ABSTRACT
This special issue addresses some of the many discourses related to religion and outer space with attention to the impacts that space exploration, space expansionism, and encounters with extraterrestrial life—both in the ancient past and the future—might have on religious systems. Contributions to this issue were developed from a Symposium on Space Exploration, Astrobiology, and the Future of Religion held in March 2022.
Although we have been living in the “Space Age” for over half a century, the early part of the twenty-first century has seen a significant shift in the nature and scope of space exploration. We are now on the cusp of the kind of space age envisioned in the 1950s and 1960s when Americans and Soviets were aiming at the moon, when space visionaries like Wernher von Braun, Arthur C. Clark, and Stanley Kubrick were imagining a future—today’s present—in which large donut-shaped space stations orbited Earth, and when travel to the Moon—on PanAm spacecraft—had become routine, at least among scientists and some government leaders. Of course, that future did not materialize as predicted. Loss of interest in exploring the Moon followed rapidly upon the initial successful landings, and the International Space Station (ISS) took on a much more modest form than the fantastical, massive structures once imagined.
While we now stand on the precipice of a new (or revitalized) space age,Footnote1 reaching this point was not a foregone conclusion. As the late twentieth century rolled in, rocket voyages to unexplored star systems and Martian colonies—outfitted, of course, in an Atomic Age aesthetic—became images of a bygone era.Footnote2 Stagnate in visions of yesteryear, the once booming optimism of space exploration limped along. The United States struggled to safely get people into low earth orbit (LEO) using a sophisticated, but unreliable, space shuttle system that never realized the promise of cheap access to space. The Soviets continued to develop space stations, but eventually ran out of money as the Soviet Union collapsed. Space exploration and expansion seemed distant dreams.
Following the Columbia disaster in 2003, however, new ideas about space access and exploration began to be considered based on the notion that the best way to generate reliable and relatively inexpensive access to LEO required privatization and the creation of a LEO economy. This also opened the door for NASA (and other space agencies) to focus on more cutting-edge and risky exploration of deep space. The Bush Administration’s space policy emphasized creation of an entrepreneurial commercial space sector to the extent possible within the confines of national security issues. In a major shift from previous approaches to space access, the Obama Administration’s space policy emphasized reliance entirely upon private aerospace companies for LEO access from which NASA would purchase trips into orbit.Footnote3 Under this new approach, NASA procured access to LEO by awarding contracts to existing aerospace companies like Boeing. This system facilitated the rapid development of start-ups like SpaceX and Axiom Space, now significant players in the space industry. And today, corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Axiom Space, and Sierra Space/Blue Origin are capitalizing on the newly gained knowledge of the cosmos and actively developing commercial space stations. Axiom Space has already flown two missions to the ISS (using SpaceX hardware to get there) and is constructing components that will be added to the ISS and then, eventually, separated to form an independent space station when the ISS is retired. This is not your 1960s space dream.
The last few decades have also seen a variety of scientific missions that have changed our understanding of the universe. For example, in 1992, Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail discovered two exoplanets (although they were not actually looking for exoplanets) orbiting the pulsar PSR1257 + 12, which opened the door to new scientific understandings of the nature of star systems.Footnote4 As of this writing, the NASA exoplanet website counts 5,483 confirmed exoplanets with another 9,770 candidates and over 4,000 known planetary systems.Footnote5 Moreover, the Voyager spacecraft have traveled beyond the borders of the Solar System, becoming the first human-made objects to explore interstellar space.
Space exploration for scientific and business purposes is also no longer an enterprise limited to superpowers. While the US and Russia continue to be major players, China (arguably on its route to becoming a superpower) has developed its own space stations and, in 2003, became the third nation to independently launch people into space. The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are major partners in both the ISS and Artemis programs and have developed their own launch and satellite capabilities. India has sent missions to the Moon and the United Arab Emirates has an operational satellite orbiting Mars, launched from the Tageshima Space Center in Japan aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA launch vehicle. There are now serious efforts being pursued by some 20 different countries and dozens of new corporations wholly dedicated to space exploration. New players are constantly entering the fray.
The implications of this transformation for the human experience of space exploration are enormous, but perhaps in no area more than religion. For example, the routine Islamic practice of Salat (praying five-times daily while facing Mecca [in Saudi Arabia]) presents problems for a Muslim in space. How does one pray five times daily in a spacecraft traveling at 27,580 KPH, in which a “day” lasts about 1.5 hours—meaning that one would have to pray 80 times during every 24-hour period? Or how does one orient oneself toward Mecca from space when moving at such great speed? Should ritual action be adapted in a zero-gravity environment where postures involving standing, bowing, kneeling, and prostrating oneself become a challenge?Footnote6 The Malaysian National Space Agency (MNSA) held a conference with 150 scholars in 2006 to address these and other issues prior to the launch of Malaysian astronaut, and practicing Muslim, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, to the ISS.Footnote7 Although, in this case, the conference was able to produce a fatwa (a non-binding Islamic legal opinion) for Muslim astronauts that addressed the kinds of issues mentioned above, space exploration and travel will continue to pose unique challenges to, and questions about, religious obligations and commitments.
