groups such as
Gerard O'Neill's Space Studies Institute, and Marshall Savage's First
Millennial Foundation in Colorado, have shown that , with the advent of
fully reusable space vehicles in the next 10 years, it will be possible
to begin utilizing the raw materials of the Moon , and those same Near
Earth asteroids, to fabricate Island colonies in high orbit at first,
and, in time, throughout the solar system. Such a process could well
develop naturally out of space tourism, via hotels and, later,
full resort complexes, as has happened on Earth. Apart from creating a
universal civilization, immune to asteroid impacts and ecological
exhaustion, the diversity of habitats that this scenario allows,
together with human immigration into an unoccupied biological niche,
would allow rapid evolution to the point where our present imperfect
species could expect to make way for a superior model.
With the long struggle for limited energy and materials behind
us, and the end of the long grinding battle against gravity, maybe the
kind of higher being predicated by so many of human religions could at
last flower. Thus science, so far from taking away our sense of purpose,
shows us a new one ,which, moreover, is essential to our health and
survival. This is the "Greening of the Galaxy", or bringing Life and
Mind to an apparently barren Cosmos, as Creative partners . Furthermore,
the undertaking of space colonization will require a long-term view over
generations, like the building of the Cathedrals and Pyramids of Old.
Such attitudes require dedication, deferral of short term hedonism,
discipline and social cohesiveness - in a word, the virtues preached by
the great religions of history.
So, in the human conquest of Space, we have at last found a
worthy goal , validated by science, with the socially and spiritually
enlarging characters of a great religion - some are already calling this
new ideology "Astronism". The Bahai teacher Abdul Baha wrote that The
Bird of Truth flies with two wings - without Science, Religion is mere
superstition, while without religion, science becomes arrogance. This
marriage of science and religion - or spirituality if you prefer - so
sorely needed by riven humanity could be the best gift of the Space Age
to the Third millennium - a marriage made in Heaven.
by Dr.Michael Martin-Smith, B.Sc., M.R.C.G.P, Fellow of the British
Interplanetary Society, and Space Studies Institute, and originator of
the Humble Space Telescope educational satellite project
President, Space Age Associates,
http://people.delphi.com/astronist/index.html
--
Michael Martin-Smith