Going where no man has ever gone before
On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon. About six hours later, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. As he took his first step, he famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
During this time, I was pastoring my first church following graduate school, and as we gathered for a discussion on a Sunday evening, I noted that these astronauts were about half way to the moon. Wondering how the people in attendance thought about such an exciting time, I asked them to share their thoughts with me. To my surprise, they were unanimous in claiming that this adventure was against the will of God and that He would never allow them to reach the moon. Since I have always been an advocate for space travel (and actually would sign up to be the first space chaplain if I weren’t past the age of service), this response was surprising. Of course, I had to ask if that meant God was going to destroy the space ship and those in it, but there was no reply to that inquiry.
I have found that people are normally very slow to acknowledge anything new, especially if it has to do with something affecting mankind. I could wish otherwise, but unfortunately I also have fallen too often into the trap of believing that anything too new affecting human life might be against the will of God; but I have always been proven wrong.
People today are up in arms about so many different sins, and like to pronounce judgment upon anyone caught in them; but too often they are still rooted in the present and not considering the future. Perhaps the biggest ethical question of our time resides in genetic engineering.
Do you remember when medical scientists cloned that first sheep? I’m not smart enough to understand just how they did that, but its implications are staggering. Are they now able to clone humans? It makes me wonder about the “Clone Wars” in Star War movies. Of course, if you can clone a human, it would be a small step to being able to clone a human with all of the best qualities available — e.g. creating a new super human race. That issue also was explored in one of the Star Trek movies. Captain Kirk defeated them when they went astray, but not many people today are as strong and insightful as Captain Kirk and certainly do not have the assistance of the super intelligent and strong Science Officer, Mr. Spock.
Since cloning animals was successful and knowing something about how the people in our world operate, I strongly suspect that humans have already been cloned. So, what does this mean? I’m afraid that I don’t know, but it certainly is on the cutting edge of ethical and religious thought today.
On the other hand, medical science has already performed modern day miracles through in vitro fertilization. This is a process whereby a woman’s egg is fertilized with sperm “in vitro” — that is, in a glass laboratory dish, and then inserted into a woman’s uterus. The first test-tube baby born in the world was Louise Brown in 1978 in the U.K., but the first one born in our country was Judith Carr who was born 40 years ago last Dec. 28. The reason why in vitro fertilization fell so far behind in America was public pressure and fear. It was new, never done before and full of questions. Today, she wears a special sterling-silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant engraved with the number “1,” and she is very normal.
There are many couples today who cannot have children for numerous reasons, and in vitro fertilization has allowed them the privilege of producing children and giving them a great home. With some pastors urging their church women to have more children, and the pope recently suggesting the same thing, in vitro fertilization may help make that a reality.
Today, we have landed on the moon, made plans to go to Mars, and have space ships headed for Jupiter. We have just launched a new space telescope designed to see into space where no one has ever looked before. What will we discover? What will we see? And, will we feel this is all a part of God’s universal plan, or will we hesitate in fear wondering if these efforts are an affront to God? Maybe we should watch those old Star Trek movies over again and think about “going where no man has ever gone before.”
Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 29 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.