The five essays in this special issue of Theology and Science address some of the many discourses related to religion and outer space. Each contribution is a product of a symposium developed by Kelly Smith and J. W. Traphagan to explore the ways that human exploration of and expansion into space (which may include the discovery of alien lifeforms) might impact religion and vice versa. Participants in the symposium were presented with a set of questions to consider in developing their ideas. These included: How might the discovery that the universe is either teeming with life or that we seem to be alone impact established religions? What aspects of humanity in space might inspire new religions? How might religious ethics adapt to deal with novel challenges posed by the movement of humans into space? The goal was to bring together an interdisciplinary group of thinkers, including philosophers, scholars of religion, social scientists, artists, and public intellectuals to discuss the implications of space exploration for religion with the aim of developing a series of questions/perspectives/approaches that could serve as focal points for future research.
This issue opens with Brian Green’s philosophical exploration of the ways in which human expansion into space may influence religion, drawing directly on the prompts used to develop the symposium. Religion, according to Green, is a complex human phenomenon that brings people together in communities, but also separates them. He grapples with the important question of how movement into space, and more specifically the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), might affect the way people do religion. To entertain possible answers to this question, Green sets up an analytical framework that revolves around two categories: “religions-in-particular” (i.e. specific religious traditions like Islam, Hinduism, etc.) and “religion-in-general” (i.e. a general sense of religion). Green walks his readers through a variety of scenarios in which knowledge of ETI ranges from being a curiosity to an outright contradiction (or reinforcement) of religious beliefs. In each scenario, he delineates the impact of ETI on “religion-in-general” and one “religion-in-particular”: Roman Catholicism. He argues that even though both categories are likely to be challenged as humans explore the cosmos and, potentially, find life elsewhere, “religion-in-general” is likely to remain a vibrant part of the human experience, and “religions-in-particular”, though they might whither slightly, will nonetheless persist given human fascination with and attraction to ritual action, language, and shared beliefs.
Kelly Smith tackles a similar topic but turns the question around. Rather than considering how the discovery of ETI might impact human religious systems, Smith asks whether ETI might have religious and ethical belief systems. Smith’s question is unique, as he himself notes, because very few researchers in astrobiology (or astrobiology-adjacent fields) have given much thought to what the influence of contact with humans might be on ETI. The assumption is that ETI will be technologically (and morally) superior to humans; hence, humans will not have much of an influence. Smith deftly deflates this perspective and draws on evolutionary theory to develop a framework for speculating about the moral and religious nature of ETI. Using a method he calls “constrained speculation,” Smith endeavors to lay out the basic assumptions consistent with modern science that would allow reasonable inductive projections about the presence of religious and ethical systems among alien civilizations. Although he grants that without contact and effective communication we have no way to know what the content of alien religious and ethical systems might be, he argues that speculation is at the heart of the scientific endeavor and if we intend to be prepared for a first contact scenario in the future, we must proceed with cautious (constrained) speculation now.
Glenn Sauer’s essay turns our attention to the possible impacts the discovery of extraterrestrial life—whether microbial or complex—will have on three aspects of traditional Christian doctrine: anthropocentrism, the Fall, and Imago Dei. Sauer argues that if Christian churches wish to remain relevant in a world in which science profoundly shapes our understanding of the cosmos—and will most certainly deeply influence our understanding of extraterrestrial life—they need to re-imagine these doctrinal elements. Although some modern Catholic theologians, inspired by Teilhard de Chardin, have laid the groundwork for these re-imaginings, their ideas have not yet penetrated church pews and the spiritual imagination of most Christians. As a result, Christians may not be well-prepared for the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Although, as Sauer notes, the doctrinal challenges to Christianity may be profound—particularly if extraterrestrial life proves to be intelligent and able to communicate with humans—a deep conversation related to the impact of life on other worlds for Christian theology has the potential to promote a renewed sense of gratitude and stewardship towards life on earth.
Parallel to Sauer’s exploration of the potential impact the discovery of extraterrestrial life might have on Christian doctrine, J. W. Traphagan considers the ways in which religion may develop as humans inevitably bring their ideologies into space. More specifically, he explores the question of how religion may evolve as a social institution that shapes behavior as colonization of the solar system unfolds. He draws on sociologist Robert Bellah’s observation that there is a quasi-secular religious framework in place in the US that forms a religious dimension of American political and social life, functioning, to some extent, as a coherent cultural system akin to traditional cultural institutions like Christianity. For Americans, Traphagan argues, space exploration and expansionism has been infused with a politico-religious ideological structure associated with manifest destiny that has supported space endeavors and shaped public opinion about space expansion. This linkage between space expansionism, politico-religious ideology, and symbolic elements of civil religion in the US is likely to continue, and perhaps even intensify, as humans move beyond low earth orbit. This is true, Traphagan insists, even as alternative politico-religious ideologies and actors, such as Islamic societies like the United Arab Emirates, become increasingly involved in space expansion.Footnote8
Finally, Jaimie Gunderson’s essay brings the issue to a close with an affect-inflected historical examination of UFOlogy at the intersection of early Christianity and the pop culture phenomenon of ancient aliens. She attends to the role of affects (emotions, sensations, intensities, feelings) in producing and sustaining attachments to the presence of UFOs in the miracles, visionary experiences, and biographical exploits of early Christian figures like Jesus and Paul. Emphasizing that ancient alien narratives provide a means for addressing historical uncertainty and cognitive anxiety through the construction and control of alternative historical knowledge, she demonstrates the ways affects entwine with knowledge (whether “true” or “false”) and ultimately structure the (hi)stories humans tell—including the story that aliens visit our planet and have been doing so for thousands of years. In tracing the way knowledge feels, Gunderson argues that (ancient) UFO narratives are filled with pleasures that bind purveyors and consumers to fantastical modes of knowledge production.
