Christian Right-Winger Wants to End US Space Program Because the Aliens Are All Going to Hell Anyway
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24 July 2014
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took those famous first steps on the Moon’s surface, uttering the well-known words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of that momentous Apollo 11 mission. The event left some pondering the next steps for U.S. space exploration. Not everyone, however, is so thrilled about the U.S. space program.
On Sunday, Ken Ham, president and founder of the creationist organization Answers in Genesis (best known for debating Bill Nye), wrote a blog post calling for the end of the U.S. space program. Why? Well, according to Ham, who also runs the Creation Museum in Kentucky, there’s no point in spending money on finding extraterrestrial life for a couple of reasons: First, the search is a deliberate rebuke of God; and second because aliens are already damned to hell.
“I’m shocked at the countless hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent over the years in the desperate and fruitless search for extraterrestrial life,” Ham wrote.
“Of course, secularists are desperate to find life in outer space, as they believe that would provide evidence that life can evolve in different locations and given the supposed right conditions!” Ham continued later in the post.
Ham does concede that the Bible does not specifically mention whether or not there is alien life. However, he is skeptical.
“And I do believe there can’t be other intelligent beings in outer space because of the meaning of the gospel,” Ham wrote. “You see, the Bible makes it clear that Adam’s sin affected the whole universe. This means that any aliens would also be affected by Adam’s sin, but because they are not Adam’s descendants, they can’t have salvation. One day, the whole universe will be judged by fire, and there will be a new heavens and earth. God’s Son stepped into history to be Jesus Christ, the 'Godman,' to be our relative, and to be the perfect sacrifice for sin—the Savior of mankind.”
“Jesus did not become the ‘GodKlingon’ or the ‘GodMartian’! Only descendants of Adam can be saved. God’s Son remains the 'Godman' as our Savior,” Ham continues. “In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we see the Father through the Son (and we see the Son through His Word). To suggest that aliens could respond to the gospel is just totally wrong.”
Ham bluntly rejects the notion of discovery, condemning scientists’ desire to explore our universe and potentially discover other intelligent life-forms, which may give clues to the origins of life.
“The answers to life’s questions will not be found in imaginary aliens but in the revelation of the Creator through the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to die on a Cross to redeem mankind from sin and death that our ancestor, Adam, introduced,” he wrote.
The universe, as Neil deGrasse Tyson demonstrated in “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” still holds many mysteries. “It’s OK not to know all the answers,” Tyson said. “It’s better to admit our ignorance, than to believe answers that might be wrong. Pretending to know everything, closes the door to finding out what’s really there.”
NASA continuously pushes the boundaries of science, invention and exploration, including putting humans on the moon 45 years ago — an incredible feat for mankind that inspired the world. Watch: