Several quick responses to this question: Why would God create life on =
Mars and then let it die out?
Possibly, as noted, maybe this isn't life, or maybe it didn't originate =
on Mars, or maybe it did but came to Earth and so didn't die out, or . . =
. . but let's assume that the way the evidence is pointing now is =
toward the truth: there was independent life on Mars several billion =
years ago.
(1) It's not clear that the life did die out even on Mars. It may =
continue underground near heat sources.
(2) It's not clear that this life is in the least morally significant. =
If it isn't, then there is no moral problem involved, and the question =
becomes one of theological curiosity, like why would God create a bunch =
of planets, or why did God create Saturn with rings, or . . . . =
Interesting, but with little direct existential relevance, and =
ultimately leading back to the question "why did God create the universe =
like this?". Microlife is cool, but not sacred, in my view.
(3) In any event, even if these were higher life forms (utterly contrary =
to fact!) -- little green men, let's say -- God has no obligation to =
keep them alive. For anyone, mortal life is a temporary gift.
(4) Death is not the worst possible fate by any means.
(5) Lack of evidence for God's reasons is not in itself evidence for a =
lack of reasons.
There are numerous other more speculative relevant issues that I won't =
bother with, because they are so speculative. But these should help =
alleviate the concern a bit. They're not especially articulate, but =
they've taken only 15 minutes, too! :^) And I'm sure others will chip =
in with more thoughtful -- but less timely! -- answers.
--John
----------
From: Gordon Simons[SMTP:simons@stat.unc.edu]
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 1996 1:50 PM
To: reflector
Cc: Gordon Simons
Subject: Life on Mars (fwd)
I will leave the name off, but I will pass this along to the reflector.=20
It was prompted by an e-mail reply to my brother Keith this morning, a
copy of which I forwarded to our church forum. Someone, a woman, is =
being
very candid concerning her feelings. I appreciate but am haunted by her
honesty. Any suggested responses will be appreciated. Please cc to me
since I am not currently signed up in the evolution forum.
Gordon Simons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~~
On Thurs, 8 Aug 1996 Gordie Simons wrote:=20
---------- Forwarded message ----------
It is good that the notion of life on Mars does not pose a threat to =
your
faith, nor does it to mine. However, because of the very high stakes =
that
God places on faith, we must still be concerned with its impact on =
others.=20
----------
Well, unfortunately, I must admit that I personally got a bad shake to =
my
faith yesterday when I heard about the Mars announcement. I was =
actually
rather surprising--I now realize that I had never before *truly* doubted
(although I thought I had).=20
Previously, I had logically thought about what could challenge my faith
and believed that only if scientists were able to create life would I
experience a *real* challenge (to be overcome of course). Much to my
surprise, yesterday I found myself asking:=20
=20
'Why would God create life on Mars and then let it die out?' =20
I don't think that finding out that there was presently life on another
world would have led me to question faith, but thinking that there HAD
BEEN life that then died out didn't make ANY sense at all. It didn't =
mesh
with anything I believe and I couldn't incorporate it into my current
faith fast enough. Suddenly I found myself thinking, 'well, if its true
then maybe God isn't real.' And, I allowed myself to *feel* a world
without God.=20
I spent about three hours in a state that I can only describe as
'despair.' It wasn't that I didn't believe (to be honest, I couldn't =
make
myself focus on belief), it was just that for the first time in my life =
I
could imagine what it was like to NOT believe. It was as if I caught a
glimpse of something horrifying. It made me realize how much of my =
belief
in people, my life plan, my morality and *myself* is wrapped up in my
belief in God. I hope I don't go through another such period for many
years!=20
Needless to say, I'm feeling better now. I have read more about the =
study
and it looks pretty unconvincing. I still feel that I have to address =
my
basic question, however, in case scientists DO get more evidence of life
on Mars. Thus, I turn the question over to you, the forum, to help me
work through some answers.=20
'Why would God create and then destroy life on another planet?'