Essays

On Religion and Astronomy

I sent this via e-mail to one reading group:

One can consider these two award-winning articles about the issue (of the anthromorphic principle):

"E.T. and God" (linked in the Articles page)

"Spirituality and the Fine-Tuned Cosmos" (also linked in the Articles page)

The first shares the idea that because there are too many factors and combinations involved in the creation of life it is possible that we may be the only sentient beings in the universe. The implication, then, is that no one is out there, and that we are all alone in the universe. This may, in some way, both challenge and validate a belief in God by implying that man is nothing more than an accident but also by allowing us to see religion as an integral part of man's loneliness in the cosmos.

On the other hand, if we do realize that there are sentient beings outside our planet, this may in some ways allow us to theorize the existence of a divine creator (which is discussed in the second article, which also reveals that amidst chaos the cosmos is driven by order), but it may also allow us to question our beliefs in God. Is He a God of the earth or of the universe? Will these other planets also have their own saviors? Can human beings still see themselves as the God's favored creation? Is the cosmos the end-all of such a creation, with man nothing more than one of infinite parts of stardust that will soon become part of primal matter?

Given these views, perhaps we can argue that astronomy and our fascination with the universe might neither support or challenge the existence of God but either way explain why we believe in a God. Metaphorically, to hardly see and only dream about places that we will never visit is for me very similar to religious belief and to imagine a consciousness that is beyond earthly or even mortal existence.