The Need for Extraterrestrials

Can we imagine that a good and loving God would allow the presence, in a world degraded due to human sin, of other rational beings who would have suffered, although innocent, its consequences?

Formulated around 1950, the paradox bearing the name of Enrico Fermi was sparked by a rhetorical question: why haven’t we encountered intelligent life in the universe? I say “rhetorical” because this question assumes that, unquestionably, little green men exist somewhere, lost in the vastness of galactic space. Or, even if this possibility is not necessarily absolutely certain, many still believe that their existence is very likely. Since I don’t want to unnecessarily prolong the wait, I’ll give the answer right now: we haven’t encountered intelligent life in the universe because it doesn’t exist. For those whose ufological expectations probably hinder the instantaneous reception of this simple answer, I’ll rephrase it more extensively but, hopefully, no less clearly: in no corner of our unique and finite universe are there any intelligent beings – apart from the human species.

I’m sure some readers will feel deceived in their expectations. That is the result of the preparation for an “encounter of the third kind” through the myriad sci-fi productions of all kinds: literary, animated, cinematic, television, etc. In recent years, with the famous hearings in the American Congress where certain military officials, former or current, swear that the U.S. government is hiding remnants of aliens and their spaceships from outer space, it is evident that such beliefs have received a stronger boost than ever before. Consequently, it’s no wonder that film and television producers are only exploiting the trend, seeking, as usual, the philosopher’s stone of commercial success.

For those who still wish to know the arguments on which I base such a firm statement, I will summarize what I have already written in other essays.[*] I specify from the outset that the intellectual framework of my assessment is that of the metaphysics and theology of the Judeo-Christian Tradition. Obviously, for someone who does not accept the essential premises of this framework, which is only possible through faith, my answer makes no sense. But for those who, regardless of their beliefs, are willing to read further, here are the arguments.

Based on certain texts of the Bible, representatives of the Judeo-Christian Tradition have drawn the conclusion of the existence, at the beginnings of history, of an original sin committed by the first humans, Adam and Eve. The story recounted in Genesis chapter 2, where the violation of God’s command is discussed through the consumption of the fruit from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” is relatively well-known. The consequences of this act of disobedience to the almighty Creator are dramatically suffered by all the descendants of the two. Exiled from the Edenic garden of Paradise, humans have since been subjected to all the terrible evils of this transient life: diseases, aging, and finally death. Although there is much to be said about what happened in Paradise, I will focus only on the point that interests me for the purpose of my argument.

According to a subtle interpretation applied to certain words of Saint Paul (Romans 8:20), as well as to the verses 17 and 18 from chapter 3 of the book of Genesis, the “fall” of the first humans was accompanied by a “fall” of the entire world. Concretely, this interpretation says that a genuine ontological mutation occurred in both humans and the entire creation. This doesn’t imply that the underlying essence (i.e., the “nature”) of both the cosmos and humans has transformed into something else, but rather only its qualities.

If you want a vivid image of this macro-cosmic event, you can think of the process of developing a photograph taken with a classic camera: first, a negative is obtained, in which everything that is bright appears dark and everything that is dark appears bright. Only after the negative is projected onto light-sensitive paper (in which the key element is silver) will the photograph be obtained, reproducing accurately the photographed landscape.

According to this example, what happened to the world is the obtaining of a negative: instead of remaining bright and colorful as in the dawn of history, before the original sin was committed, the world became like its negative. In other words, devoid of the original light of God’s grace, the world plunged into darkness. Of course, it is not a total darkness, but a strictly spiritual one: that is, we lost that light which made possible the “sight” of spiritual beings – God, angels, saints. This explains the most dramatic fact in all the history of religions.

Although there are numerous beliefs that postulate the existence of God, who, being infinite is omnipresent, yet we do not see Him. In short, we are immersed in darkness. If the daylight were not “functional” for a day, we wouldn’t see anything, right? Similarly, that supernatural light, the “glory” of God, is no longer “functional” for us. That is why saints like Augustine and Hildegard of Bingen say that after the original sin, humanity “became blind.” Not because they couldn’t see the physical world, perceptible through the senses, but because they could no longer see the spiritual world, supernatural, perceptible only through the intellect enlightened by supernatural grace.

