SETI

For some years now, since some modicum of technology has been in place to scratch around above our atmosphere, people have been searching for extraterrestrial intelligence--or, as most people know them, aliens. An entire company or research team was created by alien-believer Carl Sagan called SETI--Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Science fiction writers have for years envisioned cultures on Mars or other celestial locales. On the Internet, Mom recently came across a survey asking whether the proven presence of extraterrestrial life would undermine one's faith.

I got thinking and wondering about this. Why the rage to see if there are other peoples in the universe? Natural curiosity may have something to do with it, of course. After Amundsen, we didn't have many frontiers left to conquer, and there would be brain-food for more than just explorers: sociologists, psychologists, linguists, philologists, politicians, philosophers, theologians, writers, tourists, and many others would have a vested interest in the place. There has thus far been no credible evidence for the presence of extraterrestrial life, however, to my knowledge, and the expense of looking for it is quite large. If the technology is innovated that would allow men to travel and explore to further reaches of the solar system or beyond, the cost would rise considerably.

I very much doubt that there are aliens, and if there are, God didn't see fit to tell us about them and (I would guess) would have made them impossible for human ingenuity to find. But supposing we found some evidence of them, the extra-Hollywood notion that these extraterrestrials would be both pacific of intentions and advanced far beyond humans in development also seems doubtful. How could we possibly guess with any certainty whatsoever one way or another? The assumption or hope that aliens would not only understand us, but also desire contact with us, and peaceable contact at that, and then perhaps solve the world's problems, does seem to be present in some circles.

It occurred to me that there may be something more basic at work here than mere curiosity which might explain this curious hope in benevolent and spiritually advanced aliens. After all, if exploration or professional interest were the only motivator, I would think that suspended judgment and caution would be the order of the day. Now, not having done much study at all on this field, my theory could be wrong or in some ways misguided, at least as concerns some particular individuals. I'm sure not everyone thinks this way. This tendency I am about to mention is not, however, limited merely to this field. It is, in fact, a tendency that can be found almost everywhere, and I would be surprised not to find it somewhere in the field as theoretical and limited as this.

What I would guess is that part of this hope in benevolent aliens comes from the universal desire for an outside source of power and help (that is, the remnant of the inbred desire for union with God). Alien civilization, if it existed, would be 'out there,' mysterious, and ripe for speculative projection. And what better to speculate about than a race of supermen, angelic creatures, who could reach down from the depths of space and wipe out the curse? If only the misery and conflict in the Gaza Strip, Burma, China, Darfur, etc. could be wiped out by the waving of a Martian wand. This desire for a savior is, of course, unsurprising, but it is very sad that it should be directed toward the supposed presence of space aliens. After all, is this professional curiosity or a timid cop-out? There are very human problems that are affecting millions of people right now. The one answer to these problems is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and spreading that Gospel, as the Scriptures and history plainly demonstrate, is not a walk in the park. It takes faith, guts, resources, and all the varied talents of the body of Christ. I find myself often harping on these posts about how resources are being used up in vain pursuits. By and large, this seems to be one of them. Even if we found a footprint on Alpha Centauri, it's almost 26 trillion miles away--more than an eight-year round trip if we could build a space ship that could maintain the speed of light for the equivalent of two terms of presidential office. Imagine finding that there were only footprints and bones there.

Space exploration is fascinating to a degree, but honestly, where is it going to get us? To me it seems like only a vain hope to find some shortcut to solving the world's problems. To invent the technology, if it could be done, might take centuries, and the monetary cost would be staggering. And I believe that it would all be for nothing anyway. Once again, shall we turn our attention to more immediate problems, and stop frittering away our time on things like this? I don't think that huge amounts of money alone can solve those problems, of course, but the vast resources of wealth and machinery available to us in this century could clearly be marshaled more effectively.