A Small Price to Pay for Salvation

“Hear me and rejoice! You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No… it is salvation. The universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile… for even in death, you have become children of Thanos.”―Ebony Maw

Thanos, the mad Titan, is a believer. His belief leads him to sacrifice his daughter, Gamora, in exchange for the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone is one of six Infinity Stones that helps Thanos achieve his mission to erase half of all life. In doing so, the remaining half will thrive without having to ration finite resources. Thanos draws his belief from a Malthusian calculus. Preventing resource depletion supersedes all other commitments. The ethical consequences are frightening.

Abraham, the father of faith, is obedient. His obedience nearly leads him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, in exchange for Yahweh’s blessing. Yahweh’s blessing means that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. And through Abraham’s offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed. Abraham draws his belief from theological voluntarism. Obedience to God supersedes all other commitments. The ethical consequences are frightening.

In his book, Fear and Trembling (F&T), Søren Kierkegaard uses Abraham’s blind faith acceptance of God’s Will to address the tension between ethics and religion. He wrote the book to challenge Christians to scrutinize their beliefs to become better Christians. In this note, I am using the example of Thanos blind faith acceptance of Thomas Malthus’s philosophy to address the tension between rationality and religion. I am writing this note to challenge us to scrutinize our beliefs to become better humans.

Believe Science.

In 1979, the Chinese government shared Thanos’s fear that a rapidly growing population would soon overwhelm available resources. So, they implemented a policy mandating that families could only have one child. The ethical, economic, and social consequences have been frightening. Ethically, the policy led to selective abortions and abandonment of girls to reserve the space for boys. Economically, the one child policy has resulted in an aging population that may not have enough young laborers to support it. Socially, the one child policy gender skew of 30 million more men than women affects the marriage prospects for these bachelors.

In hindsight, it’s easy to ridicule Malthusianism. The PRC’s blind faith belief in Malthus led to the disastrous one child policy. Before we become overzealous in our scorn, we should note that Malthus’s work inspired Charles Darwin to discover the theory of natural selection. A theory which has become foundational to all of biology.

Believe Science.

We are in the midst of a religious war — a battle for what we choose to worship. Over the last decade, the share of Americans self-identifying as religious dropped from 82% to 72%. During that period, we have seen increasing political division and wealth inequality. I note the correlation only to make this point: regardless of religious beliefs in a higher power, we all worship at some altar. For some it is the altar of money and capitalism. For others it is the altar of power and politics. As David Foster Wallace said, “in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.”

Fear & Trembling challenged Christian’s to scrutinize their religion. It was a challenge to the comfortable Christianity of 19th century Europe. Religion, for Kierkeegard, meant a personal relationship with God that transcended ethics. Kierkeegard believes that ethics are important, but they cannot allow us to transcend. He believes that religion is transcendent, but it can be dangerous.

Believe Science is the new rallying cry for post-religious America. The CDC insisted we believe science and limit masks only for those infected with Covid-19. Later, they reversed their guidance on masks once again citing science.

Science as a religion is dangerous. Science is a tool for rational inquiry to arrive at predictable conclusions. It is not a tool for dogmatic thoughtless acceptance. Religion, in the Kierkeegardian context, is also not a tool for dogmatic thoughtless acceptance. Both presume a healthy skepticism before accepting the conclusion of the inquiry,

A little skepticism, is a small price to pay for salvation.