The Significance of
The Martian Frontier
A Roman Catholic Perspective
"The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament tells forth the works of his hands." (Psalm 19:1)
The Martian Frontier indeed represents a milestone in the history of human civilization. Ever since our first parents were cast forth from the garden of Eden, our race has been involved in a struggle for survival against the elements of creation. Unlike the adherents of many systems of belief, we Catholics hold that all things which the Creator has made are good in themselves and fit subjects of the dominion of man. It is not that the universe has been made hostile by God, that it is only a source of challenge and suffering, but rather that God in His original plan gave Adam, our forefather, dominion over all creation, which was destined to glorify the Creator though mankind's efforts to till that garden in which the Lord had planted him from the beginning. Thus the disorder in creation is but for the perfection of mankind, and to provide an opportunity to atone for the sin of our first parents' disobedience. Indeed it is precisely that disobedience that introduced into human society the moral disorders of avarice, jealousy, impurity, hatred and violence which have corrupted human civilization from the beginning. For this reason the Creator sent prophets to His people Israel, foretelling the coming of the Messiah who would grant mankind the ability to overcome this moral disorder wrought long ago. By His passion, death , and ressurection, Christ endowed His Church with the sacraments of grace, the means of our reconciliation, not only with one another, but more importantly with God Himself. This has been the mission of the Church throughout the ages, one which greatly appreciates, therefore, the occasion of exploration and technological advances. For though many value these only for the material or pyschological gains to be had from them, Roman Catholics see in these yet another opportunity for mankind to buld a world of justice in accord with the human dignity of every individual. Granted that the discovery of the New World, some 500 years ago, was the occasion of a vast increase in the missionary activity of the Church, both for the Europeans who left their homelands as well as for the indigenous peoples to whom the Gospel was brought for the first time. Nevertheless, it cannot be naively imagined that the vicissitudes of the Europe which they left or of the Europe which they brought are inextricably the result of Christianity. Does not science itself attribute responsibility to the cause of deficiency? Then an authentic scientific analysis of European, and indeed human history which does not differs in its broadest outlines, would wholly exonerate Christianity, despite the "christians" who failed the ideal. It is not for this, then, that mankind should seek the Frontier of Mars: to cut itself free from the responsibilities of history by putting the responsibility on something other than man. After all the sins of history are the sins of men and women. But rather the significance in the Frontier of Mars lies in something far more noble and positive. "Whatever you do, do it in the Name of Jesus Christ; give glory to God through Him"
The Martian Frontier offers mankind a vast field of endeavor for the promotion of the common welfare of the human family in history, for it is the nature of men to rise to a challenge and to see in a new order of things a remedy for the failings of the past. For this, then, is the significance of what Mars holds out to mankind paramount in the future of human society and civilization. For this then, men and women should work together to build a new world. But the remedy is not the opportunity for adventure and rediscovery of mankind's potential, but rather the Martian Frontier is merely the occasion of another opportunity for righting past wrongs. The prospects of a new world, a new life, and a new civilization are only just that, for to hold out in vision this novel future is to do so in vain if such is not founded on a renewal of the human heart in justice, just as Jesus Christ taught, "for from the heart of man comes all kinds of iniquity." And again, "unless you do penance for your sins, you will likewise perish." The significance of the Martian Frontier, then, lies in this opportunity of renewing the human race in Christ and for Christ, for there is no other name, under heaven, given to men and women, by which we are to be saved from ourselves and from that spirit of the air which is at emnity with the world. To proprose the civilization of Mars as a prospect for a new humanist civilization is thus to radically confirm and perpetuate, rather than reject and solve, the problems of mankind, for no other reason than that the history of mankind proves that man, of himself, is incapable of renewing and perfecting himself, indeed, the lessons of history should be ample enough to demonstrate that man, of himself, is lacking what is necessary to establish harmony and order in human society and in the individual lives of its members. Thus to "fix" man one cannot propose another use for mankind, but one rather needs the intervention of that "Mechanic" who is the Architect of the Cosmos: Jesus Christ. If the advent of the colozination of the Martian Frontier inspires men to authentic progress and development it will be in this acceptance of the gentle yoke of Christ, and not a new barbarism of individualists each seeking his own self-glorification at the expense of humanity. And how can it be otherwise? Where in history has the inhumanity of mankind been resolved in any other manner?
Submitted by Br. Alexis Bugnolo : July 6, 1997 A.D. |
Br. Alexis Bugnolo is both a member of ARCSEC (Association of Roman Catholics for the promotion of Space Exploration and Colonization) and a critical observer of the West to Mars project.
© Copyright 1997 Br. Alexis Bugnolo
 previous |
||
|
|