The contributions to this special issue of Theology and Science treat some of the complex questions that are already arising as humans move beyond LEO and begin the process of developing permanent residence in the Solar System. As sociologist Albert A. Harrison notes, space exploration has been long shaped by an intersection of ideas from science, religion, and national cultures that, together, generate cosmisms that shape and reflect academic and popular views about the place of humanity in the universe, the meanings of space exploration and expansion, and human destiny.Footnote9 In the process of moving into space, humans will bring their religious ideologies, rituals, and symbols with them, but that same process will also change religion in complex and unpredictable ways. Not only will existing religions have their doctrines challenged as we move into space and potentially encounter other forms of life, but new religions will form that reflect the ideas and imaginations of those who venture beyond LEO and come to reside on the surface of other worlds. And much in the way that Gunderson notes that the distant past shapes contemporary thinking about the nature and presence of alien life, present-day ideologies and attitudes will contribute to the ways in which our descendants build political and religious structures to cope with complex and difficult alien environments.
Indeed, as political scientist Daniel Deudney argues in his book Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity, expansion into space will be unpredictable for humans and, along with possible benefits, it holds the potential for considerable—even existential—threats to humanity. As humans move into new environments, living in deep space on artificial habitats or on other worlds such as Mars, evolution will continue to unfold, both biologically and culturally, and humans will take on new forms of social organization as new environments redirect the flow of evolutionary change.Footnote10 It is inevitable that religion will be part of this process. But predicting the manner that religion shapes and is shaped by human expansion into outer space remains a speculative endeavor. The contributions to this issue provide an initial step in considering the implications of human space expansion for religion.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jaimie Gunderson
Jaimie Gunderson is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. She specializes in New Testament, Christian origins, and religions of the ancient Mediterranean. Her research explores the affective, embodied, and sensory dimensions of lived experience in antiquity and how religious histories percolate through contemporary issues.
J. W. Traphagan
J. W. Traphagan, Ph.D., is an anthropologist and Visiting Research Scholar with the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University. He is also Professor Emeritus in the Program in Human Dimensions of Organizations at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on the relationship between science and culture and falls into two streams: medical anthropology in rural Japan and the culture and ethics of space exploration. He has published numerous scientific papers and several books, including _Science, Culture, and the Search for Life on Other Worlds_ (Springer, 2016) and _Cosmopolitan Rurality, Depopulation, and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in 21st Century Japan_ (Cambria Press, 2020).
Notes
1 Washington Post Staff, “The New Space Age,” The Washington Post, January 9, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/new-space-age/.
2 An unexpected material example of this shift can be found in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. Opening its doors in 1955, Tomorrowland contained futuristic buildings and innovative technology, which reflected the mid-century excitement and optimism about the future, including space travel. But as the mid-20th century turned into the late 20th century, Tomorrow land transformed “from a land of possibility to a land of nostalgia … full of old-fashioned, cutesy ways of thinking about space travel.” See, Rachel Withers, “Yesterland” Slate, September 4, 2017, https://slate.com/technology/2017/09/disneylands-tomorrowland-was-once-an-ode-to-a-utopian-future.html.
3 Marcia S. Smith, “President Obama’s National Space Policy: A Change in Tone and a Focus on Space Sustainability,” Space Policy 27:1 (2011), 20-23.
4 Jessie L. Christiansen, “Five Thousand Exoplanets at the NASA Exoplanet Archive,” Nature Astronomy 6 (2022), 516-19.
6 Betting Gartner, “How Does an Islamic Astronaut Face Mecca in Orbit?” The Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 2007, https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1010/p16s02-stss.html#:~:text=Muslims%20on%20Earth%20face%20Mecca,prayer%20is%20also%20an%20issue.
7 Malaysian fatwa, “A Guideline of Performing Ibadah at the International Space Station (ISS),” 2007.
8 John W. Traphagan, “Religion, Science, and Space Exploration from a Non-Western Perspective,” Religions 11:8, 397-407.
9 Albert A. Harrison, “Russian and American Cosmism: Religion, National Psyche, and Spaceflight,” Astropolitics 11:1–2 (2013), 25-44.
10 Daniel Deudney, Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).