God and Sagan

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."   -   Carl Sagan, Dragons of Eden.

"Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed.  -   John 20:29.

"To sum up: it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."  -   W. K. Clifford, The Ethics of Belief.

In 1976, two Viking spacecraft landed on surface of Mars. The two spacecraft sent back images and sampled the Martian surface for evidence of extraterrestrial life. At the time, Carl Sagan was one of the most vocal proselytizers preaching the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the universe and Mars in particular. Scientists learned much about Mars, but unfortunately could not find evidence of current or past Martian life. Nonetheless, Sagan retained his convictions about the likelihood of life in the universe originating in places other than Earth. To Sagan, the Viking probes just reduced the range of possibilities. They did not affect his faith.

Two decades later, Sagan was diagnosed with myelodyplasia (a blood cancer). In his last two years, Sagan's prognosis improved and finally degraded until Sagan died in December, 1996. Jerry Adler of Newsweek reports that during this time Sagan was engaged in a serious personal dialogue with religious leaders about faith in God. Sagan, although in principle open to proof, was not finally persuaded to believe in God. Ann Druyan, Sagan's wife, proudly reports that, "Carl never wanted to believe. He wanted to know."

Sagan's last book, The Demon-Haunted World, is Sagan's rebuttal to the drivel of uncritical belief from astrology to alien abductions. In his defense of science against the uneducated or gullible and the charlatans who prey on them, Sagan perhaps allowed skepticism to melt in cynicism. This cynicism may have spoiled his honest dialogue with religious leaders. Sagan once asked Rev. Joan Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, "You're so smart, why do you believe in God?" Campbell retorted to Sagan, "You're so smart, why don't you believe in God."

Sagan believed that extraterrestrial life exists. There is no unequivocal proof of such life, but reason, science, and experience informed Sagan's intuition. Sagan rightly has never claimed to have proof that extraterrestrial life exists, yet he nonetheless allowed this belief to give meaning and direction to his scientific inquiries.

Of course, the question of God's existence is more profound than that of extraterrestrial life. We can at least seriously hope and expect to one day find proof of such life. Proof of the existence of God will probably always exceed our grasp. This does not mean that belief in God can not legitimately provide meaning, context, and guidance in our own lives.

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