By DONALD DeMARCO
A number of science-fiction movies, especially those from the 1950s when the threat of an atomic attack loomed, revolved around a decision made by highly intelligent beings from outer space to destroy all human life on planet Earth. The usual reasons put forth for the destruction were that human beings were violent, warmongering, and irreformable. Besides, they were polluting their gene pool as well as their own habitat. Moreover, the planet was viewed as little more than an inconvenient speck set within a vast if not limitless cosmos.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the 1945 motion picture, The Horn Blows at Midnight, in which angel Athanael, played by Jack Benny, is sent to blow his trumpet at precisely midnight signaling the end of planet 339001 (Earth) and all its incorrigible inhabitants. I would be wise not to mention Plan Nine From Outer Space.
What has struck me, in my active imagination, is the parallel that exists between the reasons to justify the destruction of human life on Earth presented in these movies and those offered to justify abortion. The child in the womb is regarded as an “inconvenience” and his continued existence would interfere with outside interests that are more important. Viewed from outer space, planet Earth appears small and insignificant. So, too, from the perspective outside the womb, the unborn child displays the same characteristics.
In the following satire, I refer to the Blue Planet as Phaeton, a term that phonetically resembles Foetus. As is the case in all science fiction films, the beings from outer space are incomparably more intelligent than human beings. From the standpoint of these highly endowed intelligences, the IQ of humans pales into insignificance. The undeveloped foetus parallels the allegedly undeveloped human beings. Phaeton, like the Foetus, is relatively immobile in comparison with the dazzling forms of space travel executed by creatures from outer space. In one Twilight Zone episode, a spaceship travels at five times the speed of light!
Perspective is critical. No science fiction movie that I am aware of recognizes the intrinsic dignity of human beings. What counts are the evident characteristics: size, accomplishment, intelligence, and the ability to establish a social order that resonates peace. In addition, notions of healing grace are routinely absent.
In terms of Christianity, no human being is incorrigible. God’s grace is a healing factor that is omitted from the domain of science fiction. The science fiction writer creates a world that is impressively mechanical, technological, and powerful. Forgiveness, love, and redemption are usually alien to him. Yet, we are doomed if the same attitude prevails between the Athanaels of outer space and Phaeton, and that between the pregnant mother and her child in the womb.
The Study From Outer Space
The committee representing the Bureau of Inter-Galactic Space Travel And Refueling (BIGSTAR) has completed its study on the “Blue Planet.” The study was undertaken on behalf of the World-to-World Inter-Galactic Space Program (WISP) to determine whatever ethical implications might be involved in removing life on the Blue Planet in the interest of converting it into a refueling station and observation center.
The committee has concluded that the continued existence of life on the Blue Planet should not be allowed because of the serious inconvenience it would otherwise bring to projected plans in space travel.
A description of the Blue Planet’s most advanced form of life is set forth below establishing beyond any dispute that its primitive structure and lowly nature do not give it the right to intrude upon space travel projects of the magnitude and importance of WISP. The committee has named this form of life Phaeton, since it is sired by the sun (Helios) and is destined to extinction by a super-terrestrial power (as Zeus struck down Phaethon with thunder bolts).
First, Phaethon had never communicated with intelligent life on another planet. It is a pre-socialized being. Indeed, it is not even aware that other intelligent life exists within the universe.
Second, Phaethon is strictly dependent on its surrounding space for its life-supporting substances. Oxygen, food and water, indispensable subsidies for its survival, must be continuously assimilated from the circumambient air, the circumjacent terrain, and the circumferential seas. A few brief trips by small teams of specialists to a nearby satellite notwithstanding, Phaethon must be regarded as virtually a planetary parasite.
Third, Phaethon may be said to have potential for life outside its solar system, but as yet has conceived no actual way of freeing itself from its natural restrictions of time, space, and gravitation. It cannot be considered viable outside its immediate environment.
Fourth, in height, weight, and size, Phaethon is an undistinguished trifle. Its movements are slow and sluggish. Its intelligence is meager, and its lifespan is brief. It can be fairly described as a short-lived struggling blob of usually unconscious protoplasm. Phaethon’s eradication will neither be missed nor mourned.
Fifth, regarding its physical health, Phaethon has not yet discovered a way of preventing gross deformities and serious illnesses from weakening its species. Through the ages, the cumulative consequence of permitting deformed and diseased members to survive and reproduce has been an unfortunate pollution of its gene pool. Phaethon’s painless extinction would spare it the ignominy of a steady and complete genetic deterioration.
Sixth, some morally scrupulous individuals may argue that removing Phaethon would be an unethical act, violently terminating, no matter how miserable, the only form of life which the powers of the universe have granted this poor creature. The Committee feels that sensible and rational individuals will evaluate Phaethon’s demise not as a loss but as a gain for WISP and all who will benefit from a more practical use of the Blue Planet.
Phaethon will be re-channeled into a higher good which represents, in the final analysis, a greater and more enduring value than that which Phaethon could experience in the few remaining years it had before the forces of nature inevitably intervened.
(Donald DeMarco’s latest book is Why I Am Pro-Life and Not Politically Correct, published by Good Books and available through Amazon.com.)
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