The death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday will inevitably have prompted moments of deep introspection among those who believe – and many of those who don’t – about the meaning and finiteness of life.
To the Catholic Church, the Pontiff is God’s representative on Earth, and his passing is a reminder that, no matter who we are, our time is limited.
While there was barely a news outlet globally that will not have reported the Pope’s passing, there was another event last week that raised even more profound questions about the nature of human existence, that merited barely a flicker of attention.
The discovery of gas particles on the edge of our galaxy provided the “strongest evidence yet” of the existence of life on another planet.
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Scientists at Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), have detected molecules surrounding a planet named K2-18b, which on Earth are only produced by simple organisms.
Their research indicates the existence of a chemical signature matching dimethyl sulphide (DMS) or dimethyl disulphide (DMDS), both of which are known by-products of marine phytoplankton and bacteria on Earth, making their discovery a potentially significant development in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, the lead researcher, said he was surprised at the amount of the gas apparently detected in a single observation window, which is thousands of times higher than that on Earth.
"If the association with life is real, then this planet will be teeming with life," he added.
"If we confirm that there is life on K2-18b, it should basically confirm that life is very common in the galaxy."
Before we start brushing up on our Klingon, there are some important caveats. The scientists made clear they need to collect more data to bolster their case. And, even if they do find more conclusive evidence of life on K2-18b, the planet is 700 trillion miles from Earth meaning that, even if we could travel at the speed of light, it would take us 124 years to get there.
Nevertheless, the discovery has the potential to be the most important development in natural science since Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
If, as Prof Madhusudhan suggests, life could be “very common in the galaxy”, it would fatally undermine the fundamental premise of every world religion, that we and this planet exist at the notional centre of the Universe, both as the creation of a higher being.
Rather, it would suggest that we are a local planet, located in an insignificant corner of a Universe which potentially hosts an infinite number of other life-bearing planets.
The theistic argument rests on the notion that the starting point for life could only have come from a higher intelligence. It exploits the self-imposed limits applied by science which, unlike with religion, doesn’t base its findings on absolutes.
Even with a level of certainty of 99.7%, Prof Madhusudhan and his team are not at the standard required to claim a discovery. For that, he and his researchers need to be about 99.99999% sure that their results are correct and not a fluke reading.
Theists require nowhere near such rigour to be able to claim, for example, that Christ rose from the dead or that the prophet Muhammed was the last messenger of God.
In the same week that these potentially earth-shattering findings were announced, most media outlets focused instead on the 11 minutes in space spent by six female friends, relatives, and hangers-on of the billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
It says something about our priorities and the limits of our horizons that we prefer to focus on the musings of pop singer Katy Perry – “I felt so connected to love” – and Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez – “the Earth looked so quiet” – than on the very nature and meaning of life.
While this discreditable exercise in cash-burning futility merited media exposure on a scale similar to the Pope’s death, with a couple of notable exceptions coverage of the Cambridge discovery was mostly limited to specialist platforms like Space, New Scientist and Nature.
While Evolution News carried the story, it was conspicuously absent from any religious publications.
Granted The Tablet and the Scottish Catholic Observer had other things on their mind, but you’d have thought the news would be of some interest to such outlets, if only to stand their corner.
Given the centrality of religion to so many of the world’s problems and to so much bloodshed and suffering, I’m never less than surprised at the lack of questioning in common discourse of its absurdity.
Aside from the current war in the Middle East and the devastation wrought by Islamic terrorism, there is the long history of sectarian violence in India and the culpability of the Catholic Church, and its stance on contraception, in the spread of AIDS in Africa – the list goes on.
Much of Donald Trump’s regressive policy programme – including his opposition to abortion and his ban on transgender people serving in the military – is aimed at serving an evangelical Christian electoral base.
The death of Pope Francis will have prompted moments of deep introspection for many (Image: PA) His administration's heavy reliance on white Christian nationalists and prosperity gospel preachers in key positions, has raised concerns about its impact on American democracy.
Both Obama and Biden included leaders from diverse faiths, including Muslims and Sikhs, in their administrations and faith-based offices.
Trump, on the other hand, has surrounded himself with individuals who promote a narrow and exclusionary vision of Christianity, often associated with anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigration, and anti-racial equality stances.
Irrespective of whether K2-18b is the start of a new era of natural scientific discovery, we should, at least, be more sceptical of religion and the powerful place it occupies.
In this country, we could start by insisting that religious education in schools focuses principally on fostering a neutral and objective understanding of religion as a cultural and historical phenomenon.
While it's important for students to learn about different religions, this should be approached academically, similar to subjects like history or literature, rather than as an attempt to endorse or promote any specific faith. The Pope may be dead, long live enlightenment and progress.
Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There’s a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people