I return to my main argument. When Adam and Eve sinned, they underwent a true transformation of their nature, which made them mortals from immortals. Not only did they suffer this “mutation,” but, as Saint Macarius the Egyptian says, “creation, which ministered and served Him (i.e., God), was captured with them.” The entire cosmos suffered the consequences of the first humans’ sin. The metaphysical-theological explanations adequate to an event of such proportions I leave for a future book. However, for now, I will only say that in such a “fallen” cosmos, extraterrestrials cannot exist. On the one hand, nothing is said in the sacred texts of the Bible about the existence of other creatures endowed with intellect/reason outside of angels and humans. On the other hand, we cannot imagine that a good and loving God would allow the presence, in a world “degraded” due to human sin, of other rational beings who would have suffered, although innocent, its consequences. Here, briefly, is the theological-metaphysical argument against the existence of extraterrestrials (there is another argument – named by me the “noetic argument”–much more powerful, but it is too subtle to be exposed in a short essay).

Now I will address the issue that has interested me for many years. And, just like in the case of the presumed existence of extraterrestrials, I will introduce it with a question: Why do our contemporaries need the existence of these beings? Let’s reformulate it: What makes the subject of aliens so attractive to millions and millions of people?

As certain specialists in the study of religions draw our attention, there has never been in the entire history of humanity a culture in which the existence of the unseen world and the spiritual beings that populate it was ignored or even denied by such a large number of people. Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Indians, Chinese, and any other ancient people believed in the existence of those “extraterrestrials” who populated the “otherworld” – God, the gods, angels, demons, ancestral spirits. Moreover, they were convinced that their lives were decisively and inextricably linked to that world. Their beliefs decisively contributed to the organization of both their lives and societies. From the monograph of the French scholar Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges, The Ancient City (1864), we can learn how deeply and concretely these beliefs influenced the lives of those in pre-Christian Greece and Rome.

Many modern individuals have lost these beliefs. Their lives are completely a-ritual, a-symbolic, a-religious. Often, not even certain individuals, although baptized Christians, believe in the existence of demons or angels. Sometimes even the existence of God is doubted. One thing is certain: the supernatural world experiences an unprecedented “reflux” in modern times. At the same time, we must admit that man cannot live without faith. But if he doesn’t embrace an authentic religion, then he invents one. I am sure that Chesterton would agree with this statement. Some believe in football, others in the band Imagine Dragons, while still others worship the photograph of Elvis Presley. Extraterrestrials can represent exactly this type of reinvention of religion in a secular style. We no longer believe in angels and demons? Then we believe in Luke Skywalker and the good aliens, or we believe in Darth Vader and the evil aliens (just look at what was in Mos Eisley!). Or, who knows? Maybe some prefer even the infamous Joker.

On the other hand, not only “sex sells,” as advertisers – rightfully or wrongfully – say, but also aliens sell. And quite well. It is no coincidence that films and series like Star Wars, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, and so on, have had the success we all know. Often of questionable artistic quality, but almost always well-received, they prompt post-modern individuals to pay good money for such moments of escape from everyday banality. Who wouldn’t want to see what hypothetical ETs look like? Before the films, there were science fiction novels and countless comic series with monsters of all kinds. Herbert George Wells described in The War of the Worlds what bellicose Martian invaders look like, and Orson Welles became famous at just 23 years old – in 1938 – after causing panic among listeners by announcing that Martians had invaded Earth. And if we remember Tom Cruise, who probably ran more than 100 miles chased by aliens in the screen adaptation of the same Wells story, it is clear that we are dealing with a marketable subject, which makes more money than participating in marathon trials at the Olympic Games.

I can go on endlessly enumerating the cultural phenomena generated by ETs. And the list of “religions” born from belief in their existence is long. However, I believe that there is a more important direction in which the entire discussion can be oriented. The first step in this regard may be a serious reflection about the meaning and criterion of discerning an authentic religion. Otherwise, one day we may find ourselves with some president proposing a new “cult” whose gods will resemble those thirteen aliens – from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – whom the Ugha tribes worshipped. Not even the extraterrestrials can imagine what our politicians are capable of when it comes to preserving and increasing power.

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The featured image is courtesy of Pixabay.

[*] Here: “Congress and the Extraterrestrials” [Accessed: 19 April 2024], here: “Can we believe in Extraterrestrials? A Theological Answer” [Accessed: 19 April 2024], and here: “The Communist Extraterrestrial”  [Accessed: 19 April 2024].